PLATEAU BUSTING TIPS!

So youre in a bit of a slump, huh? You find yourself losing and gaining those same five pounds week after week. You have lost a good amount of weight so far, still eating what you usually eat, exercising how you usually exercise, BUT THE SCALE REFUSES TO BUDGE (or budges in the wrong direction). Sound familiar? Good thing you clicked on this post. Heres some tried and true plateau busting tips of mine::

1. RAMP UP YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE. Your body isnt the same body that it was when you started losing the weight. Yeah, your cardio/running routine helped you lose those first several pounds, but you are still in a slump. Thats when its time to hit the weights. Dont be afraid of ~bulking up~ because that is the worst myth that surrounds weight training. It will help you LOOK cut and trim while cardio just kind of burns calories. Dont like weights? Sign yourself up for a high intensity spin class, a kick boxing class, or do circuit training. They will help you really dig deep and BLAST those calories, since you need to work HARDER in order to burn more.

2. MAKE SURE YOU ARE EATING RIGHT. This may sound like a no-brainer, but you really have to make yourself understand the importance of lowering your sodium/ refined sugar /white carb intake. Eliminate refined sugars (sugar that does not come from fruit) and stop eating that white bread, for goodness sake. Dont be afraid to eat whole grain products before you work out either. (HINT: if you can last through your workout on an empty stomach, you arent working out hard enough). They will help you POWER THROUGH your workouts, and give it your all. Finish off with a good source of protein, even if you arent that hungry. Your body needs protein to rebuild those new muscles you just tore into.

3. MAKE SURE YOU ARE LOGGING RIGHT. Dont be easy on yourself. You know that you ate 4 servings of that chocolate pudding when you want to log 1. Or you dont know if that chicken breast was 4 oz. or 6 oz. Little things like that make a huge difference. Buy a food scale, make sure you remember everything you eat and log EVERY bite of it. You may be surprised by the hundreds of sneaky calories you thought you werent eating.

4. DRINK YOUR WATER. Do I really have to explain why drinking water is important for you?

5. STOP BINGE EATING. Really? You arent five years old, you arent hungry, stop stuffing your face with that useless crap. Learn from your binges. Here is a simple chart that shows what you crave and what you actually need:

CRAVING/ WHAT YOUR BODY NEEDS / WHAT YOU SHOULD EAT
Chocolate/ Magnesium / Raw nuts and seeds, legumes, fruit
Bread/ Nitrogen / High protein foods
Oily Snacks, Fatty Foods / Calcium / Mustard and turnip greens, broccoli, kale
PMS Cravings / Zinc / Seafood, leafy green vegetables, root vegetables

6. BE PATIENT. Fit doesnt happen overnight. It takes months and months of hours and hours for those gorgeous Victorias Secret Models or those Nike models to look the way they do (okay, and maybe a little photoshop too). As long as you are doing everything you need to be doing, youre eating the right amount of the right calories, and youre giving it your absolute ALL, you should be shedding those pounds. Even if its just a half a pound a week. If youre smaller and you want to lose more weight, its going to be hard for you but you can definitely do it. DONT YOU DARE GIVE UP, SPRING IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER.

***A FIT BODY IS 30% EXERCISE, 70% WHAT YOU DO AT THE GYM: You cannot out-exercise a bad diet. WATCH what you eat, baby!!***