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When you find that your weekly weight loss has stalled that’s often known as a ‘weight loss plateau’ and many dieters find the sudden lack of progress deeply frustrating. Herbalife’s Nutrition Expert Susan Bowerman helps you understand why your weight may plateau and give you some ideas to make sure you continue to meet your goals so that your weight will start moving again.

Five tips to move off the plateau:

• Use a food diary to keep track of your calorie intake - You may have been more careful when you started your diet — weighing and measuring everything that passed your lips — but you might not be as accurate as you once were. This will get you back on track.
• Replace two meals a day with a protein shake to help you stay within your calorie limit. When you make your shake, you know exactly what goes into it — and how many calories are in the protein powder, the milk and the fruit — so it takes the guesswork out of calorie counting. Use the shake for two meals a day, have a healthy third meal, and fill in with snacks of low fat protein foods, vegetables and fruits.
• Dine out less often - No matter how careful you think you are when you go to a restaurant, it's usually difficult to accurately estimate how many calories you're eating, because it's often hard to tell exactly how foods are prepared.
• Step up your activity, particularly strength training - If you've been working out for a while and haven't increased the intensity of your activity, you might not be burning as many calories as you used to. Add some new moves to your exercise routine, increase the intensity, and pump some iron.
• You might actually be at the right weight - If you can, get your body composition checked. Muscle is ‘denser' and takes up less space than body fat — so if you are carrying more muscle than the average person, you might weigh more than you think you should. If your body fat is within normal range, then you may not have much — if any — additional weight to lose

Around 60-70% of the human body is composed of water, so it's fair to say that water is vital for survival. It functions to keep our body temperature regulated, allows us to breathe, is essential in digestion and excretion, assists body movement, just to name a few!

Drinking 8-10 glasses of water each day is recommended, but during exercise or when in hot environments, we need to drink more, because we sweat more.

But is water enough? Or do you need a sports drink to stay properly hydrated?
Sports drinks will keep you well hydrated and give you energy if you're participating in high intensity exercise for more than an hour. However, if you're not exercising to this level, plain water will do just fine.

What defines a sports drink?
Sports drinks (sometimes called electrolyte or isotonic drinks) are developed to contain the right level of carbohydrates (5-8 g/litre) and electrolytes (such as sodium and potassium) to keep you well hydrated; replacing what is lost from the body during exercise.

Other drinks that contain high amounts of carbohydrates stop water being absorbed quickly and therefore can delay hydration, so are not suitable before exercise.

So if you're doing a high intensity workout, choose a sports drink. But, if you're not working out to this intensity and drink them as part of your everyday routine you may end up putting on weight because of the extra carbohydrate content.

If you don't like the taste of plain water, add a slice of lemon, orange or a sprig of mint to give your water some flavour without adding the calories you'd get by using cordial.

Hydration tips for exercise

• Make sure you're well hydrated before you exercise - start drinking approximately two hours before
• Keep your fluids topped up during exercise
• Always remember to re-hydrate after exercise – it's essential for recovery. Try to drink one to two glasses per hour until your urine is pale again

Are you ready to work your abs? I'm Samantha Clayton, fitness expert and former competitive sprinter. I'm working with Herbalife to help you achieve a healthy, active life.

Today, we're going to focus on engaging your core, and work on getting that perfect flat tummy or serious six-pack. In just five-minutes, I expect you to feel the burn and realize that lack of time is not a good enough excuse for not working out your mid-section.

Remember! Some exercises are not right for everyone, so please listen to your body and, if an exercise doesn't feel right, then opt for a modified version or stick with an exercise that feels good and fits within your current fitness level.

Let's begin by warming up our core with a few of my favorite standing moves and then we'll take it to the floor for the remainder of the workout.

Hip circles
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
- Place your hands on your hips and rotate your hips in small circles.
- Gradually increase your movements. 
- Now, let's switch direction.

Our next move we are going into is called side bends
- Place your hands on the outside of your thighs and slowly bend sideways.
- Slide your hands down toward your knee. Remember to breathe

Our next move is called the standing high-knee ab crunch
- Place your hands up overhead and make a fist.
- As you lower your elbows down, lift your knee up to meet your elbows and crunch your torso. 
- Just keep switching legs and repeat. 
- Inhale as your arms go up and exhale as they come down.

Let's take it to a standing ab twist next
- Place your hands behind your head
- Lift one knee as you twist to touch your opposite elbow to your opposite knee like so.
- Don't push your head forward and make sure you do this movement in a controlled manner, focusing on your balance.

Let's lie down on the floor for: Crunches
- Lie down on the floor and do a pelvic tilt to ensure you are in the correct position.
- Place your hands behind your head, contract your core and lift your shoulders up off the floor.
- And lower back down 

Now stay on the floor with your hands behind your head and your feet extended off the ground. 
- In one continuous motion, bring your right elbow to your left knee.
- And then bring your left elbow to your right knee. 
- If you need to modify, you can go back to doing just the leg action with your hands and head on the floor modified version.

Time to flip over flip over onto your tummy
- Get into a push-up position but instead of being on your hands, rest on your forearms. 
- Now tighten your core and glutes and keep as straight as you can.
- Remember to breathe as we hold for 30 seconds. Remember to breathe.

Our next move is reverse crunches
- You want to sit up with your knees bent.
- Cross your arms over your chest and slowly lean down by engaging your abs.
- Lower just a few inches and sit back up.
- You can do this holding your thighs if you need the support.

Ok, we have been through one time. You know the moves, so let's focus on working hard for 2 full minutes. Are you with me? Let's go!
- With our crunches, just 30 seconds.
- Now let's go straight into that bicycle move, legs are up. Few more.
- Now, flip over into plank position and hold a strong core. Hold nice and controlled.
Ok here we go for the last 30 seconds - controlled reverse sit-ups

I hope you enjoyed my five-minute abdominal burn workout and can find ways to add some or all of these exercises to your current routine.

For more Herbalife fitness advice from me, Samantha Clayton, take a look at http://www.DiscoverGoodFitness.com or check out the rest of my playlist: http://hrbl.me/XBScRq.
Thanks, Samantha x