Wedding Weight-Loss: Working Through a Plateau

In the past two weeks, I have only lost about one pound total and it keeps fluctuating. I've been on a weight-loss plateau, and I don’t like it. Although it sucks, I'm staying postitive — I know that as long as I stick with my plan, I will get through it.

rene and jen

My last two workouts with Bonne Marcus have been amazing! She is incorporating cardio into our routines, and I really love it. The routine is a circuit, which consists of four moves. We perform each move for 50 seconds, take a 10-second break, and start the next move. We go through each circuit three times. It's great because we are accomplishing so much cardio and strength training in half the time. All of the moves are easy to do at home on my own and provide an effective workout in under an hour.

circuit training workout

Here is what last week’s workout looked like, so you can try it at home, too!

Circuit 1
Jumping jacks
Run the bench (we used a step)
Kettlebell swing
Mountain climb

Circuit 2
Burpees (we used a step)
Squat to high pull with the kettlebell
Knee to floor lunge with a side raise with an 8-pound dumbbell
Pullover crunches on the ball with a medicine ball

Circuit 3
Lunges off the step
Push-ups
Chest flyes using 10-pound dumbbell while lying on your back
Tricep extensions with kettle bell

Although I didn’t lose as much weight as I would've liked, I stuck with my diet and have been making healthy eating choices. Over the past two weeks, I've done a lot of post-work activities, which always makes it challenging to eat healthy. But I've found that when I make the healthy choice, I feel much more satisfied.

Last Wednesday night, I went to my girlfriend Stephanie’s apartment after work, and we ordered delivery from an Italian restaurant. I ordered grilled chicken with sautéed spinach. It came with a potato croquet, but I swear I only took one little bite!

grilled chicken with sauteed spinach

On Friday, my friends and I went to dinner to celebrate our friends Laura and Brian’s recent engagement, and I ordered tuna tartare with sautéed spinach. It came with crispy onions that I did not eat, and I drank vodka with club soda and a lime. Making these decisions was hard when there were so many other enticing options on the menu, but mentally, I felt better afterward knowing I stuck with my plan.

tuna tartare

This week, my goal was to keep on doing what I’ve been doing: going to the gym, getting my workouts in, and eating right. Last night, I made one of my favorite meals — chicken and shrimp fajitas — and I really hope you try it. I sautéed red pepper, onion, shrimp, and chicken breast with olive oil and adobo seasoning, then served it in romaine lettuce instead of tortilla wraps. We added refried beans on the side. The fajitas were delicious and so filling. You can hardly taste that you aren’t using the wrap because the lettuce is just as good.

lettuce wrapped fajitas

Hopefully, my hard work this week will pay off on the scale next week and set me off the plateau. 

—Jennifer Crow