Hit a Plateau

AutumnNeigel

Once again, I'm at a plateau. I lost 10 pounds in a month, and just couldn't seem to get past that. After another 2 weeks, I finally got what seemed like progress by losing 3 pounds, but now I'm right back at that plateau.

I'm on a vegetarian diet and exercise every day. Currently I'm doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and am on level 3. She said people could lose up to 20 pounds doing this, but I haven't seen anything close to that yet for sure.

I'd really like to lost at least another 10 in a month to help me stay on track, but this plateau isn't helping.

Any ideas?

alpine1994

Are you taking any rest days when doing 30 Day Shred? I would only see the weight come off after a rest day, probably because my muscles were holding onto water trying to repair themselves! I did end up losing a lot of inches though, which is really the most important. Are you taking measurements?

I lost 27 lbs in 9 months. That's an average of 3 lbs per month which is pretty slow. Sometimes I would lose 3 or 4 lbs in one week, sometimes I wouldn't lose anything for 6 weeks, sometimes I would gain, etc. It's not really linear even if you're doing everything right. I always used to say "I need to lose 10lbs by this day" and I would always fail because that's just not the way it works. I would get frustrated and give up when I realized that I'm not going to attain that goal.

Now, I take an "official" weight (I weigh every day just to keep an eye on it) and measurements on the 1st of every month and keep it in an excel spreadsheet. The trend is always downward, even with cheat days and bad weekends.

I can't see your diary so I'm not sure how your calories are set, but as long as you're eating enough and working out regularly, keep doing what you're doing! It will come off. You already lost 13lbs! That's amazing!

10kaday

Increase the dumbbell weight. Do double sessions of Jillian morning/evening. Or -- when Jillian starts a new exercise (hit pause) and keep doing the current one for even longer. Then hit unpause and keep doing this. Start walking 10k a day -- get a pedometer. Eat healthier food.

AutumnNeigel

I do rest on Saturday and Sunday, usually because I work all weekend so it's more difficult to get the workout in on those days. So I always workout M-F.

Right now I'm using 5 lb weights, and since I just started level 3, they're pretty intense for me. I am looking into getting more heavier weights so I can keep increasing it, though. I really like your idea of hitting pause and doing more of the exercises, as well as twice a day. Her videos are usually on 24 minutes long, so that's completely doable. I'll have to motivate myself quite a bit more! I always do them right away when I wake up so I "trick" my mind before it knows what I'm doing. At night is going to be more difficult after going to class and working all day. I'll sure try though.

As far as healthier food, I think I'm doing pretty good on that. I eat a lot of fish, take fish oil pills, don't eat meat, eat few carbs and try to do gluten free products when I can get them. The area I live in is only just starting to get into the health beat, so healthier, fresh food is hard to come by. Especially if it's vegetarian or gluten free.

I haven't been measuring myself, and I kick myself for that because I always tell myself I will and then forget. I have noticed that some clothes and jeans are fitting a lot better, just not as well as I'd wish them to for where I'm at.

DavPul

have some patience. these 2 and 3 week periods you're talking about do not a plateau make. after i change my diet or exercise routine it takes me 3 weeks just to figure out which way things are going. that's not a plateau, that's a period of adjustment. and nobody is losing 20 lbs a month doing 30DS.

relax, make sure you're eating the right amount, give it some time, adjust as needed.