It happens to everyone who has ever tried to lose weight. The dreaded plateau. You will be dropping pounds and your body fat percentage is lower each time you check it. All of a sudden, one week, two weeks, three weeks go by and you haven't lost a single pound or inch, maybe you've even gained. It is one of the most detrimental things that can happen to someone attempting to lose weight and can result in giving up.
Rather than giving up and letting all your hard work to this point go to waste, try some of these ideas to help you get over that plateau quickly:
Mix up your routine. When you first start exercising your body has to adapt to keep up with all the new demands you are putting on it. Exercise uses a lot of extra energy, otherwise known as calories, that weren't getting used before. Our bodies adapt and become more equipped to handle these demands. Try adding additional time to your workouts or extra exercises to your weight lifting regime. If you typically jog for 30 minutes, bump it up to 45 minutes. If you usually do one exercise for your biceps, add another one. If you are on a tight schedule and can't possibly add extra time to your workout, boost up the intensity. Increase the amount of weight you are lifting or increase the number of repetitions. Try jogging or interval training instead of walking or mix up your cardio routine all together by getting on a new machine or trying a pre-set program that you haven't tried before. Most importantly, if you haven't been lifting weights at all, now is the time to start.
Get some rest. People often under estimate the importance of a good night sleep. Your body needs enough rest to fully recover and to help you work at peak performance. If you are fatigued, you won't be able to push yourself to that next level. Plus your muscles develop during rest time so it's essential that you give them some down time between workouts. Over doing it at this point may do you more harm than good.
Have another look at your diet. When you started your weight loss quest you figured out your optimal calorie intake. These calculations are based on your current weight. You reduced the number of calories you required for weight maintenance so that you would have a deficit, right? Well, now your weight has changed substantially and it might be time to re-evaluate your body's calorie requirement.
Start tracking again. I know, I know - you hate tracking and journaling, but often it can help you get over a hump. You might know your workout routine by heart, or you might just decide what you're going to do when you get to the gym. Having a plan can help you stay focused on your ultimate goal. Also, we tend to try to log our food journal in our head based on what we ate yesterday or last week. We calculate a rough estimate of how much we consumed, but often things get forgotten. Writing it down will make you more accountable and will help you get your diet and exercise plans back on track.
Remember that our bodies work hard to keep our energy intake and output in balance. We need to work hard to keep our body guessing. Some plateaus are harder to break through than others. Don't give up.
Say It! Mean It! Do It!
