i really want to know

Yep. Just like your body can get used to the same foods every day and you stall in your weight loss efforts. Change up your workouts and your food a little and see what happens. Sometimes small adjustments can lead to big changes.

I've been running outside, is that an option for you? The terrain will be different, as well the inclines and your stride. You could also try an elliptical machine if you're in a gym, those are supposed to kick some serious calories.

How about a spin class?

Changing up your routines will work a wider range of muscle groups and therefore be more beneficial to you - so it is a good idea.

Try circuits aswell - so 20mins treadmill, 20 mins rowing machine, 20 mins bike one day then 3 diff machines another.

Another thing to consider is upping the level on the machines - constantly pushing yourself will also help you develop faster.

Cardio is not always the answer below is my reply to another post

"don't just do cardio... to get toned and in shape you need to do some resistance training too.

Your body only starts to burn fat after around 45-60mins of exercise. Try to do 30 mins of resistance machines and then 30 mins cardio - a lot of time and energy but results will show.

Toning muscles requires stress to the muscles - low reps high weights - if combined with a low calorie diet - you will increase lean muscle - increase metabolism on short term and long term scales.

more lean muscle = higher metabolism.

Doing excess amounts of cardio will make you lose weight - Fact. But the weight you are losing is muscle and fat. Sensible target for weight loss is 2lb a week - any more and you're probably losing muscle tissue too.

Understand you're female and you probably don't want to look like a man and have huge muscles - but since you are a woman and you will (i assume) be having a low calorie diet you won't become ridiculously muscular - but toned!

don't have too much rest between resistance exercises - this will increase the intensity of the work out.
Do high weight vs low rep - to tone up fast. so you are really pushing those muscles - if you can to 10 reps comfortably - that's too high - 3-5 reps at a push is what your aiming for at 5 sets.

I've just tried to 'spew' out as much info as I can when I remember it - this is probably against all what you've thought in the past - but if you push yourself hard with little rest time (e.g. 15 secs between sets) you will sky rocket your metabolism for a few hours after the exercise too... then after your half an hour muscle work out do a 30 min low intensity cardio to burn fat - as you're body will start to be looking for the fat reserves after 45mins.

basically you're changing your body composition training this way to gain more muscle and less fat

If you need more info bout resistance routines message me - or want more info

hope this helps and is a good alternative to norm "

Yep. Just like your body can get used to the same foods every day and you stall in your weight loss efforts.

This is something I've not heard before, could you please explain it a bit more? Because, from what I've read, a pound of weight is 3500 calories, regardless of the source of the calories. A surplus of 3500 calories means a pound gained, a deficit of 3500 means a pound will be lost. How does the body "get used to the same food" and "stall" efforts? More info please. Thanks.

As you body gets used to exercise it gets more efficient at it. So for the same calorie burn you need to go a little quicker or for a little longer.
It can be helpful to have exercise specific goals rather than just looking at it as a means to lose weight, such as if you are running on a treadmill for 30 mins a session, adding a 100m each week to your distance covered in that time. 100 metres may not sound a lot, but in 20 weeks that would add up to one hell of an improvement (perhaps an impossible one).

The "doing the same exercise will cause you to burn fewer calories" is an overall misconception and inaccurate.

However, from a practical standpoint, a varied training stimulus is important in order to make continued progress in your fitness levels-strength, cardio, whatever.

Varying the training stimulus does not necessarily mean varying the activity. A runner, for example, can do a number of different types of workouts that will vary the training stimulus and lead to continued improvement without doing anything other than running.

So don't think you have to constantly run around doing new and different things, just for the sake of "change". Too much variety can possibly work against you because you never develop enough proficiency at any one thing to really work at an intensity that will bring the greatest results.

But variety is absolutely essential, IMO. Your cardio program should include longer, lower-intensity endurance workouts, medium time/intensity tempo workouts and shorter, more intense workouts--either linear or interval.

Strength training can get a little more complicated because resistance exercises are so much more specific than cardio. You want to make sure you are involving all major muscle groups at different angles and different speeds. But, again, you can go through a different cycles of training and exercises without constantly changing everything.