when you hit a plateau?

silverharp

I started a diet in Aug , started off with sensible carbs and more exercise. After reading all the great threads here on the low carb approach ( which made total sense) I began switching over towards the end of Aug. I was losing about a kg+ per week but last week had a complete stall and have not lost anything now in about 9 days.

Did a bit of googling and the more sensible suggestions were , take fish oil, drink green tea. The more dubious ones included , have a blow out carb meal once a week to tell your body to get off starvation mode or have 1 day where you only have spoonfulls of olive oil (yuck!)

I've been doing cardio jogging/cycling all along but have eased up a bit recently, however given the low carb material I have been reading, if anything too much exercise might not help.

Any suggestions? or is it normal for the body to take a breather?

Dixie Chick

Yep its totally normal. Every person gets a plateai. i had one for a month this year and mentally is really taxing however you really need to stay on track no matter how bummed out you feel about it.

So, can I ask. Do you know roughly how many cals you take in in a day. And also, do you lift weights? I changed my cardio heavy workouts to weights and a few cardios and literally it blasted my metabolism into orbit

El_Dangeroso

I think an odd high carb/calorie day is a good thing to restore leptin sensitivity.

Just be sensible about it. White Rice, rice noodles, potatoes (sweet and white) and tapioca are the 'safest' starches, fruit is also good. I really wouldn't go mad on bread if you could, it triggers insane cravings in most people for a few days afterward.

tHE vAGGABOND

I think cheat meals once a week or so are a VITAL part of any successful diet. Your cheat meal should not be 2 16 inch pizza's with the works [and thus 2 or 3 days worth of calories!], keep it *somewhat* healthy, but feel free to have a normal meal. Maybe go out with family or friends to a restaurant and get what you want. But the important thing is to get back onto the diet immediately afterwards, and I always exercise a bit harder the next day or two.

That is great for keeping you sane, giving yo something to look forward to. At the same time, it gives your body a bit of a kick.

Another thing if you plateau is that you change around your exercise regime. When I was feeling like I was starting to plateau I moved from going to the gym to starting to run outside. Your body wont know what hit it, as you start doing a whole new exercise or indeed doing the same exercise to a totally different level of intensity.

goldbird200

you may actually not be eating enough food...

When I was losing my weight (7.5 stone), the plataues I hit where at times I wasnt eating enough!!

silverharp

thanks for the comments. What I have done for this week is switch back to porridge for breakfast. I cant believe how sweet porridge, milk and some raisins are and whatever the family is eating in the evening. I'm going to switch my exercise around a bit and go for shorter but a little more intense.

I'll get back on track next week and try the one sensible carb meal a week. I did notice that I am hungrier at work in the morning not having my egg n'stuff.

you may actually not be eating enough food...

When I was losing my weight (7.5 stone), the plataues I hit where at times I wasnt eating enough!!

interesting point, I dont think so. I'm not counting but i'd be surprised as I was having 3 good meals a day with some snacks in the evening.

Lantus

The body is incredibly good at adapting to whatever we throw at it. In any attempt to lose weight as we get closer to our goals there is an inevitable slow down in fat loss as the body try's harder to hang onto fat reserves that tens of thousands of years of evolution have programmed it to do so.

Ways around this are: -

Changing exercise routines. Different exercises, different times, change the intensity. If you cycle every day for 30 minutes then try fast walking for 45 minutes, or running or interval training. The shock of something new will drive further fat loss as the body needs to use fat reserves to cope with this new activity.

Zig zagging food intake. Alternating high and low days for calorie intake and also high and low days for carb intakes can make a huge difference. The usual method is 3 days low 1 day high. Again this keeps the body guessing and stops it from adapting to any set routine.

silverharp

down 600g since Sunday , something worked

ScareGilly

About to go dieting and just wondering, if I have four days training (Boxing), 2 weight sessions and 2 cardio sessions a week, should I hit a plateau?

Taken advice on the 3 days low/1 day high carbs..