I WILL NOT plateau.....if I don't let myself!

Down 30lb just shy of 6 months in. I've lost and gained the same 3lb the past 6 weeks. Ah, the dreaded plateau, you say? No.....the dreaded feeling of comfort. I'm new to this whole regime, but I suggest that the plateau is not a physical road block, but a mental issue. At some point, one realizes that they're pretty happy with where they're at and feeling pretty good, so as humans I suppose we have a natural inclination to take it easy and coast. We stop seeing the fast and fierce results, so we cry plateau. Ok, maybe that's not the truth for everyone. But the "plateau" that I've been on the past 6 weeks is directly a result of garbage in-garbage out. I'm pretty happy with my results. I get mad compliments, I get hit on, I enjoy buying clothes again. I'm ok where I'm at....so I coast. I slack a bit on my diet requirements, I skip cardio a couple of times a week. All of the sudden I've wasted 6 weeks. I've still been working hard, but not with any results. So I ask myself- WHY would I continue to work so hard and be content with ZERO results?! I haven't reached my goal. I'm not done. This is not ok. So, the question is- how do I get hard core again? What's going to flip that switch back on, so I can move past my mental plateau?

For me, sitting down and making a list of my (new/revised) goals, putting that bikini on a hanger somewhere I can see it when I want to nibble unnecessarily, picking a new event to work towards, and making a list of what I call "why I'm better than everyone else"; all the things I do and don't do, as a reminder:

1. I don't eat fast food
2. I don't drink soda
3. I eat as close to the food source as possible
4. I eat only real food; nothing from a package
5. I do some sort of physical activity 7 days a week
6. I don't eat anything with added sugar

You get the idea. These are my affirmations. They're the "How" of my plan to transform my body to a machine. Reminding myself of these goes a long way in getting my mind right again. I also try to get a mental picture of what I want to look like in 6 months, because I know I didn't come this far to stop here!

Finally, I create a calendar and map my work outs, so I can visually see the plan, and plan how I'm going to get in my cardio and hit every body part with weight training weekly. At this point, for me, it's all about targeting at this point. I'm fit, but I'm not fierce...yet. So I need to target and focus on cardio to melt some of the remaining fat. Then I need to target those tough spots; inner thighs, triceps. Mapping out my work outs helps me focus on those areas, while not ignoring the others.

So next time you start to moan about hitting the dreaded plateau, I suggest you sit down and really examine your level of effort and focus, and see if you've really hit a physical plateau, or a mental one!