In this episode, Ean gives the straight scoop on why low calorie, Low fat diets work for some people some of the time. As well as why it does not work for others and why you should never make it your lifestyle.
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Overcoming Your Plateau
In the previous two articles, we talked about why we hit plateaus in the first place. In addition we addressed what not to do when your weight loss stalls out. In this article, we will finally turn our attention to what you actually need to do in order to overcome your plateau.
Change Things Up
If you have stopped burning fat because you are simply not following your diet correctly, then needless to say, you need to follow your workout and eating program more faithfully. However, if you have followed your diet faithfully, and you have stopped losing weight, then the answer to your problem is rather simple: change things up!
Your body has adjusted to what you are doing and as a result you have stopped losing weight. In order to fix this problem, you need to stop your old program and try a different program. There are primarily two arias that you need to change. First is diet and the second is exercise.
Diet
The first thing to change is your diet. This is not difficult to do. For example, if you have been intermittent fasting, then stop. Try eating six small meals a day, or at least switch to three meals a day.
The reverse is true also, if you have been on a diet that requires you to eat all day switch to intermittent fasting for a while.
While I do not recommend a low fat diet for the long run, I do recommend trying it for a short time. Try it for about a week and go back to LCHF. See what happens.
I also feel the same way about veganism. There is no problem in giving up meat for a week. It is another way to shock your system and get you to start burning fat again.
Exercise
It is true that 70% of your weight loss comes from diet. But 30% comes from exercise. For many out there, they have stopped losing weight because they do not exercise. If you want to start losing weight again, start exercising and see what happens.
There is also a segment of the population who are always exercising. I know it is difficult to do, but you may need to give your body a rest. In other words, stop working out for a while. This may be just what you need.
Finally, you can change the kind of workouts you are doing. In other words. If you are doing a lot of cardio, start lifting weights. If you are lifting weights, start doing more cardio.
Closing Thoughts
It can be discouraging to hit a plateau. However, the suggestions listed above proven strategies to help you start losing weight again. I know because I have seen these things work in many other people, but also I know because I have seen them work in my own life. I have hit many plateaus on my weight loss journey and have overcome every one of them. You can to. Don’t give up!
Five Factors That Will Either Make or Break Your Weight Loss
Another episode of A Mind For Fitness podcast is now available. In this episode I talk about the difference between those who succeed at weight loss and those who fail. Which camp are you in? Listen and find out.
How Much Do Calories Actually Matter? (audio)
There is a new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast. In this episode, Ean Talks about why it is more important to count carbs rather than calories. Also, what is a calorie and how you can avoid overeating. Enjoy!
Why We Hit Plateaus In Weight Loss
I recently did a podcast where I addressed the issue of hitting plateaus in weight loss. I talked about why we hit them and what we can do to get past them. This blog post will address the first half of the issue. Namely, why we hit them. In the next post, I will talk about what not to do and why. After that, I will talk about the active things you can do to get past them and get back on the road to burning fat.
Two Main Causes
The truth is there is only two reasons why your weight loss progress stops. The first is you are just not sticking to your diet correctly. The second is your body has simply adjusted to your dietary and/or workout regiment.
Not Sticking To Your Diet
Sometimes your not sticking to your diet simply because you are cheating too often. If this is the case, the truth is you need to do the diet correctly.
However, there are times when you really think you are sticking to your diet, but in reality you are unknowingly are consuming too many carbs and too many processed foods. For example that salad you had for lunch may have had many more carbs than you thought.
On one occasion I was happily eating a salad when I noticed that it was slightly sweeter than I thought it should be. The reason for this is that there were craisins in the salad. When I finally looked up the carb count in craisins, I realized that my salad contained my daily allotment of carbs. I was shocked.
If this kind of thing happens too often, you will certainly stop losing weight.
Body Adjustment
However, for many, you are sticking to your diet and you have still hit a plateau. The reason for this is that your body has adjusted to your diet and/or workout plan. One thing to keep in mind is that your body is always looking to establish an equal balance within itself. Losing wight is an imbalance within the body. And an imbalance is a shock and perceived as a treat to survival. Even though there are great benefits to losing excess fat, your body is still seeking to establish equilibrium as a survival tool.
Next Post
So there are your two reasons why you will stop losing weight. The next post will deal with what not to do about it.
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Getting Past Your Plateau (Podcast)
A new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast is now available. In this episode, Ean talks about why we hit plateaus. And what we should and should not do about it. Enjoy!
Dealing With Resoltioners (Audio)
In this episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast, Ean Carlin talks about how to deal with those new years resolutioners who are at your gym.
Everything You Need To Know About Fat-Shaming (audio)
This is a new episode of A Mind For Fitness Podcast. Today, we are talking about fat-shaming–what it is and what it is not. Enjoy!
