Jumping off the plateau…
A relatively stable level, period, or state:
You’ve been working hard to lose a few kilos. You’re watching your food intake and have started an exercise program. Each week you can see the results in how your clothes feel, and your happy with your achievements. Then all of a sudden, it all slows down and stops. Your still eating well, your still exercising, but the weight isnt coming off….you’ve reached the dreaded plateau!!
This is nothing to be worried about. It just means your body has adjusted to your new calorie intake and exercise routine. You will still be reaping the benefits from your healthy lifestyle, such as increased muscle tone, improved cardiovascular fitness and the feeling of wellness you get when you workout (from all those lovely endorphins you release). You will typically start to lose weight again within about three weeks, but if you don’t want to wait, it might be time to shake up your routine a bit.
Our bodies are amazing machines, they will adapt to whatever load we put on them. If you are doing the same workout week in, week out, then you will reap the benefits from that, but you wont continue to progress. Make sure you add variety to your training. If you currently run 5kms, 4 times a week, then its time for a change. You can add a long run once a week, or take one of your sessions onto the track and do a speed workout. Challenge yourself, change it up and your body will respond. Alternate the amount of weights you lift, do one week of heavy weights and less reps, then alternate the following week lighter weights and higher reps. There are numerous different exercises you can do for each body part, alternate between them.
Similarly, have a good look at your calorie intake. If your not keeping a food diary, then it’s a good time to start. Researchers have proven over and over again that people get the best results when they log their food/calorie intake. Keeping a food diary will make sure no unwanted calories are creeping back in. When you begin a diet and exercise plan, you make big changes so you lose weight fairly quickly. As you progress, your body adapts to your new calorie intake and it becomes harder to lose the kilos. What you don’t want to do is get into the trap of continually decreasing your calories intake or you body will go into starvation mode. This means your metabolism will slow down to conserve the limited calories it is getting. One of the recent trends to avoid this is to do calorie cycling. Give you body more calories so it feels secure for a few days, and then drop down to your usual calorie allowance. For example if you have been eating 1500 calories and getting results, then suddenly it stops, try alternating between 1200 and 2000 calorie days, making sure you keep your weeks total still the same. The higher calorie days will stop your brain from panicking and going into starvation mode, the lower calorie days will keep your calorie intake balanced.
I think what is really important to remember is that we are all unique and individual. What works for one person, may not work for another. Keep experimenting until you find what works for you, and then stick to it. The success of any diet and exercise plan is to make it part of your life, not just a 3 month fad. Don’t give up if you get frustrated by not seeing results, if you persevere the changes will happen and you will benefit both physically and mentally.
I would be interested to hear if anyone has other suggestions that have worked for breaking through the plateau. x