I.M.120 Helping you to BE YOUR BEST SELF

It's out there waiting for you, ready to take away your enthusiasm and your optimism. The wall, the weight-loss plateau. In order to succeed on your weight-loss journey, everybody must conquer the wall. Why is it there? And how do you get past it?

Simply put, your body does not like change. Come to think of it neither does your brain. Change of any sort brings stress into our lives, even a change for the better. This is true in the arena of weight loss. Your body perceives the weight reduction as a problem to be solved and quickly swings into action creating counter regulatory hormones that will slow your metabolism, preserve fat mass and drive up your hunger.

Behavioral techniques to overcome the wall or to first accept it's inevitable arrival and not become more distressed that your weight loss has stalled. Maintain your workout tempo. Increasing the duration and intensity of exercise is generally not useful in stimulating further weight reduction.

Sometimes the best approach is to just stay at your new setpoint for a while, perhaps weeks at a time. This will enable you to build confidence in your current nutritional patterns and prepare you for the next change.

When you're ready, scrutinize every source of nutritional intake then target some areas for change. This can be difficult if you perceive yourself as being already nearly ideal in food choice and volume.

Review all the sections on premeditated discipline, consider the relative portion size you're consuming and acknowledge that something must change. This can be a good time to lean more heavily on meal replacements as a way of shrinking food volume.

In some cases, nutraceuticals or prescription Medications may be used to assist you in combating hunger and countering the brains neurochemical reaction to your weight loss.

Another form of plateau must be acknowledged and this is when a person is achieving a physiologic healthy weight but one that is not consistent with the goal they originally set for themselves.

We recently helped a patient who lost almost 100 pounds and then settled in at a new weight of 250 pounds. Her target weight was 150 pounds. After a body analysis scan done at our office, we discovered she had an enormous amount of muscle mass on her frame. Going below 200 pounds would actually be unhealthy for her. It turns out she's just an incredibly powerful athlete.

Sometimes, the way to deal with a plateau is to fall in love with a new target and embrace the healthy shape you have achieved. When it comes to weight loss, one size never fits all.

Live your best self,
Dr. Steve Petteruti