Hitting the WALL! Week 3 – The Onslaught of the Plateau. If you haven’t hit a small plateau by week 3, you are the exception. The first week is usually a breeze – 2, 3, 5, or even 7 pounds might drop off in the first week. Week 2 slows down – maybe 1 pound dropped. Week 3 – usually nothing.
Reasons for Plateaus Reason #1: Nutrition. Lots of people are quick to jump on to the workouts, but a little slower on the nutrition side of things. I believe your diet is roughly 60% of the weight loss equation. When hitting a plateau, take a closer look at your diet and see what else can go – fatty or sugary or salty foods? What about carbs – complex carbs and whole grains are good, but nothing else.
Reason #2: Calories. I know most people hate counting calories, but it could mean the difference between a plateau and losing more weight. Monitoring your calories is key to weight loss. The formula is simple – you must burn more calories than you consume. Use the Formula to the right to figure out how many calories you should eat per day. For example: (180 lbs x 10) + 20% + 500 = 2,660 Ttl. Calorie Burn – 1,000 = 1,660 calories to eat. The range for your eating should be give or take 100 calories.
Reason #3: Body Swap. The scale might be saying you haven’t budged – but you can’t measure health or fitness on a scale. Anyone (including doctors) who only look at the number on a scale, don’t know how to measure fitness. You must look at your health numbers – blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. – and your measurements also. Chances are likely that in the 3rd week your body is doing some swapping of fat for muscle. Muscle is heavier than fat, and your body is likely changing – losing inches. So even though the scale may not be changing, take your measurements and see if your body is. Reason #4: No Soreness. 1 simple way to know if you’re challenging your muscles is the presence of soreness. If you’re not somewhat sore the day after a workout – you’re not working out hard enough. We don’t want you to be miserable, but we want you to be a little sore. Do whatever it takes to keep your body challenged – up your weights, increase your number of pushups, etc., and push yourself further and faster in cardio.
3,500 Calories in 1 pound of
FAT. A simplified formula for how many calories you burn in a day follows: Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) + Daily Activity Burn(DAB) + Calories burned in Workout = Total Burn. RMR = body weight x 10 DAB = RMR x 20% Workout = use heart rate monitor to know Subtract 1,000 calories to know how many calories you should eat per day. Did you know that 1 pound of fat can be 2 to 3 times the size of 1 pound of muscle. When you lose a pound of fat and gain a pound of muscle, your body simply must get smaller.
Soreness is caused by a loss of a chemical in your muscles – Glutemine. To lessen soreness, take LGlutemine tablets after your workouts and replenish the chemical. Beachbody’s P90X Results & Recovery drink helps muscles recover quicker with less soreness. Plus, it tastes great!
www.beachbodycoach.com/fitmike