What broke my plateau?!

trdepalo

Hey, so I just recently broke a three month plateau - yay finally!! It happened though over spring break when I went on a yoga retreat for a week and was doing 90 minutes of yoga twice a day but almost no other exercise (just sunbathing). Also, I couldn't count calories the whole week because every meal was buffet style and pre-prepared so I just tried to "eat intuitively" or whatever.

Anyways, I would really like to keep the loosing going, but I definitely cannot re-create that environment exactly and I was wondering if anyone had an idea of what it was exactly that broke the plateau. Was it the 3 hours daily yoga (but no other exercise, at home I do 90 minutes yoga 3-4 days a week and run at least 30 minutes 3 days a week and walk around to classes and such)? Or was it switching up how I ate? I had been counting calories religiously for seven months but the last two were becoming difficult because I was doing the same things but nothing was changing and there was something liberating about eating three slightly bigger meals a day (instead of my regular 5-6) when I was hungry (instead of when I was supposed to) and stopping when I was full (instead of just eating every bite I calculated).

Anyways, my question is, was it the eating or was it the yoga that broke my plateau? I hope it was the eating because that is something I can work on right now but I definitely can't fit in three hours of yoga into my current schedule.

trdepalo

Also, if it was just the yoga, will I lose all the strength and gain all of the weight back??

Cre8veLifeR

I think it was the eating! I have been really listening to my body and eating only when I am hungry as opposed to when I am *supposed* to and it's been working for me. I know that I will NOT count calories for the rest of my life. Getting to listen to my body and learning portion control I can do for the rest of my life.

That retreat sounds wonderful! Don't you wish you could recreate it forever?

kaypat09

Same type of thing recently happened to me- I gained a couple of pounds while I was out of the country but once I got back the weight basically fell off. I actually reached goal when I came back! When I was in the Dominican Republic, we ate a LOT of carbs, and I ate a lot more than I typically would here at home. I was pretty active (walking everywhere, very physical gardening work), but no actual working out while I was there. I think that switching up your diet and shocking your body is what did it. It's definitely what did it for me!

trdepalo

yeah, I really wish I could recreate it forever. Once summer comes I'm going to see if I can find a way to do yoga at least once a day and also running... maybe I'll do a yoga training the summer after next I'm not sure. But you think it was really the eating then? I still have about 10 pounds til my goal weight (although I might want to lose more, I'll have to see when I get there) and I'm just afraid that this is a false weight loss or something and that it will jump back up...

MysticRealm

Sometimes the body just needs a break from constantly dieting. Hope the loses continue.

cwolfman13

I think it was the eating. You were probably consuming more calories than usual because you weren't doing a lot of intense exercise and weren't tracking calories. There is such a thing as too large a calorie deficit for weight loss. Basically, you need enough calories to effectively lose...but not so many that you maintain or gain.

I take a diet break every 8 weeks or so and it has helped immensely in consistent weight loss. During my diet breaks I just eat right around maintenance for a week or two.

trdepalo

The funny thing was I had taken a diet break like two or three weeks before I left, and also Christmas was sort of a diet break too, so it seemed weird that eating more wasn't working and then suddenly would, you know? Which circles me back to was it the eating or was it the yoga?

trdepalo

bump??