How do you get past your plateau?

laurenkuta

I've been going strong for over a month, losing about 8 pounds. But for the past 2 weeks, I have been stuck teetering between the same 1-2 pounds. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting past this? I've been under my calorie count (or just barely over it) in these past 2 weeks as well, and have been working out whenever possible (approximately burning 500 cals per day). Any suggestions would be amazing! Thank you MFP friends!

emilyah1981

Hi,

Have you tried changing up your workout routine?

Emily

Sparrow_Feet

Just a thought but.....

Keep monitoring it as it could be related to your time of the month....it could just be water that is keeping you there at the moment.

laurenkuta

Thanks for responding! I was mostly doing elliptical type of machines, but just this week I'm implimenting running on the treadmill as well...I hope this is what gets me over the hump!

zeeeb

just keep going. it's hard, and it's designed (by the evil fat fairys) to make us give up and give in... but keep going to the gym, keep eating right and eventually you make up for the plateau and lose some good figures after the plateau breaks.

i have a year planner in the front of the diary and at the top row i write my weight at the start of each month, so if i feel like nothing is moving and i'm getting annoyed at numbers, i go back and look at my year planner and think, well every month i've lost weight, so this month probably won't be any different, i just have to wait and keep at it...

Forensi

What is your recommended calorie intake? If it is around 1200 try increasing that amount you are eating by 200-300. It may seem counter productive but doing this will boost your metabolism a bit and you will start to burn fat again. Also make sure you are eating all of your exercise calories back. If you don't eat these back and your calorie intake drops below 1200 it will be more of a hindrance to your cause then a help. So if you have 1200 and burn 500 from exercise you effectively have only had 700 cals net which is way way way way too low. You should be at 1200 absolute lowest.

Sorry for the slight lecture but hope it helps.

eates

I got a great link yesterday when I asked about busting my plateau..

http://fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.com/2011/05/most-dreaded-word-in-weight-loss.html

iamvillanueva

Getting past the plateau is all about muscle confusion. Keep your calories in about the same, but intensify your workouts and keep changing how you attack your muscles. Try a step class, a kickboxing class, run on the track or the road. Include weight training, yoga, etc. etc. Also, in some cases, while you may not see any major decrease in weight, you will still be losing inches (muscle weighing more than fat), and losing is losing. Good luck!