Tips for breaking a plateau

GirlGoneHealthy just posted about breaking a plateau, where TheGymCoach was asked to give my tips. If you’re at a plateau, read on:

1) Re-evaluate (or re-set) your goals: What tends to happen with people trying to lose weight is they set in their mind their target calorie deficit to reach a weight goal (e.g. needing to eat 1800 calories a day and workout 30 min a day to lose 4 lbs per week). When you lose weight (especially a lot of weight), you have to re-set your targets, because as you get smaller there is less weight to lose and therefore it can seem even harder. Think of it this way – for a 170 lb woman to lose 10 lbs it may take 2 months (at, say approximately 500 calorie deficit each day). But then when that woman hits 160 lbs, 10 lbs is a different and higher % of her weight, so it will take longer to lose the next 10 lbs keeping at that same 500 calorie deficit plan. Thus, you need to reset your goals and targets at each new weight milestone.

2) Go back to the basics: If you stopped your food journal, start count your calories again. It’s possible you’ve slipped and don’t even know it.

3) Change course: Have you ever heard the phrase “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different response?” Well if this is you then maybe you need to shake things up a bit. Try a new class, a new routine, or a new tactic like a gym buddy