Did you hit a plateau? What do you do now?

Have you hit a plateau? I mean, have you stopped losing weight, gaining muscle, or just stopped seeing the results you want? If so, then check this out. I have a few reasons why this may be happening and what you can do to try and break the plain.

First, let's talk about sleep. Are you getting enough? Sleep plays an important role with your fitness needs. The body needs this time to recover. Each time you exercise, be it lift weights, hit the cardio pretty hard, or go for a long run, you are taxing the muscles and putting stress on them. If you don't give them a chance to recover, they will not perform they way you want. This could compound into other issues that will hinder your results. Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night.

The second reason you may not be seeing the results is you are eating too much or too little. Nutrition is the hardest part to master when it comes to your health and fitness. To much food, and your body can't use it all for fuel, so it is stored for a rainy day. Too little, and you don't have the energy to get through a good workout, or it thinks you are starving it, in which case it will store what it can for when you do need it later. You have to find that balance. As you progress through your workouts and become more fit, full of more energy, and so forth, you may discover that you need to eat a little more to sustain yourself. 

Third, you may be over or under exercising. If you over exercise, you are not allowing your body to go through it's natural cycles of breakdown and rebuild. Constant breakdown doesn't allow it to rebuild, and could be the reason why you are not gaining any more muscle. If that is your goal of course. If you are exercising to little, you are not using up the food you have taken in for fuel, so it stays with you a little longer. So if you are hitting it hard, make sure you're giving yourself time to recover. If you are not doing enough to really get the blood flowing, increase the workout just a little bit. 

Finally ... Support. Working out and staying fit is hard sometimes. Especially if you are doing it on your own. It's nice to have someone in your corner to push you just a little bit, help you make better choices with your food, or just to encourage you not to quit. You'd be surprised what a simple comment like, just one more rep or , should you really eat that, can do. If you don't have a cheerleader, find one. Family, friends, whomever. 

I hope you find these simple tips helpful. These are just a few I have encountered over the years and learned that if I acknowledge these and work to overcome them, my results start coming again. Good luck!