Plateau
 

I have been dieting and exercising faithfully for a little over two months. The first two months were great--lost 10 pounds per month. Now,for the last 8 days I have hit a frustrating plateau. I have tried increasing my workout and staying within my food allotment, but every morning when I get on the scale it's the same weight. Is this common?

I hate to say it because I know you're frustrated but 8 days is not considered a plateau which becomes one after 4 weeks with no change on the scale OR measurements.

Keep going, it'll happen.

It's very common to have these "mini-plateaus." Don't worry! :D In my experience, the best way to shake off these plateaus is to shake things up! If you're doing jogging every day for exercise, try rotating in a yoga routine, or lifting weights. (Strength training is GREAT for fat loss!) If you're eating a salad for dinner every day, try making a soup instead. Work out a little longer or a little less. Eat a couple hundred more calories for a day or two (that tends to work, for some reason), but whatever you do, don't work out for hours and hours, and don't eat significantly less than what you were. That'll put a lot of stress on your body, and could grind your weight loss progress to a halt.

In my experience, when I have these mini-plateaus that come out of nowhere, it's usually due to water retention from my cycle. You can figure out if water retention is the cause by taking measurements rather than just weighing yourself. If your circumference goes down, regardless of whether you weigh less or not, you HAVE lost fat!

Good luck! These things are super frustrating, but just keep on pushing through it (without doing anything harmful to your body) and you'll see your results again soon enough!