Weigh in day No. 21 (late)

Sorry this is a date late!

My weight yesterday was still at 18st 4lbs and 3/4

seems I've hit a plateau! My body doesn't seem to want to shed the lbs as much doing the same sort of diet and exercises as I have been for the last 4 months, so I think in order to push through and get the last 3 or so stone off I'm gonna have to shake things up a bit!

Today I'm looking at various different ways of increasing the amount of strength and muscle training in my regime. Up until now I've only really been doing a small amount to keep my muscles alive and kicking (as opposed to them losing mass through Cardio alone) But now I think it's time to start increasing this.

From what I've researched if I increase my muscle building and strength training exercises alongside my cardio I should increase my metabolism and my 'calorie burning capabilities' by a good amount! Not only that but the afterburn effect you get from muscle training can lead your body to burn more fat and calories for up to 36 hours or so after your workout has finished.

I'll also change my diet up a bit if I can. I'll be eating more porridge oats and brown/seeded bread to fuel the muscle building with Glycogen and carbohydrates. I'll also be trying a new technique I've discovered which theorizes that if you do your weight training first and do your cardio AFTER your weight training, you deplete your body's store of Glycogen before the cardio and therefore will burn fat more efficiently during the cardio session.

It's all pretty exciting! I'm just trying not to lose motivation after this plateau of around 18st has been plagueing me for WEEKS!! Well over a month now. Which is completely not ideal at all. The good news is, as before, my weight isn't rocketing upwards again as in previous attempts to lose weight. I've still shed 50lbs since the start of this and kept it off. But still, it can't be ignored that there is still a good 42lbs left to go before I'll be a fit and healthy weight!

Also...It's 6 weeks til my 25th birthday, and I have 12lbs to lose in that time to hit my goal. So it's crunch time! The annoying thing is whilst I'll be muscle building it's likely I'll pack on a couple of lbs one of the weeks as my muscle grow. But I'd like to start focussing MORE on the looks and LESS on the numbers on the scale, so I don't mind so much.

Hopefully I'll have a midweek update for you all saying that I'm making great progress with the new plan!