The Carb Cycling Wars (Podcast)
This episode explores the different protocols of carb-cycling.
The Carb Cycling Wars
Not that long ago in our own galaxy, in fact, on our own planet, there was an obesity epidemic. In response to this epidemic, an evil empire of dietitions arose and ceased power. This evil empire insisted that a low-fat, calorie restrictive diet was the answer to this problem. However, they were wrong.
In response to the evil empire, there was a rag-tag group of rebels who fought against the dogma of the day. These people insisted that the answer to obesity were low-carb, ketogenic, and Paleo diets.
Those who followed these diets had great success. But often they did not meet their ultimate weight-loss goals. The Rebels came to realize that cycling carbs was one of the solutions to this problem. What follows is a small portion of their story:
All Kidding Aside
All kidding aside, the truth is there are health benefits for cycling carbs. That is to say it is beneficial at times to have more carbs. In fact, if you have hit a plateau in your weight-loss, this is a great way to re-ignite your fat burning hormones.
The fact of the matter is that there are a number of carb-cycling plans to choose from. These plans differ on the amount of days you should carb-cycle, as well as what kinds of carbs you should have.
What follows is a list of some of the major proponents of carb-cycling and the way the do it. However, this is not an exhaustive list. This is just a list that I am acquainted with.
Ethical Disclaimer
I cannot share every detail of the methods listed below due to ethical reasons. The authors I have researched draw their income from the books they sell. Therefore, I have tried my best to offer a fair evaluation of their method while not revealing everything they recommend. In other words, what is listed below is just an outline. To get a fuller understanding, you need to buy the books.
That said, some of these authors have publicly shared much more about their diets than others. For those who have shared more openly, I have revealed more about their protocols.
Kiefer
Kiefer is the author of Carb Nite Solution and Carb Back-Loading. Both are carb-cycling diets. Here is what you need to know
Carb Nite Solution Essentials
This is an ultra low-carb diet for 6 days of the week. One day of the week, or more appropriately, one night of the week you can have as many carbs as you want. In fact you can have as many carbs as you want from any source that you want. This is to say that Kiefer allows for “dirty” carbs. You are not just carb-loading with sweet-potatoes and fruit, you can have cake and ice cream as well. No food is off limits.
However, it is important to note that you don’t have to have dirty carbs. You can do this protocol with clean carbs as well. He just does not restrict to clean carbs only.
Carb Back-Loading Essentials
This diet is very similar to Carb Nite. But it differs in that there is more than just one night a week you carb-load. On this diet, you can carb-load, in the evening or after noon, but only after an extremely heavy workout. You can also have dirty carbs on this diet too.
One important difference between these diets is the intention. Carb Nite is inteded for weight-loss, while Carb Back-Loading is intended for bulking.
Dave Asprey
Dave Asprey is the creator of the Bulletproof Diet. He also runs a company and has a podcast of the same name.
Bulletproof Carb-Cycling Essentials
This is basically a low-carb diet, but not an ultra low-carb diet. This diet focuses more on the quality of food you eat. It allows for some clean carbs at night in order to help sleep and other functions.
On this diet, Dave recommends that one day a week you carb-load. Also, on the day you carb-load, you are suppose to protean fast. Meaning you have very, very little protean. Dave very highly recommends carb-loading with only clean carbs. That is lots of white rice, certain fruits, and other clean sources of carbohydrates. That said, he does allow for the occasional (very occasional) dirty carbs. But it should not be the main source of your carb-loading and you need to be prepared to accept the consequences.
Chris Powell
Chris Powell is most famous for tuning fat people into fit people on his television show, Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. He has written a couple of books but I am only going to deal with one of them here, Choose To Loose: The 7 Day Carb Cycling Solution.
7 Day Carb Cyceling Solution Essentials
This method is the most liberal when it comes to carbs. Basically the diet is one day of high carbs and one day of low carbs. Sounds easy but things do get complicated. Even on the low-carb days, he recommends that you eat a carb portion at breakfast. Your meals are also split into five small meals throughout the day. All carbs during this cycle are clean.
However, one day a week, you can have anything you want. This includes dirty cabs. So it is high-carb, low-carb (except for breakfast)….. until Sunday. On Sunday, no food is off limits.
Jason Seab
Our final player is Jason Seab, aself proclaimed Paleo proponent. He is the newest contributor on the list with his book Alt Shift.
Alt Shift Essentials
The Alt Shift protocol recommends a few days on an extremely low-carb diet, followed by a few days on a high carb-diet. There are no dirty carbs on this diet.
Conclusion
Which carb-cycling is right for you. The truth is, if you are already fat-adapted, and you have stalled out on your weight-loss, just about any one of these diets will help. But self experimentation is always the best way to find out. So give each of them a fair shot and see what works.
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