There comes a point in any weight-loss plan when no matter how hard your workout or how strict your diet, you just can't seem to shed those last few pounds.

Kevin Sebring hit that plateau in early October. In nearly eight weeks, he's lost 18 pounds, leaving him over halfway toward his goal of losing 30 pounds by November.

To help him get over the hump, Move It Be Fit trainer Craig Long has tweaked Sebring's meal plan and exercise regimen to push him in the right direction. Sebring said he's trying to choose foods that have fewer calories, carbohydrates and fats. Meanwhile, Long has increased the number and frequency of his repetitions with heavier weights. That maximizes the muscle gain, weight loss and aerobic benefits, Long said.

"You don't necessarily have to work harder if you work smarter," he said.

Sebring said he likes the exercises that work his arms and upper body, in particular, because as a child, he lost a lot of strength to chemotherapy treatments for leukemia.

He and two other winners of the 2010 Durham Fitness Challenge are getting help setting fitness goals, and planning workouts and meals through November.

The challenge is sponsored by the David Turner Lymphoma Foundation, named for a Durham resident who was diagnosed at 24 with Stage IV lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. The Durham News is reporting on the participants' progress.

So far, Sebring said, the changes are making a real difference in his life. The 17-year-old has more energy and strength, and runs out of breath less often, he said.

Although he would like to squeeze in more than two days a week for exercise, it's just not possible right now, he said. Church, school, work and friends keep him busy.

However, he does manage to fit in some fun. Last weekend, Sebring joined more than 200 re-enactors in Williamsburg, Va., to celebrate how George Washington mustered the Continental Army for the 1781 siege on the British army in Yorktown.

Sebring said he usually chooses to "die" during the mock battles, because it gives him a chance to do more acting. However, you have to be careful to pick the right time and place to "die," he said.

"I'll take a hit about 15 minutes in, really dramatic, and I'll fall over," he said. "If it's a hot day, you don't want to die and lie out in the middle of the sun for a half an hour."

Like finding a good place to wait out the battle, Sebring said having the right frame of mind is integral to meeting his fitness goals, too.

"It's partly mental," he said. "I can see the results, and I feel better about myself."