Ok, we’ve all hit it.

It’s inevitable.

The dreaded weight loss plateau.

What in heaven’s name do you do now? 

If you’re like most women, you panic!  [Picture Gotham City burning; the Bat signal on the clouds; nothing but mayhem below—you get the idea!]  You start googling everything under the sun.  Here are some classic examples:

how to break a weight loss plateau

how to add intensity to cardio

how to lose 5 pounds in 5 minutes

hacksaws and their effectiveness (I see we’re getting desperate here)

It’s right about now when all rational thought tends to leave your mind.  You can no longer be trusted with your own exercise program.  You are as volatile as Elizabeth Lambert on a soccer field with a sea of pony tails in front of her.  Basically, put the keyboard down and back away slowly. 

Let’s be smart and think about this.  What causes a weight loss plateau?

1)       You’re in a rut. 

Have you been doing the same routine since the gym opened 3 years ago?  Seriously, when’s the last time you changed your workout?

2)       You’re too chicken to raise the weight.

If you have been lifting the same 10 pound weights since you can remember, it is time to make your exercises harder.  You must gradually increase resistance so you can keep challenging yourself.  Now, if you do this and you realize you can lift a car by yourself or one of the stones in a strongman competition, I would venture to say that that is not your issue.  At that point, you need to keep reading for other ideas.

3)       You do the same intensity workout day in and day out.

Your idea of an interval workout is leaving the remote by the tv and standing up in between commercials to change the station.  You need to branch out and add some hutzpah to your routine!  No matter who I talk to about this, I always find someone that knows this to be true but still doesn’t actually *do* it.

4)       You’re a hamster stuck in a wheel.

Now you’re the opposite of 3.  You are so neurotic about your exercise, you are doing plyos on Mon., Wed. and Fri., marathon training on Tues., Thurs., Sat. and Sun., Yoga on Wed and Sat, Jujitsu on Mon. and Thurs., Rock climbing every other weekend, bootcamp Tues. and Fri. and etc.  You have more going on than a bingo hall on a Friday night.  Less is more in this case.  Back it down and you’ll lose 5 pounds right away.

5)       You’re starving.

Have you pushed the cals so low you don’t even realize you’re biting your nails for extra protein?  When’s the last time you took a break dieting?  Every woman is on some kind of diet at some time in her life.  Have you been on one just a wee bit too long?  Do you count everything that you eat?  Or measure everything?  Have a hard time letting go of the structure?  Believe it or not, if you walk away from this for a week or two, you’ll probably break the plateau.

There are countless reasons for weight loss plateaus, these are just a few, and all of them are frustrating.  Before you make any rash moves, take two minutes to be as objective as you can possibly be about your program.  Keep track of how you are feeling and how you are doing with your program so you can spot trouble before it happens. 

Keep in mind, three things have to be the same for 3 weeks in a row to constitute a plateau:  bodyfat, pictures and weight.  If you are only checking one of those, it is not a true plateau!

It’s time for me to start a new series.  I have not decided on what it is going to be but I have kicked the idea of a weight loss plateau around.  Just know, another series is on the way very soon and like the ones before, will be very informative. 

Ok, get to the gym and start raising that weight!!:o)