Plateau- Food and Routine Advice

Have you measured yourself? It's hella frustrating when it looks like nothing is moving but checking your weight/arm/leg measurements and body fat can help keep you sane whilst your body does it's stubborn thing - odds are it's building muscle! :P

A friend of mine whose gone through this before says that one of the best things you can do is eat differently. Not better or worse, just differently. For example, at the moment, I eat muesli with yoghurt and cereal for breakfast. If I started to plateau I might switch to something like porridge with apple and some cinnamon. I've still got the dairy for protein, some carbs to keep me going and fruit so nutritionally speaking I'm hitting the targets I want to - it's just different. Where do you get your protein from? Maybe try a lean meat, egg or soya beans if you don't usually eat one of them.

With regard to your workout routine, have you tried altering the exercises you do a little bit when you do your strength training? It doesn't have to be huge, stuff like having your feet closer or wider apart when you do squats or sitting on a physio ball instead of the bench when you do arm exercises can help shake things up a little. (Disclaimer: I have no idea what jackie warner style means so if I've just given you really useless advice, sorry!)

The same sort of thing goes for cardio. If you usually do a long jog, try sprint training occasionally to see if that changes things. Alternatively, you could try a totally different form of cardio like swimming or try taking up a sport you've liked the look of but haven't felt brave enough to try yet. One of my closest friends worked out in the gym and ran and had reasonable weight loss until she realised she was really into ballet - because she loved it and had goals that weren't weight-orientated that she was working towards, she found the weight dropped off without her really trying. Have you ever thought about trying something like horseriding or dance? Just a thought!