I have lost an intial 25lbs since Christmas my goal is to lose another 25lbs within the next 3 months. The problem is my motivation is starting to waver. ITs due to hitting a wall and not seeing any weight come off recently. How does anyone keep motivated through these hard barriers?

may be u slack for 2 days on working out but continue eating healthily, then after 2 days u will tend to have a greater urge to work out better. Or do fun workout during that 2 days like swimming or something like that

Next time you head to the gym pick up a 25lb dumbbell; heck carry it around for a couple of minutes. I think you might find your motivation again ;)

Good luck - and stay focused

The first think that I do is taking 2 days off from gym. During htose two days I reevaluate my diet and my excersise routine. If I gained muscle while on cutting phase (yes it is possible, you just simply look at the weight that you've been lifting) then I add about 150 cals to my intake. Then I evaluate my car cardio routine. If I was running on the treadmil I change it to eliptical or stationary bike.
By the way you may also try adding cardio on empty stomach in the morning if you did not do it yet And may be adding HIIT cardio on non lifting days.
That is what I do and that that helped me to overcome three plateaus already. :gl:

"Shock you body". It seems to be the best way to further your progress once you hit a plateau. What I mean is, like d_sam said:

1) If you're not doing HIIT, start.
2) Try cardio on an empty stomach (or non-empty if you already are doing it on empty).
3) Change your lifting program.
4) Increase/reduce your calorie intake (depending what it's currently at).

Any or a combination of these things can definitely help you with the stage you're at.

I would also suggest you post what your current workout regimen is along with a sample day's diet. Perhaps we can fine tune it for you.

How does anyone keep motivated through these hard barriers?

What I do if my weight loss tends to slow down is that I take an "eating weekend", when I get to eat as much as I like of whatever I like. Even though you might gain 3-5 pounds, you will notice the following week that your weight plummets. The last time I did this I gained about 4 pounds, and lost 8 the following week.

If I gained muscle while on cutting phase (yes it is possible, you just simply look at the weight that you've been lifting)

I must object. Getting stronger is no proof of muscles getting bigger. Noone use muscles to their full potential, there are always muscle fibers that are inactive, even when you're maxing out your strength. When exercising though, you "learn" how to use a bigger part of your muscles, thus getting stronger. This is why you sometimes see guys half your size lifting twice as much as you can.

I have lost an intial 25lbs since Christmas my goal is to lose another 25lbs within the next 3 months. The problem is my motivation is starting to waver. ITs due to hitting a wall and not seeing any weight come off recently. How does anyone keep motivated through these hard barriers?

First thing's first, don't judge your progress by your current weight, everyone here would agree that weight loss is completely different from fat loss.

For the last month i've lost a total of 1 pound, but when I compare how I looked currently to how I looked a month ago, I can notice significant changes, better muscle definition and judging from the pictures, it looks like I lost weight when infact I didn't, just body fat.

Perhaps you haven't hit a plateau, take monthly pictures of yourself and compare them, i'll bet you notice improvements as long as you're sticking to your workout and healthier eating plans.

What are your stats by the way?

When I'm feeling as though nothing is working, I do the following:

Stop, and go to a mirror, and look at myself. And I imagine myself the way I want to look, and think about what I have to do to get there.

And that's all the motivation I need.

First thing's first, don't judge your progress by your current weight, everyone here would agree that weight loss is completely different from fat loss.

For the last month i've lost a total of 1 pound, but when I compare how I looked currently to how I looked a month ago, I can notice significant changes, better muscle definition and judging from the pictures, it looks like I lost weight when infact I didn't, just body fat.

Perhaps you haven't hit a plateau, take monthly pictures of yourself and compare them, i'll bet you notice improvements as long as you're sticking to your workout and healthier eating plans.



I couldn't have said it better myself! It took forever for me to get it through my thick head that there's a lot more to fitness than looking at the scales!

Also, you've lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. It's only natural for the loss to slow down. I think of plateaus as my body consolidating the progress and getting itself ready for the next major move downward.

I couldn't have said it better myself! It took forever for me to get it through my thick head that there's a lot more to fitness than looking at the scales!

Also, you've lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. It's only natural for the loss to slow down. I think of plateaus as my body consolidating the progress and getting itself ready for the next major move downward.

Very interesting way of thinking.

as far as shocking the body goes, would doing TWO HIIT sessions in a day acheive the same effect?

i hit a plateau, and started doing situps and the extra cardio 25 minute HIIT session (ie one at 7am, another at 7pm).

i only managed to do this once, because i got struck down with a cold / bronchitis the next day, which ive got still. (no working out blargh)