Overcoming Fitness Plateaus

Cori 0:00

Hey guys , this is Cori from Redefining Strength . Welcome to the Fitness Hacks podcast . This is a show where I share all my free work on the nutrition tips . I'm not going to ever fill this episode with sponsorships or ask you to buy anything . All I ask in return is , if you're enjoying the podcast , to leave a review or leave a five star rating or , even better , share it with someone you think it might help . This will only take a few minutes and would mean the world to me and possibly change the life of someone you know . So let's jump right in .

Cori 0:29

Progress is never linear Along the way . There will be plateaus , times when your results slow or even seem to stop building , and too often when this happens , we get frustrated and we give up . We stop doing all of the habits that moved us forward , but this leads to us just regaining the weight and losing all of the progress we've made . That's why I want to go over why we often see our results plateau and what we can do about it . First , I do want to clarify what a plateau actually is . This isn't just not seeing results for one week . It isn't even gaining a pound one week after losing to the week prior . A true plateau is at least four weeks of no changes whatsoever no changes in measurements , no changes in weight , no improvements in workouts , nothing . And it's at least four weeks for a number of reasons . For instance , a woman with her period will see fluctuation based on the time of her cycle . A woman in menopause may have changing hormone levels leading to slower changes . As we get older , results simply happen slower even as we don't have the optimal hormone environment we did when we were younger . And an advanced trainee may have adapted and can handle more . So it actually needs a longer time and greater training stimulus to see results . Basically , you can't just say you've hit a plateau because results aren't happening fast enough , and while we never will happen fast enough , and while we don't want to keep repeating something that isn't working , we also need to realize what is realistic before we make a change . And the answer when we do plateau isn't just doing more . We can't just keep trying to slash our calories lower or train harder and longer . That may even sabotage our long-term results . So here are five reasons your results may have plateaued and how to address these situations .

Cori 2:18

First , a plateau doesn't actually mean you aren't still making progress . I did mention this because you may just be in a dead zone . You may be in that phase where your body is fighting the weight loss process , because our body does want to fight the process . It believes where we're at is natural and normal and taking in fewer calories seems like a threat to your survival . Your body doesn't want to lose weight , so it's going to do everything it can to resist those changes and hang onto the fat stores' fuel for future use .

Cori 2:47

This is when you have to stay consistent . You've hit a period where you're doing the right habits , but things just need to accumulate more before you see the payoff . It's almost like you just have to give your body time to embrace and trust that it can still survive as you make the changes . So , while it feels like nothing's happening and you've hit a dead zone , avoid the desire to want to do more or change things up . We have to remind ourselves that we don't need more tactics , lower carbs or new exercises or fancy tools or crazy fat burning supplements . We just need more time , more time doing the habits that add up . So , as hard as it may be , your plateau may just be that you haven't been in long enough . You saw that initial pop of results with your first big changes . But now you just need to keep up the plan and things will snowball . Stay consistent and keep tracking what you're doing . Realize that results are accumulating and will only show if you don't give up .

Cori 3:44

The next reason we often plateau is that we haven't reassessed our needs in a while . Often it takes longer to reach a goal and along that journey we have to adjust and evolve . Nothing works forever . Our lifestyle and schedule may change , impacting how we need to train , and if our training shifts , we may need to adjust our nutrition to match . Even our body and hormones may shift , impacting what we need . What you need before menopause is different than what you're going to need during menopause or even after menopause , and if we don't adapt as our body needs , goals and lifestyle evolve , we won't continue to see progress towards our goals and may even find we go backwards .

Cori 4:24

So if you haven't assessed how all of the systems are working together and making you feel it may be time to review everything , too often we emphasize just one component over looking at how all the systems are working together . We seek a better move , a better macro ratio , we search for an ideal , but one component alone doesn't fix a broken system . So if your results have stalled , assess how everything in your lifestyle is working together and if it's actually meeting what your body and even mind need right now . And as you assess , you're going to need to be honest with yourself . I bring this up because too often we've plateaued because our consistency simply isn't there . We've gotten lazy with habits we've gotten comfortable with . We see progress and start to put some of our healthy habits on autopilot , and often 1% deviations over time lead to us drifting further and further , of course , and so we aren't even implementing a lot of what we need and we start to regain the weight . But we can stop this drift off course before it happens , by honestly assessing , when results are plateaued , if we're truly being as consistent as we think .

Cori 5:27

Tracking your food , recording your workouts to watch your improvements and consistency can help us stay on track . What gets measured gets managed . Don't let how you feel about your habit color what's actually going on . Don't make the excuse you're being good enough actually slide . If you've hit that plateau , it's time to see room for improvement and growth with the habits you're already doing . Find those deviations in your consistency and address them . Once you have , you can then assess if those habits are no longer in line with what you need . But don't stop doing something until you know your consistency is there to validate needing a change .

Cori 6:04

Too often we stop doing what could lead to growth , thinking it isn't working just because we ignored the inconsistencies in our calories or macros or even workouts that are actually there . Along with ignoring those inconsistencies that allow us to feel like we're being better than we are , we stop pushing our comfort zone . We stop building off our healthy habits . We make one or two easier changes that lead to results initially , but we don't keep going . But to reach a new and better result , a goal we've not achieved for a while , or maybe even ever , we need to keep pushing our habits and lifestyle forward .

Cori 6:36

As weird as it sounds , you're creating a new you , a new identity and lifestyle as you work to become the person that has the goals and results you want . That means we have to keep making changes , even when we start to feel more uncomfortable . And while I know this isn't a popular opinion or a fun thing , to own success is sacrifice . The loftier our goals , the more we have to be willing to push ourselves . So if you've found your results plateauing , ask yourself . Am I continuing to push myself to make changes or have I fallen back into what's comfortable ? Well , we don't want to be changing everything all the time . We can't stop driving forward and become complacent .

Cori 7:14

If we want results , and throughout your weight loss journey , you need to give yourself credit for the changes and results that are building , because too often we just say my results have plateaued , when results are actually snowballing . We're just choosing to measure progress in only one way . If we want to lose weight and we don't , on the scale one week , we can decide we aren't progressing and give up on something that's working . When really results are building . We just happen to eat later than I before , or drink more water or do something that made the scale fluctuate up that single day and instead of recognizing that our pants are fitting looser , or that our lifts went up that week , or that we're sleeping better or our aches and pains have diminished , we say we aren't progressing because we just didn't see progress in one specific way . That's why we need to manage our expectations and set more than one way of determining success . The more ways we measure success , the more ways we give ourselves to be successful , and this is what keeps us moving forward , to give results , time to snowball . So just because the scale isn't changing doesn't mean results aren't building .

Cori 8:18

Track other complementary goals that help you repeat the habits you need to keep moving forward . Track improvements in how you feel , how you're sleeping , your energy levels , your lifts , your runs , your rides . Even track the consistency and celebrate wins in repeating those habits . But realize that often what we even label as a plateau really isn't one . We just didn't see progress in one specific way , even though we're moving forward . Remember that plateaus are normal and they're just chances to assess how things are going and if we truly are meeting ourselves where we're at .

Maximizing Results Through Self-Assessment and Support

Cori 8:50

Don't simply give up . Don't simply try and do more . Simply use this as a time to assess and give results . Time to build as you meet yourself where you're at with those habit changes . Thanks for listening to Fitness Hacks podcast podcast . Again , this is the place where I share all my free workout and nutrition tips . I'm never going to run sponsorships or ask you to buy anything . All I ask in return is , if you're enjoying the podcast , to leave a rating review or share it with someone you think it might help . This will only take a few minutes and it would mean the world to me and possibly change life with someone you know .