For those who are stuck

Jelybe

Plateaus. They happen.

But how long should you live with it?...

In your journey to reach your health / fitness and/or weight goals... you are discovering what does and what does not work for you. It's a science that is individual for each of us. Yes, calories in vs. calories out is a universal concept. But what kind of calories? When? How often? How do I best burn calories? What is a plan I can stick to? These questions and more are all individual.

So, in the science of what works for you, if you are stuck on a plateau for an extended period of time (more than a week) switch things up! Your body adjusts and becomes comfortable and used to your "routine". It's best to challenge it, confuse it, and help it to "snap out of it"!

How? Well, what works for me will likely be different from what works for you and the next guy and so on and so forth.

You can try more calories, try less calories, try eating different types of foods to satisfy your calories for the day.

You can try adding more cardio. Or switch up your cardio. If you stick to the treadmill... try the stairclimber... go for a bike ride.... add a hike twice a week.

If you lift weights, maybe you need to add a little weight, or use different machines or methods.

You get the idea... it's all about discovering what works for you... and the research can be interesting and perhaps even fun! There is no reason why you can't invite someone else along for your calorie-burning bike ride!

We all have heard the saying that tells us the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If you have been on a plateau for a long time... and are not mixing up your routine... you will not get different results. But the power to get different results is yours! Enjoy the control and run with it!

I hope this helps anyone who needed a little extra push today!

If you were on a plateau and switching things up worked for you, please tell us about it!

Best wishes,
Jen

aippolito1

I definitely mixed things up and saw results!! Mid-April, I was eating a base of 1200 calories, leaving a couple hundred exercise calories, was working out 6x/week, doing elliptical every other day and then a circuit, some yoga poses, and then a walk outside the other nights. It was a total of 30 mins cardio everyday. I stopped seeing results. No inches lost and no weight lost.

In May, I stopped doing the circuit and started lifting weights and kept up the yoga poses and walking. I lost some inches.

In June, I cleaned up my diet, increased to 1400 base calories, started weighing my meat, got a heart rate monitor, and started running intervals 3x/week in the mornings, along with strength training at night, with a walk afterwards. I also picked up Ab Ripper X, Pilates, and another walk on non-strength days instead of doing the elliptical. This equaled to about an hour cardio per day. I lost weight for the first time since April!!

Since then, I've been doing Ab Ripper X, Pilates and a walk (or jogging in place) every other day, and the last couple weeks that's it. I've still been losing weight, I've just made sure to keep within my 1400 calories as not having the extra exercise doesn't allow a whole lot more calories like I'm used to!!

Instead of just lifting weights, I bought Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones and plan to start that tomorrow instead of my regular weight lifting routine and I'm trying to eat cleaner than I was before. After "cleaning" up my diet, I slipped into eating a lot of sugar or just plain crap. That's about to change.

Jelybe

Nice Arielle!

You definitely aren't stuck in that rut of doing the same things day in and day out-

And it's obviously working for you - congrats on being more than half-way to your goal!