what do you do when you plateau??

kendalldavis

Ok ladies. I need some advice. I have been working out about a month now. Lost  about 12 pounds (lost 5 the first week) but I feel myself plateauing. I am getting bored with the food I am eating and even with the workouts. I am still motivated to eat right, a little less to exercise, but I am still doing it. Any advice or suggestions??

mehgank

What kinds of workouts are you doing now? And are you eating too much/not enough?

Whenever I get bored of my workout routine, I try mixing it up with a different cross training workout. For instance, I'm a runner and I like to do yoga, so to mix it up, I'll add in some pilates or Zumba or CrossFit/Insanity.

You might also consider switching what time of day you work out, even if it's just one day a week. I usually do yoga in the afternoons/evenings, but once I started doing it in the early morning on weekends, I loved it. It was a great way to start my day off.

kendalldavis

I switch from P90x to 30DS to running. dont really have the money or time for a gym membership. i teach and coach. I am following MFP and I am eating the amount of calories I am supposed to even after working out.

mbody

When someone just begins a workout/healthy diet regimen, the body will lose weight quicker in the beginning. Losing 12 lbs. in 5 weeks will not be the norm- nor should it be. A healthy amount of weight to lose is about 1-2 lbs. a week. If you are still losing weight, then you haven't hit a plateau.

But, to work through a plateau, try different things. Switch up your workouts.  For examle, add another day of strength training, or a new type of workout- zumba, step, HIIT, ect. Is there anywhere you can go to walk-in for a fitness class without having a membership? Try a local park district.

You can also try calorie cycling. Basically, you eat a lower number of calories on certain days and a higher amount on others. I don't know too much about this, nor have I tried it, but I know it can be useful during plateaus. Maybe look into this.

mbody

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_plateau-3?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:238Discussion:a58a5e00-03b0-41ca-8e39-06c36bd39e5cPost:ed184c6b-b720-4268-add9-48f963e8f0ea">Re: what do you do when you plateau??</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: what do you do when you plateau?? : It depends on their starting weight. I lost more like 3-4 pounds per week when I started, and my doctor said that was normal since I was close to 300 pounds. The average person (150-200) can expect to lose 1-2 pounds per week, especially after the initial water weight loss. I'm not targeting you with this response, so please don't take it as criticism. The "1-2 pounds" thing gets my hackles up because it's repeated so often and those who are over 250 pounds start to worry they're doing something wrong.
Posted by burntofferings[/QUOTE]
I completely agree with you that the size of the person matters. The more weight a person has to lose, the more they will lose per week. But the amount of weight lost will always taper off as weeks go by- which is the point I was trying to make to OP. That although she isn't losing <em>as much</em> as she was at the start, doesn't mean she hit a plateau after only 5 weeks. Just sayin' that her body is adjusting and the inital <em>big weight loss</em> weeks might be over but she could still be loosing 1-2 pounds.