It’s that horrible feeling when have behaved like a saint on your weight loss plan only to discover that your weight has stayed the exact same. You literally want to cry all over your scales and then give up immediately!
And I am sure that I am not the only one to feel like that!
But the problem with our bodies is not us it’s our bodies and we have to teach them to do what we want them to do.
For example say if you are on a strict diet your body will have a few good weight loss weeks but after that it will suddenly stop. This is because our body gets used to a certain level of calories per day and the only way we can truly change things to reduce our calories. Whether this is through eating less or burning more, this is the only way it can be done.
But say if you are following a weight loss plan and you are already having 1400 calories a day, having another drop would be so hard to achieve.
So what do you do?
Well I have put together a list of my favourite ways to kick start my weight loss after a few maintaining weeks:
#1 – Give yourself a healthy meal replacement
Well the majority of us absolutely hate the idea of meal replacement. We have thoughts of horrible tasting drinks or worse still tablets, but what if you could find something that you truly liked and it became breakfast and supper? Then you had whatever you liked for lunch!
Well I have done this several times and the weight loss has always been fantastic. Read about when I followed my soup challenge or when I followed the Jordan Juice Diet.
#2 – Just drink water
Calories in drinks are terrible and it can often be the cause of bad use of your calories. Spend a week (or even a month) just drinking water and herbal tea. At zero calories it is a great drink saving and you will often notice a big deduction in your calorie intake.
#3 – Improve the rate of calories burned
I was on the Wii Fit this morning and what always gets me about it is the calories burned section. Each time I lose weight because it is based on my BMI it is going down more and more. So an hour of the step aerobics and a bit of yoga and I am burning just over 200 calories. And I want to know where the rest is?
However by changing it to jogging on the spot instead (because I am now a bit fitter thanks to my weight loss) I can add another extra 150 calories burned each time I exercise.
So if you go walking, why not power walk and if you power walk take up jogging. Or just look to see if you can improve on where you are burning calories.
#4 – Reduce the fat
I have always found that on weeks that I have extra fat in my diet no matter how good I am the rest of the time, I will end up with a weight gain or a maintain. That week when I was perfect for six days but on the other day had a McDonalds.
So if you do eat fast foods occasionally give it up for a month and you’ll be shocked at the weight loss results that you’ll be able to achieve.
#5 – Food Swaps
Food swaps are a fantastic way to shave some calories off your daily food intake so that you can have a good weight loss when you are stuck in a rut.
Swap butters and oils for one calorie cooking spray, swap cheddar in your sandwiches for tuna and sweetcorn or even swap your glass of wine for a malibu with diet coke.
#6 – Reduce your portion sizes
We spent the entire build up to our Disney holiday a few years ago worrying about how big the portion sizes were going to be. We had heard that American food sizes were huge and were thinking that we could share meals. However when we were there, we found that they were not big enough and we wanted seconds.
This was the moment when we realised that we were eating way too much and a reduction in portion sizes was what we really needed.
If you look at your plate and its piled up then reduce your plateful and even a 20% reduction can have you losing weight without even changing your diet.
#7 – Are you a secret eater?
It is often a case that when you are on a weight loss plan you don’t actually look at the calories and where they are going. Sit down and count calories for a week, then you can see how many calories you are REALLY eating as most of us guess and don’t really have a true understanding of it.
I used to look at my calories and assume that I was eating about 1500 and it was more like 2500 and you just forget how many calories are in things such as sauces, butter or even pasta.
#8 – Eat slower
I don’t know why I am fat when I am sharing tips like this!!!! They say that if you eat slower, then you’ll get your full signals quicker and generally eat less.
Well I am the slowest eater on the planet, something that everyone that ever eats out with me moans about. Normally my parents have learnt their lesson so well, that they will give me a head start on the meal.
But imagine if you did eat slowly how much you could reduce your food intake by?
#9 – Avoid diet food
You see the products in the supermarket don’t you? Reduced fat, diet, low sugar, sugar free and the list goes on!
But what actually happens is that you are denying your body what it is naturally craving and this just makes you eat more of it. Its much better to have full sugar or full fat and then have little portions and in moderation, than to just live around diet products all the time.
#10 – My nut rule
So I am allergic to nuts and hate the smell of them and the taste is just disgusting. Therefore if I want to avoid chocolate I will make Dominic just buy products with nuts in and then I know that I won’t go near them. Then with Kyle I will buy him Oreos because I really can’t stand them!
