Plateau

I'm not entirely sure, and I'm certainly no expert. Here's what I'd say...

A Plateau is when your weight loss sort of hits a stand-still. You're not losing, but you're not gaining anything either. Typically, most people recommend you combat this by shaking this up a bit in your routine. Whether this be eating more or less calories (yes, you heard me...MORE calories. You've got to eat to lose), exercising more, or simply trying DIFFERENT exercises.

I've heard it last for long periods of time, but I've also heard some people's don't last long at all. I've hit a couple of them... I'd have two weeks with no loss, then I'd lose some, and then a few weeks later I'd have another smaller one. As i said before, i'm no expert, but I saw that no one else had responded so I thought i'd give you a little feedback.

Good luck on your weight-loss journey!

A plateau is what happens when you are not losing wait for a time. It does not always mean you are cheating or eating too many calories, but instead, your body will lower your metabolism to only burn what your NEW lower caloric intake is.

So I like to add exercise and/or raise my calories for a few days. I have heard that is a good way to keep your body guessing. Make sure to drink all your water too.

Hope this helps! Just don't get frustrated or quit...keep tracking your calories and add exercise whenever you can.

A plateau is when you reach a point in your weight where it stays constant and no matter what you do, you cannot lose or gain weight. These plateaus are caused by two factors: a non-changing routine of exercises or a routine in the way you eat.

The first plateau, routines in your exercises, happen because the muscles are capable of adjusting to the exercise you put them through regularly. Its called "muscle memory." I'll explain myself: the muscles in our bodies are capable of remembering movements and they adjust in time to these movements so you can preserve energy and calories while doing your exercises. Of course, we want the opposite. We want to use up the energy and burn off the calories. The way to overcome this plateau is changing the exercises you've been doing and focusing on different parts of your body. If you've been working on your legs, give them a rest and work on your arms the next day. Work on your hips the next. And so on. The point is to cause "muscle confusion." Muscle confusion is a state is which the body is constantly targeting different areas of the body, giving the muscles no time to adjust and no time to remember the movements. This way, you'll burn off all those calories you don't want!!!

The second plateau, eating habits, are the toughest and the ones we usually miss. Let me start by explaining to you how we break fats. The liver is the organ in charge of breaking fats. It is also in charge of cleaning the blood and eliminating toxins. When we eat, we usually don't look at the ingredients that make up our "food." But it is time that we did. Let me give you an example: hydrogenated oils. They are one of the worst things you can eat and they are everywhere!! In your butter, in your margarine, in your conventional popcorn, in the fast foods, and many more!! Hydrogenated oils were once liquid oils that through a chemical process became solid. When you put one of these products in your body, your liver registers the food as a toxin!! Why?? Because its chemical composition has been altered so much, it no longer resembles a fatty acid (oils). Actually, it's chemical composition is closer to plastic than to food!!! Why I make you such a long story? Because when the liver registers toxins in the blood, it stores these toxins in fatty cells in order to isolate them from the rest of the vital organs in your body and avoid harm to the normal functions and processes occurring within you. Now, a trivia question: What happens when you feed your body huge quantities of toxin? Your body starts storing up more fat because it needs a place to safely isolate toxins and your secondary effect is weight gain!!! Now add the fact that you're exercising and storing toxins... this is where you reach the plateau.

You wish to avoid plateaus? Lose weight in a healthy way. Start changing your eating habits and start varying your exercises. Take a look at what you eat. Read the nutrition labels in your food and avoid anything that has: enriched flour (may be wheat, rice, etc.), high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, etc. Stick to "whole foods." Whole foods are foods that have not been processed or preserved, like fruits and vegetables. Eat your meats lean and organic. Basically, go whole and organic. Its the best way to lose weight and keep your body healthy. Also, by keeping a healthy diet, you can have a day in the week where you cheat. I'm not talking about stuffing your face... always eat in portions and moderation. I'm saying that when your body is used to getting the healthy foods, and one Saturday you hit the ice cream place, it will also help you lose weight!!! Why? Because your body is expecting a certain food and you give it another, confusing your metabolism and making it work extra hard that day to deal with the calorie surplus. So you see, there are many ways of dealing with stubborn plateaus. All we need is the right information.

I tell you this because I was in a plateau for a month!!! As soon as I changed what I ate, BAM!!! Bye bye Plateau! So, good luck! And I hope this could help you...