Eating right and exercising in the beginning of a weight loss program will typically cause you to lose a pound or two each week.  This positive feedback will motivate you to keep up the hard work because of the immediate results seen on a weekly basis.  But as you continue to get closer to your personal goal weight, it will become harder and harder to lose those last couple of pounds.  This typically frustrates individuals who are trying to lose weight because they are putting in the same amount of effort, but they are not seeing the same results.  Why does this happen?  As you continue to lose weight, your body will burn fewer calories.  Essentially the amount of calories you burn each day is almost the same as the amount of calories you are taking in.  This means that you have less fat to lose, which should ultimately be viewed as a good thing. 

So how can you overcome the weight loss plateau?  You need to make changes.  Changes in the way you eat and the way you exercise.  Start adding more weight training to your weekly routine.  Studies have shown that weight lifting can increase your metabolism from 5% to 10%; this increase in metabolism could be just enough to help you lose those last five pounds.  Drink plenty of water; water helps control hunger as well as aid your body in burning fat.  Eat more protein and less carbohydrates; protein helps your body build muscle, which will cause your body to burn more calories each day.  Click on the link below to read the top 10 ways to break through the weight loss plateau.  Make sure you read reason #10, I think it is the best advice given in the article. 

http://www.womenfitness.net/top10_breaking_training_plateaus.htm

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Drinking sufficient amounts of water is one of the best ways to help you lose weight.  You should drink at least 64 ounces of water each day.  If you are trying to lose weight, increase your water intake by 8 ounces each day for every 25 pounds you are overweight.  Drinking water has multiple benefits from suppressing your appetite to reducing headaches to lowering blood pressure.  For more benefits of drinking water, click on the link below.

http://www.dietinfo.us/Water1/water1.html

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Having a large Beer Belly in your middle ages can lead to dementia when you get older.  A recent study that involved over 6,000 people revealed that people with excessive abdominal fat in their early 40′s were approximately three times as likely to develop dementia in their 70′s as compared to people with the least amount of abdominal fat.  This is yet another negative side effect from being overweight.  I don’t know about you, but the more I read about the health risks of being overweight, the more I exercise to prevent myself from becoming part of those negative statistics.  Click on the following link to read the entire article. 

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/17036876.html

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Do you find yourself looking in the mirror, pinching your love handles, and wondering if you are overweight? If so, you are not alone. Every person can close their eyes and visualize in their mind what an overweight person looks like, but not many people actually know what classifies a person as being either overweight or obese. You can determine if you are overweight or obese by calculating either your Body Mass Index (BMI) or your body fat percentage.

BMI is a generic estimation of body fatness. Although calculating your BMI is definitely one of the fastest ways to determine if you are overweight, it may not be the most accurate tool. Your BMI is calculated by assessing both weight and height; however, it does not incorporate muscle mass into the final equation (i.e. not accurate for body builders). You can quickly determine your BMI by clicking on the following link: BMI Calculator. Compare your BMI results with the following table to determine if you are overweight:

Category BMI Range – kg/m^2

*A BMI of 40 or above can increases a person’s risk of death from any cause by 50%-150%.

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Part 1 taught us that we need to lower our daily calorie consumption or “Calorie Budget” to better represent “The Necessities” or the minimum amount of calories our body needs to survive. An important step to successfully losing weight is realizing how much you are actually eating (or over-eating) on average each day.

I highly recommend that you go out and purchase the 2008 CalorieKing Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter. This book is under $10 and it breaks down every food you can possibly imagine (this includes restaurants and fast-food) into calories, fat and carbohydrates. This book will help you identify which foods are healthy for you and which foods you need to limit portion sizes or cut out of your diet completely.

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