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Simple Changes To Cross The Weight Loss Plateau

Up Your Workout: If you go running everyday, chances are you&#8217;se gotten comfortable at a set speed and pace. Challenge yourself further by switching it up: try sprinting for a minute, then running for three. Do this for the duration of the workout.
Drop Your Calories: As you lose weight, you&#8217;ll need fewer calories. If you haven&#8217;t revamped your diet plan in a while, go over it again and see if you can cut more calories. Be sure you&#8217;re still sticking to the plan, and try to eat new foods to keep it interesting.
Strength Training: Strength training boosts metabolism as much as cardiovascular exercise does, but it makes metabolism last much longer in the day. Try including at least one more day of strength training into your regimen.

It happens to the best of us: we’re pushing away at our diet and exercise routine, shedding pounds one by one until, one day, we can’t seem to lose another pound. The plateau is a common occurrence among those working to lose weight; we usually hit it at least once. While frustrating, we need to view the plateau as a check point to examine our plan and revamp it if needed.

The first step is to determine what may be causing this plateau.

Evaluate Your Initial Goal

First, you need to evaluate your initial goal. Is it appropriate or too ambitious? While you may never again fit into your senior prom dress, you certainly have no need to. Consider your body size; do you really need to be a size 8? Maybe your body was meant to be a 10 or 12.

Motivate Yourself

It’s easy to lose exercise steam, especially after we”ve seen some results. Now is the time where you need to really push yourself to continue. While getting to this point wasn’t easy, now it requires even more dedication and focus to continue on this path. Remember why you decided to lose weight in the first place. Remember how good it feels when you step on the scale and have lost another pound. Pull out old pictures of yourself or an old journal and remember how you felt those days.

Revamp Your Routine

It’s tempting to think we can now cut back on the intensity of our workout and the rigidity of our dieting, but this is often the most important time of the regimen. The plateau offers an opportunity to examine the initial plan, and determine what else we can change. Perhaps your strict diet is boring you; branch out and experiment with new foods and recipes. If you dread facing the elliptical machine once again this week, check out the cardio kick box class your friend keeps telling you about. Switch up your routine so it’s exciting again. Remember that food and exercise should be fun, not boring.