The Last Pounds: Don’t Let Your Ideal Weight Slip When You Are On The Last Lap.
When you decide to lose weight , the first few pounds is often very easy. That’s good because it’s a great motivator when you see results right away. But as you lose more, the rate of loss, and the speed with which you see visible effects, slows down. It’s hard to keep going when you aren’t seeing the benefits.
Don’t give up, though. Remember that at a certain level, you will find that initial burst of effort is only getting you about eighty percent of the way there. The other twenty percent are a great deal more difficult, and when you are looking to get that final twenty percent out there and keep the results you get, there are some important things to keep in mind.
Sometimes the difficulty in shedding that last 10 or 20 pounds can be loss of willpower. After achieving so much, it can be easy to say ‘that is good enough’. If so, that may be ok. You may validly choose to re-evaluate your goals and decide that it truly is good enough.
But beware of long term effects when you are trying to lose the belly fat
One long term effect is the difficulty of maintaining staying power for other goals. If you develop a habit of giving up before the job is complete, it becomes that much more difficult to stick with it the next time. On the upside, if you do go that last mile, the positive morale boost is a great reinforcer.
Also keep in mind that the idea of giving up is something that can bring about problems when it comes to keeping the weight off. If you never get to your original goal, are you going to be happy? When you are constantly working and striving, you will find that keeping your weight down and winning that particular battle can be a difficult one.
When you are thinking about getting that last twenty percent of your goal met, there may very well be physiological reasons for the slowdown as well. Perhaps your body gravitates towards a particular weight. There is no way to tell what happens unless you are willing to keep trying, however.
You may have also realized that the exercises that you are doing are not working as well as they used to. Think about in terms of effort. In many ways, it takes an impressive push to get the last bit of your goal met.
If you’ve been doing cardio 30 minutes a day, three days a week, you may need to extend it to four or five days. That’s usually preferable to extending the length of the workout. You can begin to get close to the injury zone if you work yourself too hard during a given workout. But, you can up it to 45 minutes with minimal risk, if you judge that you still have that much more to give.
When cardio seems to have come to a complete dead stop, up the intensity and try interval training. Do not overdo it; getting an injury can push you back even farther when it comes to getting to the goal that you have settlement.
You may have to try some new exercises. Muscles adapt. Trying some new ones works those that may have been getting less than the most strenuous workout while you were achieving that 80%.
Keep at it until you hit your final desired goal, then keep it steady. Long term results require a permanent lifestyle change.
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