Weight Loss Plateau?

Have you experienced a weight loss plateau?  I have and it is very frustrating!

Since I began my new lifestyle to lose weight, I have been more than happy with my results.  I started in January of this year and have lost over 35 pounds.  A month ago I hit a plateau.  My research confirmed this as a normal occurrence.  However normal it may be it is very frustrating to continue to work hard and the scale not move.  I refused to get discouraged and started looking for ways to get me back on track.  I posted the question on my FB page and received some great suggestions.  One of my FB friends suggested Calorie Confusion.  I had heard of this and did a little research on it, but I did not believe I needed to incorporate this into my eating plan because I was doing fine.  After two weeks of my scale not moving, I decided to look at Calorie Confusion a little closer.

The basic premise of Calorie Confusion is to outsmart your metabolism.   When your body adjusts to a certain amount of calories over an extended period of time, your metabolism also adjusts accordingly and you hit a plateau. Calorie Confusion is a technique that aims to confuse your metabolism so that it does not adjust to any specific caloric intake. If your body does not know how much food it will receive, your metabolism will not have time to adjust or slow down.

My daily caloric intake is between 1280-1630 calories.  My average daily caloric consumption was around the 1200-calorie range.  I did this thinking it would accelerate my weight loss.  This consistent caloric intake caused my body adjusted to my daily 1200 calories and my metabolism slowed down bringing my weight loss efforts to a screeching halt.

It seems the best way to incorporate Calorie Confusion into your diet is to alternate high calorie days and low calorie days.  One day I would consume around 1200 calories and the next day I would consume 1630 calories.  With this schedule and my normal workout routine, I dropped three pounds in two weeks.  I am back on track.

Now let me just say high calorie days does NOT mean go crazy and eat cheeseburgers to meet your caloric goal.  On high calorie days just add a little more healthy foods into your eating regimen.  For example, on a low calorie day I would have a greek yogurt and fresh fruit for breakfast consuming about 200 calories.  On a high calorie day, for breakfast, I would have roasted veggie scrambled eggs, 2 slices nitrate-free turkey bacon, fresh squeezed juice and whole-wheat toast consuming about 380 calories.  I even incorporate a healthy dessert consisting of low-fat frozen yogurt.  Remember to spread your calories throughout the day to include your three meals and two snacks (and on high calorie days your dessert).

Since I was counting calories, anyway Calorie Confusion was very easy to incorporate into my lifestyle.  This calorie range is what my body needs.  Begin by finding your personal caloric range.  If you have reached a weight loss plateau or if you just want to try something new, give Calorie Confusion a try…please let us know about your success.

Healthy eating…