Why Your Weight Loss Suddenly Tanked Like The Economy -- And How To Fix It (Part 1 of 3)

"My weight loss plan was working perfectly."

Armed with your 1300 calorie diet, your hour-a-day cardio routine, and your no-carbs-after-4pm rule, you threw yourself into your weight loss plan with all the enthusiasm and dedication you could muster. You even used the weight machines once in a while if you were feeling good after that hour on the elliptical.

"It's all about calories in, calories out!" That was your mantra. If you just kept burning far more calories that you were consuming every day, that 85 pound weight loss goal would be a reality! You were giving up whatever foods were necessary and pushing your body as hard as it could stand.

It was working. In the first week you lost 10 pounds! The next week, 8 down. Then nearly another 10 by the end of the first month!

"This is almost too good to be true."

Emboldened by your skyrocketing weight-loss totals, you decide that as great as this is, more would be even better! Sixty minutes of spin class turned into ninety. 1300 calories dropped to 1200. Hey, whats 100 calories a day? Especially when you hit another 7 pounds off the scale this week and 5½ the next. The scale was the only critic that mattered - and the scale was saying good things.

Still, you couldn't help but think... Even though the weight loss numbers were impressive, they were down from what you had been losing at the start. It was a bit confusing that you were working harder, eating less, yet losing weight slower. But why?

"I think I figured it out!"

It seems logical that since you're a lighter person than you were a few months ago, you're just not burning as much calories during your cardio. You're carrying around less weight, so you're body isn't working as hard. Right? So of course you need to step up the cardio even more! You decide to squeeze in a second workout on days you don't have work. Your family would understand.

By the same token, a lighter body needs less calories, doesn't it? When you started with 1300 calories a day, that was almost 40 pounds ago! Chopping off that 100 calories obviously was not enough, you thought. Doctors say 1200 calories is a bare minimum for your gender, but you decided you could get by for a while on 1100. Just until you hit your goal.

The scale is judging you. But now its verdict is only 2-3 pounds every week to ten days.

"I'm still losing weight, but..."

This so called "fitness lifestyle" is getting really hard to maintain for you. Your energy is not where it was after the first month. You're feeling more stressed and less focused. You had to skip your workout today because of another headache.

You want that ICE CREAM, DAMMIT! Just one bowl!

But, no! You've come so far with your plan. You can't just quit on yourself. Maybe you just overdid it. Maybe if you just went back to your original plan, you would see better results again. So it's back to 1300 calories and 60 minutes on the treadmill, no carbs after 4pm.

It's a week later, and those extra 200 calories a day haven't made you feel all that much more energetic. Sixty minutes on the stairmaster isn't much easier than ninety, either. But you think to yourself: "This is the routine that had me losing 10 pounds a week. This is the routine my body liked best." Right?

"I gained weight?!? How is this possible?!?"

Somehow, your weight went up a pound. You're doing the same things that had you losing 10 pounds a week a few months ago. What if you tried that fat burner pill. Or that fat blocker pill? Or that 5 day, juice and pepper detox thing?

It's ridiculous, isn't it. How did you gain weight? Yeah, you finally broke down and snuck those french fries on Wednesday - but on Thursday you made up for it by skipping breakfast.

You start feeling that none of this is worth it -- that this is the start of ALL those pound you lost coming right back. You've seen it with others. They're gonna come back faster and heavier than before. You can't understand why it isn't working for you.

"Am I just meant to always be fat?"

The answer to that question is "no". You have the desire and the commitment and the physical ability to do it. Of that there is no doubt.

But there are some real good reasons that your weight-loss bubble burst, and the state of your physical fitness is now in recession.

In Part 2, we'll examine the mistakes that caused this situation, so that you NEVER, EVER make them again...