So myself and a few of my challengers have been going through plateaus. Talk about feeling defeated. There is nothing worse than busting your butt and doing what feels like everything you can to keep moving forward, day after day, week after week with zero changes.
This can be so discouraging and if not handled correctly it can send you spiraling back to your starting weight. I know because, I have been there....been there...done that... ;) The best way to handle and maneuver a plateau is to first, get educated on what it is and how to get out of it.
Our bodies are extremely complex, well designed machines with systems in place meant to protect us and keep us alive. When your body is under stress (which is how it perceives exercise) chemicals and hormones are sent out to protect us. Another way our bodies attempt to protect us is by adapting. When you do the same exercises over an extended period of time, your body adjusts to the stresses of that activity. So the calorie expenditure of performing that exercise the first few weeks will no longer be the same after a few more weeks once your body knows what to expect. For example, if your a runner, over time your body will burn less calories doing that same activity than it did in the beginning. You will still work up a sweat and feel like you had an amazing workout, which you may have.. but it no longer takes as much energy to do it anymore. I noticed that on my own heart rate monitor. On a five mile run I was burning almost 100 calories less than I did just a few months ago. My body adapted and the same will happen with your nutrition. Not only will you stop getting the same satisfaction out of those same old meals, but your body will adjust to that intake and no longer yield you the same results.
So what do you need to do you ask? Well, you switch things up. First you should start tracking everything that you put into your mouth and I MEAN EVERYTHING. Even what you are drinking, then go back to measuring your foods. Sometimes you can find the culprit in a stall to weight loss by simply going back to the basics and weighing your food again. If you are like me, you get a little liberal with the serving sizes over time. Then take a look at your food tracker and see where you can make some cuts. What foods are in there that really shouldn't be, but somehow snuck back in. I noticed a few weeks ago that I was having 3 servings of cheese a day.... :o 3... WHAT THE FRENCH TOAST? I have no idea how I didn't even notice that and if I hadn't been tracking I don't know how long it would have taken me to figure that out. Change up your caloric intake, when we lose weight we no longer need the same amount of calories that we had been consuming to get where we are. You may have to play around with this a little, so definitely find a way to keep notes on what your doing. I picked up a tip from a celebrity trainer and she says "alternate higher calorie days with lower calorie days and on the lower days try to get up later and go to bed earlier". I have actually done this and it works. I'd also like to add maybe upping your water intake will help as well. If your stuck at 80 ounces...like I was for a while, aim for 100, then a gallon.
Lastly, change up your workouts. As I mentioned before your body already knows how to do what you have been doing, so it is not going to burn more calories, it will actually start to burn less. Add in some weight lifting, circuit training, HIIT training, lift heavier, take a martial arts class, or try a new sport like tennis or bicycle riding. The point is, you have to keep your body guessing to keep it changing and to do that you have to step out of your comfort zone. If a workout is truly uncomfortable, your calorie expenditure will be higher until your body adapts to that too, just as it won't always be hard and uncomfortable. Like the hills on my runs, I used to stop and walk the hills, but now I put my head down, get wrapped up in my music and get through them. Soon I will run them without even a second thought. Well...after I celebrate that progress of course. But that is what will keep you growing and your body changing....getting out of your comfort zone
I hope this was helpful y'all, have a great Sunday <3
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