LOSE THAT STUBBORN LAST 5lb (Part I)

 

 

 

WHY IS IT SO HARD TO REACH YOUR GOAL WEIGHT AND SHED THAT LAST 5lb?

 

If you’ve ever tried to lose weight you’ll probably have noticed that at first with a shift in your eating choices and maybe a few extra exercise classes the weight just melts away, but as time goes along the weight loss slows to a crawl and leaves you wondering what you’re doing wrong to get so close to your goal weight but never quite managing to achieve it.  Or maybe you’re not carrying any significant extra poundage but would like to shift down just one dress size for an upcoming special occasion outfit.  It can be frustrating when the scale seems stuck at the same number. 

 

Why does this happen?

 

When you first begin a new regime with a change in your daily eating pattern along with some increase in exercise so the weight falls away but with a change in your size so too comes a shift in your metabolism.  One thing for a start is that your calorie requirements diminish.  Your body has acclimatised to managing on reduced fuel levels so requires less.  Similarly another factor is that with deceased body mass less energy is burned performing daily tasks so your body no longer has the same calorie requirements as demanded by your former size. 

 

So your weight loss success is actually working against you in your efforts to lose more weight because the less you weigh the less energy supplies are required to power your day so to achieve further weight loss you have to continue to reduce your calorie intake to take account of the adjustment to your requirements.

 

Is there a way to reverse this effect or to ratchet the metabolism up a notch?

 

You could think about exercising differently.  Could be that you’ve found something that you enjoy so you’ve stuck with it.  Maybe it was challenging at the beginning but as you’ve acclimatised to it so each time you are placing less demands on how hard you’re working.  Try introducing new intensity intervals to really rev up your endurance to 'all out' capacity for short bursts.  This is known at HiiT, or High Intensity Interval Training and research over the last five years has proved that exercising anaerobically for short 20 or 30 second intervals produces an effect known as ‘Afterburn’ which causes your body to burn calories at a much high frequency for a prolonged period throughout the day following HiiT exercise techniques. 

 

Have you tried circuit training?  It’s certainly not a warm and fuzzy approach to exercise and will probably blast you out of your comfort zone but studies indicate that in weight training routines that move quickly from one strength exercise to the next with only minimal rests on the changeover fat blaster calorie usage is increased. 

 

Learning compound exercises where multiple muscle groups are all working together is another way of utilising maximum output.  If you attend an organised circuit training class watch the instructor to see how many compound exercises are being applied.

 

Importantly:  Ensure your weight loss goal is realistic, safe and achievable.

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