Well, I quit this weight-loss plan. I give up. Pass the milkshakes.
Oh, how I wish that were an option.
I’m frustrating with dieting today. I’m frustrated with counting calories, and weighing myself, and thinking about it. I’m also frustrated that I am not getting any faster on my runs. I feel like I’ve plateaued, and I don’t really know what to do about it. So I want to give up.
I was reading a little bit about the concept of reaching a weight-loss plateau. When you start cutting calories and working out more, your body responds with weight loss. After your body adjusts, your metabolism slows to accommodate the fewer calories, and you stop losing weight. This can be very annoying, and you may respond by giving up, eating a ton, and potentially gaining weight. Or you may try to cut even more calories, and do a lot of damage to your metabolism by pushing your body into starvation mode. Women should never go below 1200 calories a day; men should never go below 1500.
I know that giving up is not an option, and I know that if I binge, I will regret it. So the only thing I can do is continue to eat healthy, continue to follow my training program, and ride it out through this really annoying period. Plateaus, if you are honestly eating healthy and exercising the proper amount, should only last about three weeks (as long as you actually have weight to lose and are not battling after what Jillian Michaels calls, “vanity pounds”).
A couple things you can do to work through a plateau:
1. Pay attention to details in your diet. The single handful of chips still contains calories, don’t do yourself a disservice by “not counting” the little snacks you pretend you aren’t eating.
2. Change up your workout. Just as your body adjusts to calories, it will adjust to workouts. I know I personally need to incorporate strength training into my routine, any suggestions on something I should try?
3. Don’t weigh yourself every day. I do this. It makes me crazy. Weigh yourself once a week, twice a week if you must. Just work hard, and the pounds will come off.
Great post you have some great thoughts
Why don’t you try downloading a free or inexpensive strength training app on your phone. I know friends who have had success and like some of the apps that include videos on how to do exercises and set up routines/plans for you. You don’t even have to set foot into a gym for some of them. Some of the apps use your own bodyweight to help build strength. I did a quick search on my iPhone for some:
Bodyweight Training- $2.99 (5 stars, 44 reviews)
Gorilla Workout- $0.99 (4 1/2 stars, 5 reviews)
Sworkit-Circuit Training Workouts- Free (5 stars, 77 reviews)
200 exercises-bodyweight- free (4 stars, 6 reviews)
500 Bodyweight-free (4 1/2 stars, 15 reviews)
Daily Workouts- free (5 stars, 237 reviews)
As you can see there are a ton out there 🙂
Cool, thanks Suz!
This is really useful, I’m going to check these out too!
I have a DVD that is called workout in 10 4 sections of 10 minute workouts that use weights.
You can do all or just one depending upon the time you have.
Kettlebells are great work out too. But need to be done correctly so not injuries.
Keep up the good work ADN. Proud of you.