Overcoming the Plateau Successfully

I posted here a couple days ago venting some frustration. My weight loss had stalled, and in fact had reversed itself on my weekly weigh in. The scale had reported that I had gained 2 lbs since the previous week. Of course, when you are in weight loss mode and you see something like that, it's kind of like someone punching you in the face.

I had a lot of good suggestions from this site as well as from my trainer. A little background:

I started myfitnesspal July 6th as a form of accountability. I've ridden the overweight roller coaster all of my adult life (I'm 34) and have tried every fad diet and plan that I can think of. I was once an athlete, was in the army, etc... etc... so I knew what needed done, I just didn't want to have to do it (diet & exercise)

So all of July I've been preparing for soccer conditioning by basically focusing soley on cardio. This was mistake #1. It worked great the first couple weeks, as can be attested by my graph... I dropped about five pounds in two weeks. After that the slow down came. Then the reversal.

It is fairly common knowledge, though knowledge that we try to reguarly defy, that a fit body is the product of proper nutrition and an exercise regime. Part of a good exercise regime is strength training, which I was purposely foregoing to focus on cardio.

Up until a couple days ago I was sitting on 1600 calories a day. I'm 6'2 and weigh around 228 lbs today. 1600 calories I think was a good starting point but should have only been temporary. My body began getting used to the cardio and shutting itself down, so even though I was eating 1600 calories a day and running 3-5 miles 5-6 times a week, I was not seeing anything on the scale.

The advice given by many people here and by my trainer was to up my calories and start hitting the gym and incorporating strength training into my exercise regime.

Up my calories? Doesn't that fly in the face of everything we know? Wouldn't that further decrease the deficit between calories in/calories-out? Well yes it does. But it's actually quite beneficial. Why? Because your body sees that there is regular fuel coming in and doesn't go into shut-down mode.

I added a 300 calorie protein shake to my diet which I consume after a weight lifting session, to help get building blocks into my system to help repair the damage done to my muscles.

The result of having added weight training (I train with weights 4x a week, and cycle different muscle sets with different days. Day 1 is chest and tricep exercises, aiming for 5 exercises at 3-4 reps each, Day 2 is legs and shoulders, and Day 3 is back and biceps) is that the weight has once again begun to peel off, even though my caloric intake has increased, and I've done less cardio.

I've still logged about 18 miles running this week, but in adding more food (the right food, you can't add IHop to your regular diet!) and working on strength, I am tuning my body to not only shed fat, but build the muscle underneath.

To note: strength training and a strong exercise regime in general REQUIRES a healthy dose of carbs. Do not be afraid of carbs, they are not the enemy. Consuming a lot of carbs and then not being active is the enemy. Carbs are your body's fuel. If you try to work out with little carbs in your body, your body will consume the lean muscle tissue for fuel which is exactly what you do not want.

I try to maintain a 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat diet and it has worked great for me so long as I stay active and work out. And let's face it... if you want to see some results it takes more than fad dieting to achieve your goal, because fad dieting is not a lifestyle change. You may lose some weight but as soon as you go back to what you did before, it will come back (which is the roller coaster I've ridden all my adult life)

Good luck