Breaking a plateau

Well I'm no expert for sure. I have however been stuck at several plateaus since joining MFP in October. My last one ended about 3 weeks ago. I can remember hitting the gym and burning over 3,000 calories in a day. That didn't break it. I've burnt as much as 10,000 calories in a week and that didn't do the trick either.

Then one day a buddy of mine called to play golf. Afterwards we hit a buffet. I ate quite a bit, mostly steak and veggies. I topped it off with some desert. The next day I lost weight. My body needed it. I could just tell. I felt so invigorated the next day. Even though I went through about 3,000 calories of food I was still under my allowance because of the golf.

Another time I had been exercising at the gym almost every day. Wasn't losing nothing. So I would exercise more. Then it was garden time. So I was out there in the fresh air digging my garden, planting, and building a small fence. Then amazingly I started losing weight again. Now gardening doesn't burn much calories according to MFP. Still it did the trick.

This is what I think I learned. You cannot eat the same thing day after day nor the same amount of calories day after day. If you do our amazing bodies adjust to it and lower the your metabolism so it seems. After the buffet the body said hey, we're getting fed well and relaxed it's guard.

Same thing for exercising. I truly believe my body and probably my mind were adapting to the work outs at the gym. That is okay we're doing the treadmill. Subconsciously I think I knew I was going to be on this long and paced myself for that effort. Therefore my body adjusted to make the workout fit into my metabolism and once again self preservation. So when I started digging the garden and planting a whole new set of muscles were involved. Further there was no pacing since I was always unsure of when it would be done. The body could only guess.

I have another thought for you. Can plateaus be avoided altogether? All of my plateaus started with eating cookies or cake. Things full of sugar and carbs. Now I rarely go over my allowance and yet I still plateaued after eating these foods. Why? I really don't know. My best guess is the way the body processes them. Still a calorie burned is a calorie burned. Weight Watchers suggested if you eat any of these things drink plenty of water afterwards. The theory is that you will wash them out.
My answer to the question is I really don't know. If I had to be forced with a yes or no I would give a hesitant yes.

The experts have been saying for a long time to mix up the food you eat and to do the same with calories. They have also said to shake up your workouts. Do different exercises for different lengths of time. I have to agree. It just seems you have to live it for yourself to really know.