July 07, 2010
Mid-Week Motivation: Plateau Hell!
Posted by: Andrew : Category: Mid-Week Motivation
Ok so maybe you have been suffering a plateau, who hasn’t?! Plateau can cause a lot of people to throw in the towel as they may not have lost any weight in 3, 4, 5+ weeks. And you are right it is heart breaking, especially when you have been giving it a whole-hearted 110% effort in your diet and with exercise.
Here are my top 2 plateau busting tips but before that one thing that you must adopt is a new mind-set that a plateau is a season that you will go into and eventually come out of, you need to trust the process of a sound diet and exercise and you will come out of the plateau.
1. Have a lot of variations in your workouts; this year (2010) when I have felt myself nearing a plateau I have challenged my body with something unexpected, I ran over 6 miles on a treadmill, my normal running routine is about 2 miles, another thing I did was to cycle 26 miles. I cycled a route to my parents house that was virtually an up hill all the way for 13 miles and then I said to myself “It’ll be ok, that means 13 miles of a decent all the way home” but I hit a head wind for those 13 miles home and it was worse!
2. Keep on your nutrition; make sure you have a proper nutritional program. Make sure that you are eating enough and that you are eating the right things. Remember it’s not just about calories. Those calories have to have value and help fuel your body and the processes involved in fat loss and muscle gains. A trap that I have made sure that I don’t fall into is the temptation to eat too little, this could be why you are in a plateau. Your body will go into starvation mode and work against your fat blasting efforts. My nutrition model is simple;
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BREAKFAST: carbs, protein, fats & fibre
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SNACK 1: carbs & protein
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LUNCH: carbs, protein, fats & fibre
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SNACK 2: carbs & protein
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DINNER: carbs, protein, fats & fibre
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SNACK 3: protein
