Friday, March 7, 2014

Fitness Fridays | Plateaus...Jumping the Hurdle

Plateau is probably one of the most dreaded words within the weight loss world. Honestly it didn't have much meaning to me until it came in and just turned my little weight loss world upside down! For those who may not know plateau is a nice way of saying 'NOTHING IS HAPPENING!' I experienced my first plateau after I'd lost my first 20 lbs, which for the most part came off smoothly. Then suddenly it seemed like my scale became fixated on one number and wouldn't move! I was annoyed, disappointed, and frustrated at the same time. Thankfully I've learned a thing or two about breaking through plateaus and am happily sharing in hopes of saving y'all some of the same frustration that I experienced.


  • Be Honest- Sometimes we expereince plateaus because we've lost a certain amount of weight and our body decides to try to hold on to the rest, BUT sometimes we experience plateaus because we haven't been as diligent as we should have been in our eating and exercising habits. I long ago had to come to terms with the fact that my weight loss had stalled because I'd gotten a bit too comfortable. An extra bite of this here and a skipped workout there wouldn't make a difference right? WRONG! So if you're experiencing a plateau first have an honest conversation with yourself and see if you've really been giving it your all and make the necessary adjustments from there.
  • Change Your Eating - Are you eating the same boring foods everyday (chicken, salad, rice, repeat)? Try something new! Our bodies get tired of the same old thing and sometimes something as simple as introducing new foods into our diet is just the change we need to jump over our plateau hurdle. Like with exercise I also get tired of eating the same thing so I like to incorporate different things into my diet. Tired of chicken? Try Salmon. Tired of salad? Try spinach or asparagus! There's a whole healthy food world out there waiting for us to explore it! Don't limit yourself for the sake of being healthy. Your mind and body will soon get tired of it if you do!


  • Switch It Up! - When I first started working out I would diligently go to the gym 4-5 days a week, hop on the nearest elliptical and sweat myself into a tizzy for 30-45 minutes. Sound boring? Believe me it was as boring as it sounds and before long my mind and body were both bored to tears! Furthermore I wasn't challenging my body. My body had gotten used to my 30-45 minutes on the elliptical and it took my scale refusing to budge before I figured out that it was time to give my precious elliptical a rest and explore other options. Now I do a variety of things such as Zumba, Walking, Jogging, Strength training, YouTube Workouts, etc. Basically I keep my body guessing and in turn my scale finally rewarded me by moving!


  • Keep Pushing! - Trust me I know plateaus suck. They're not fun, they're draining, and they can make you feel like all of your hard work is in vain. However, I promise you that if you just keep trying you will break through that plateau!
Fitness Friday


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11 comments:

  1. Great post I enjoyed that and like my Fitness-Friday post this week I also speaks about 'switch it up' this is so important in exercising and diet too. Maureen x

    www.myeverydaytreats.co.uk

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    1. Thank you! I'll definitely be checking out the rest of the fitness Friday posts!

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  2. Oh Courtnea---why you putting me on blast? Ha-ha!

    "BUT sometimes we experience plateaus because we haven't been as diligent as we should have been in our eating and exercising habits."

    Eekkk! That's totally me. I always seem to convince myself that another piece of cake is okay because I worked out. *shame face* I know better---now I need to do better!

    Thanks for being apart of the #FitnessFriday movement!

    KLP | SavingOurStrands

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    1. Ha ha! It's okay I've been there plenty of times and had to get myself together so I could do better! I'm totally loving reading everyone's Fitness Friday posts!

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  3. Thanks for linking up and um...I echo KLP above! I know exactly why I'm hanging around this plateau but the weather is about to start warming up and I'm getting back on the horn yesterday. No really...yesterday! lol. Thanks so much for sharing your fitness story, I seriously look forward to your posts each week. They are amazing.

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    1. Lol! Yes Winter is making it soooo hard to stay motivated! The warm weather definitely makes me want to exercise more. Awww you just put the biggest smile on my face! I'm so glad that you've been enjoying them!

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  4. These are some great tips. Drinking a lot of water helps too, because sometimes it is just water weight that you are seeing.

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    1. Thank you! Yes drinking plenty of water definitely helps too!

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  5. Awesome advice!
    I haven't plateaued yet, but I know that I plateaued in my last weight loss journey around where I'm at right now so I'm hoping I will break through!

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    1. I'm sure you will and who knows...maybe you won't experience the dreaded plateau!

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