Plateaus Anyone ?

Posted August 6th, 2007 by njones309

Just wondering if anybody has any ideas on how to get to losing again?
I've been on about a 6-8 month plateau! I workout 5-6 days a week for 1-2 hours
at a time.. on my days off 2 x's a day. I can't seem to lose anymore then 3 lbs
then gain it back.. I'm stuck at the same weight for the last 6 months. I keep
changing my diet and i just started jogging but i can't seem to lose anymore.
Anybody have any ideas that I can try ?

~ Nikki

I Finally Broke It!!!

On August 15th, 2007 njones309 says:

I FINALLY BROKE THE PLATEAU !!! I went back to original diet plan. The one I lost the 105 + lbs and I lost 5 lbs last week !.. Yay Yay Yay !!!.. Granted I know some of it was probably water weight, but I finally pasted up the 3lbs that I always lost and regained. I'm so excited.
I took a good look at myself and what I was doing. I was working out way too much, eating not enough, and always looking up something on dieting and that whole Mind / Body Connection wasn't there anymore. I think I've found my path again.

Thank you to they people that gave me some good advice. I appreciate it and look forward to hearing from you again soon.

~ Nikki

Plateaus

On August 7th, 2007 Dan says:

First of all, congratulations on your weight loss so far!!!

I know how you feel, plateaus are very frustrating! Our bodies almost seem to be working against us sometimes. But what is really happening is that our bodies are simply adapting to the workload we throw at it day after day. So if you walk say, 2 miles a day every day, at first it will be hard, and you will lose weight like crazy, but then after a few months your body will become a super efficient at walking, and you won't expend nearly as much calories as when you first started. Also, as you lose weight, the amount of calories you burn in a day goes down, meaning your caloric intake needs to go down as well. Unless you are suffering from a metabolic insufficiency, or some other ailment, its a pretty simple energy in/ energy out equation for losing weight. That is: if you eat slightly less calories than you burn in a day, you are should lose weight. Of course, you cannot go TOO far, because your body can go into starvation mode where it becomes very good at hoarding body fat.

Jogging is a good way to burn a lot of calories, but it is also very hard on your joints and connective tissues.

Personally I think the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to perform a combination of strength training and cardio, coupled with a mild caloric deficit that still meets all your nutritional needs. Also, I think it helps to try different types of cardio to prevent that adaptation response that makes plateaus so difficult to break through. If you have access to a gym, then you might want to check out the precor brand of elliptical trainers. The great thing about them is that they are so flexible in terms of incline, resistance, duration, etc, you never get bored on them. And they burn a ton of calories if you work hard on them.

Also, please check out the JamCore workout circuits right here on the site! In particular, you may want to explore the "new me" workouts: http://www.myfittribe.com/workout-circuits/jamcore-training

Breaking through plateaus can be really emotionally challenging, but the important thing is to look back at all that great progress you made, and then reach out for help to get past the tough parts.

Best of luck to you, and if you have any comments or questions, never hesitate to put them here on the site.