Plateaus, oh the dreaded plateaus!!
I JUST cracked my plateau this week. I was stuck at the same weight (give a pound or two) and never able to crack into the next set of numbers, and you KNOW that I love to workout.
Are you struggling at a plateau right now? I decided share this video and information because I hear about this struggle quite often.
Let’s say you have lost a bunch of weight. You're trucking along losing 1-2 pounds consistently each week and then all of a sudden, you can go 2-3 weeks where you don't lose anything at all.
You see, our bodies are very adaptable, and at some point it will get used to what you're doing. So to crack this so called barrier, it's almost like we've got to surprise it and give it a little kick start again.
The body reaches a point of equilibrium. It says, "Okay if you are usually burning xyz calories per week and eating xyz in calories per week, I’m going to adapt to this for you."
First thing you can do -- NOTHING. Just keep trucking along and just have faith and know that in about 3-4 weeks of just keeping care of yourself, your body will follow suit. Also just know that the closer you get to your goal weight, the more plateaus you'll experience. The scale at times may not reflect your progress but you'll notice the reduction of body fat in different ways. (Jeans fitting loser, face thinning out) If this does change in about 4 weeks time and you truly are eating and exercising with the same intensity, the second thing you can do is:
LOOK AT YOUR NUTRITION:
This is where you can make the most dramatic impact on your progress. The first thing you're going to think is to start cutting your calories but this is exactly what I do NOT want you doing. What I do want you to do is start tracking your food again. Reach that nutrition guide and go over it page by page like you did when you first started. As the weeks pass and we start to get into a routine it can be very easy to slip a little into our old habits and those can add up here and there.
This is where you can make the most dramatic impact on your progress. The first thing you're going to think is to start cutting your calories but this is exactly what I do NOT want you doing. What I do want you to do is start tracking your food again. Reach that nutrition guide and go over it page by page like you did when you first started. As the weeks pass and we start to get into a routine it can be very easy to slip a little into our old habits and those can add up here and there.
CREATE MUSCLE CONFUSION - If your body has stalled out in results it is most likely time to bump up your weights or switch up your workout routine. When your body knows what it's going to do each day, it gets smart and knows the exact exercises that you're going to be doing and it gets used to your exercise patterns. Try a new and exciting program, push a little bit harder, the whole point is to keep your body guessing and not get stuck in the same routine. You got to switch it up and mix it up to get to that next level.
LAST ATTEMPT - The last thing you could try is just to take a week off exercise and change up your diet completely. Go gluten free or just vegetarian. Again, we are trying to shake up the body and give it a little kick start into something different.
Yes, plateaus are annoying and can be very very frustrating, but just know that when you've hit one you are closer to your goal than you ever have been before. Keep going. Switch it up, but just never give up. It is part of the journey. It is meant to test you see how tough you are. It's a healthy sign, and you are closer than you ever have been
before.
For more on plateaus here's my favourite girl Autumn :
