by Leann Zotis

Created on: November 05, 2009   Last Updated: November 09, 2009

It happens to almost everyone during their efforts to lose weight. Somewhere along the way, no matter now diligently you follow the Weight Watchers guidelines; no matter how strictly you adhere to the points system in your menu planning or how faithful you are to your exercise program, your weight loss stalls out. You reach a weight level, not your goal weight but somewhere above it, where the pounds just refuse to budge. You might stare at the scale in disbelief for several weeks and nothing seems to be happening. You have reached that much despised moment in your weight loss program known as a plateau.

Reaching a plateau can be a danger point in the life of a Weight Watchers follower. If you start to think all your work is in vain, it can be easy to get discouraged. Discouragement can lead to abandoning your weight loss efforts altogether and, before you know it, you're right back where you started before Weight Watchers came into your life.

Fortunately, the Weight Watchers program anticipates such temporary delays in achieving your results and can offer some helpful suggestions for coping with a plateau.

* Wait it out

First and foremost, don't give up hope and cut back on your efforts to follow the program. Temporary plateaus can happen for any number of reasons or for no reason at all. If you stay steadily on course, oftentimes you will break through the stagnation period in a few weeks and resume your regular, steady progress.

* Restructure your points

If patience isn't necessarily one of your virtues, or if you've tried waiting it out and don't see any resolution in sight, take a look at the Points Tracker you've been keeping throughout the program. Perhaps knocking two points from your daily allotment will kick your metabolism back into action. Or maybe you need to talk to your Weight Watchers counselor and work with her to review just where your daily point consumption is coming from. Should you add more vegetables and cut back on the breads and pastas? Are you keeping track of your fiber intake and keeping it at acceptable levels? Are you being totally honest with yourself and your Points Tracker about your consumption?

* Add more exercise to your life

Exercise is one of the cornerstones to success in the Weight Watchers program. Perhaps an additional twenty minutes a day will give you the boost you need to break free of that plateau and resume your normal weight loss.

The important thing to remember is that hitting a plateau in your weight loss program is not a sign of failure. It is simply part of the process. You will come out of it by maintaining a conscientious effort to follow the Weight Watchers program. Successful weight loss is about changing the bad habits of a lifetime. Your progress may not always be what you would like, but you will break free of any barriers with patience and diligence.

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