How do you motivate yourself when you have hit a plateau ?

I'm within 10 pounds of my goal weight and have been at a weightloss plateau for a few weeks now. It's really driving me batty !! Any suggestions on how to keep the focus to stay on track and not give up ? I exercise a lot (6 days per week) and not sure how much more exercise I could add to my routine. I hate to admit it , but I feel like I'm going to go on a binge and just backslide with all my weight loss success. Thanks ! I feel better already after just venting this !

Tue. Jan 30, 1:19pm

I've been 5-10 lbs from my goal for about a year now (talk about frusterating!!!), and sometimes I slip up (probably why I'm not there yet), and other times, I'm really good. The way I stay motivated is that I just make sure that I'm aware how happy I am that I'm where I am now, as opposed to where I used to be!! It's really great motivation to not slip up too bad or too many times!!! I sooo don't want to be back where I was! Even if my current weight is not my "optimal" weight, it's still so much better than my old weight!

Tuesday, January 30, 2007, 2:31 PM

Search "plateau" in this Lounge -- there are two or three threads with some really good advice on how to shake things up. They might even be linked from the "Best of" list in the Blog section if you have trouble finding them. A quick summary of the most common suggestions:

- Eat more for a week, or have a one-day binge
- Change the diet plan you're following
- Change your type of cardio
- Redistribute the time you spend on resistance/low-intensity cardio/high intensity cardio
- Take measurements and see if they're changing even though the scale isn't
- Take a week off from the gym (this one is surprisingly effective for someone who exercises as frequently as you do)

Tuesday, January 30, 2007, 4:14 PM

4:14 - great list. I would also add weight lifting if you don't already. If you do, lift heavier weights for a few weeks.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007, 6:10 PM

I would say that maybe being so close to your goal weight it might be a good time to begin transitioning to normalish eating. Eating when you're hungry..stopping when you're full and focusing on the health benefits of that. After all, what's going to keep you motivated once you hit your goal weight..if not health?

Tuesday, January 30, 2007, 6:29 PM

OP here -
thanks everyone for the tips ! I'm going to try and scale back my exercising a little this week and also eat more (won't have a problem with that ! ). I already feel so much better after reading all the great ideas :) thanks :)

Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 6:08 PM

I go shopping and try on clothes that I would like to wear. Seeing myself in the mirror, looking that bad, works as the best motivator ever.

Thursday, February 01, 2007, 8:38 AM

just keep going! eventually you will break that plateau!

Thursday, February 01, 2007, 1:26 PM

I really liked reading these comments. I'm just breaking through a 2-month plateau and it's because I stopped counting calories and exercising less this week. Weird, huh? I plan on doing this for a few more days and then bumping my exercise back up. I think my body just needed a little change!

Sunday, February 04, 2007, 11:45 AM

Bump.

Monday, March 17, 2008, 7:52 PM

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