I have been asked a lot about plateaus and how to break them.
If you have been losing weight and your weight loss has suddenly stopped and you can't seem to lose weight no matter what you do then you have definately hit a plateau. It happens to all of us. Your body gets use to the exercise and the amount of food you might be eating.
Here are some tips and some things to think about when it comes to breaking it.
First, how hard do you usually workout? Be honest with yourself. One way to break the plateau is to increase the intensity of your workout. INCREASE! You may be in that plateau because you are afraid to get out of your comfort zone. You must increase the intensity of your workout, yes that means you have to work harder for a little while.
For example say you are a walker on a treadmill or even a walker that enjoys being outside, increase your pace so you are walking faster, incline your treadmill and walk up hill for a longer period of time. Also, if you are a walker, and your knees are merciful, try to perform a run then walk type interval workout!
Strength training should ALWAYS be a part of any workout routine. By now you may need to increase the weight pounds and go up one more. Or if you are not weight training at all, you should be.
Increase the intensity of your workout by doing intervals. Straight cardio isn't cutting it for you right now, that's why you are in a plateau. You should always make changes to your workout routine every 2 to about 4 weeks to keep you out of hitting a plateau. This is what we call "tricking the body." Because as I mentioned, your body gets use to the workout, your muscle has memory.
Other things you can do is double up on your cardio. Do your cardio in the morning and then do another session later that same day. This will increase your metabolism!
Cardio in the morning - Another trick - You can workout when your body is low on glycogen (or when your body is glycogen depleted) and if you don't know glycogen is the carbs that are stored in your muscles and liver for energy and usually when you workout your body burns both carbs (muscle glycogen) & fat for energy so when your body is low on glycogen then your body will have no choice but to burn more fat for energy and this is the main reason why you burn more fat when you workout first thing in the morning before eating breakfast because your body is low on glycogen at that time.
Sometimes, when I hit a plateau, I challenge myself to do better than I did from the last workout. Make it more intense each time.
Anytime that you workout, you have to push yourself. I realize that, that can be difficult, but you have to got to pull that tiger that I know is in there - OUT!
Now, let's talk about food. There are several things that you can do to break the plataeu just by the way you are eating. You can decrease your daily caloric intake by 100 to 300 calories. See, your body will need less and less calories to sustain your NEW WEIGHT. Remember each time your lose weight your caloric intake decreases. BUT don't go less than 1,000 to 1,200 otherwise you could work against yourself and your body could think it's starving and you turn around and begin to store fat. I know you definitely don't want that to happen. Decrease that caloric anywhere from 3 to 5 days then go back to your previous caloric intake for a couple weeks and do it again.
Also, the plateau could be that you are eating way too less of foods than you may realize and may need to up your caloric intake.Have you checked your portions that you are consuming? Some people think that they are eating healthy, which they might be, but how much are you eating? And, are you eating until you are completely full? Try eating smaller portions and eat until you start to feel full.
All of the above is so important to help you get through this. But something I really want you to be is PATIENT. The closer you are to your weight loss goal the harder it becomes to lose those last 10-15 pounds and all of the above will help you get there. But your mind, yes again, will mess with you and may give up first. DON'T GIVE UP! Please, try the above suggestions and you will see yourself breakout of that plateau, and I'm always here for questions!
To Your Health
If you have been losing weight and your weight loss has suddenly stopped and you can't seem to lose weight no matter what you do then you have definately hit a plateau. It happens to all of us. Your body gets use to the exercise and the amount of food you might be eating.
Here are some tips and some things to think about when it comes to breaking it.
First, how hard do you usually workout? Be honest with yourself. One way to break the plateau is to increase the intensity of your workout. INCREASE! You may be in that plateau because you are afraid to get out of your comfort zone. You must increase the intensity of your workout, yes that means you have to work harder for a little while.
For example say you are a walker on a treadmill or even a walker that enjoys being outside, increase your pace so you are walking faster, incline your treadmill and walk up hill for a longer period of time. Also, if you are a walker, and your knees are merciful, try to perform a run then walk type interval workout!
Strength training should ALWAYS be a part of any workout routine. By now you may need to increase the weight pounds and go up one more. Or if you are not weight training at all, you should be.
Increase the intensity of your workout by doing intervals. Straight cardio isn't cutting it for you right now, that's why you are in a plateau. You should always make changes to your workout routine every 2 to about 4 weeks to keep you out of hitting a plateau. This is what we call "tricking the body." Because as I mentioned, your body gets use to the workout, your muscle has memory.
Other things you can do is double up on your cardio. Do your cardio in the morning and then do another session later that same day. This will increase your metabolism!
Cardio in the morning - Another trick - You can workout when your body is low on glycogen (or when your body is glycogen depleted) and if you don't know glycogen is the carbs that are stored in your muscles and liver for energy and usually when you workout your body burns both carbs (muscle glycogen) & fat for energy so when your body is low on glycogen then your body will have no choice but to burn more fat for energy and this is the main reason why you burn more fat when you workout first thing in the morning before eating breakfast because your body is low on glycogen at that time.
Sometimes, when I hit a plateau, I challenge myself to do better than I did from the last workout. Make it more intense each time.
Anytime that you workout, you have to push yourself. I realize that, that can be difficult, but you have to got to pull that tiger that I know is in there - OUT!
Now, let's talk about food. There are several things that you can do to break the plataeu just by the way you are eating. You can decrease your daily caloric intake by 100 to 300 calories. See, your body will need less and less calories to sustain your NEW WEIGHT. Remember each time your lose weight your caloric intake decreases. BUT don't go less than 1,000 to 1,200 otherwise you could work against yourself and your body could think it's starving and you turn around and begin to store fat. I know you definitely don't want that to happen. Decrease that caloric anywhere from 3 to 5 days then go back to your previous caloric intake for a couple weeks and do it again.
Also, the plateau could be that you are eating way too less of foods than you may realize and may need to up your caloric intake.Have you checked your portions that you are consuming? Some people think that they are eating healthy, which they might be, but how much are you eating? And, are you eating until you are completely full? Try eating smaller portions and eat until you start to feel full.
All of the above is so important to help you get through this. But something I really want you to be is PATIENT. The closer you are to your weight loss goal the harder it becomes to lose those last 10-15 pounds and all of the above will help you get there. But your mind, yes again, will mess with you and may give up first. DON'T GIVE UP! Please, try the above suggestions and you will see yourself breakout of that plateau, and I'm always here for questions!
To Your Health
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