plateau after 2 weeks

I suggest taking measurements each week. If you are working out and watching calories you might be building muscle. Some weeks you will lose more inches than pounds.

Hi Leslie,

I'm having a little plateau too at the mo and trying not to get disheartened! Things that will help are:

-increasing the intensity of your workouts. This will boost your metabolism and give you some after-burn too. Jillian is great for this just push as hard as possible each workout.

-adding some more cardio to your day wherever possible (I try to take brisk walks at any opportunity) this keeps perking your metabolism up.

-make sure your starchy carbs aren't too high- otherwise your body draws energy from those and not from your fat reserves.

-drink LOADS of water and add some of these foods to your diet if you can (I'm drinking green tea by the truckload and munching celery like it's going out of fashion) http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/love-sex-relationships/health-fitness/2011/05/eat-yourself-slim-top-30-metabolism-boosting-foods

-pumping some iron! Muscle costs your body more calories to run than fat so if you build more muscle it will boost your metabolism. Women often think lifting weights will make them bulky. I promise it won't. Jari Love has some really doable workouts that you can do at home with just your Jillian dumbbells to start with

I hope that's useful stuff and I'll add you as a friend and perhaps we can be plateau buddies!

Also remember, it's not going to be easy but Rome wasn't built in a day and you have to try to enjoy the journey as much as the destination (yeah I know blah blah blah

Sarah

Plateau's are defined as a stop in weight loss lasting six weeks or more. Not days. That can be attributed to water weight. As well, if you are sore, your muscles retain water to help them heal leading to people seemingly not losing weight or gaining.

THIS!

And this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/595473-why-the-scale-goes-up-with-a-new-workout-program-must-read

You might also be impacted by sodium. Not everyone is, but many are. I try to keep my sodium count around 1500 mg/day which seems to minimize sodium induced water retention.

I got frustrated 3 weeks in because I was doing everything "right" but wasn't seeing a change on the scale. I just stuck with it and decided to focus on non-scale victories like seeing how my clothing fit, seeing if I could challenge myself further physically, etc. Stick with it! I also recommend doing measurements but don't take them every week. I recommend taking them every 3 months....then you really see a nice change in the numbers. I was doing weekly measurements but my body just wasn't changing like I wanted to and i got frustrated. Where to measure? I do neck, bust, upper arms, waist, hips, thighs, and calves.

You are not at a plateau.

Some people's weight doesn't shift in months... give it more time. Weight doesn't just 'fall off'. Keep doing what you are doing and you will see results.