Hi, Rachel.
This is going to be a long answer, because I’m going to give you as much help as I can. I went through something similar very recently, and I almost went crazy with the plateau. My best advice: don’t give up.
Going from a 35 BMI to 31 is great! You still have a ways to go, but you’ve made huge progress! BMI is one useful way to check your weight health, but I would also measure various parts of your body about once a month - sometimes you shrink even when you don’t lose weight.
I’m 23 and actually just dropped from an almost 35 BMI to about 31. Recently I hit a pretty long plateau that wasn’t budging. I stay the exact same weight. I was eating very healthy, exercising every day, and still I didn’t lose weight.
Then I changed one thing and I started dropping weight in less than 2 days. It was weird but great.
I’ve changed my diet to include mostly veggies, some fruits, baked poultry or fish, and some whole grains. I don’t eat much bread or dairy at all. I do have whole grain pasta and brown rice, though. I eat 5 smaller meals a day (pretty much whenever I’m hungry) and about 1,200 - 1,400 calories a day. I eat treats once in a while, or a treat meal on special occasions.
My diet was what I wrote above, and I walked about 3.5 mph for an hour every day. Stopped losing weight at one point. Then I changed my exercise routine to light sprint intervals and a little weight lifting and a bit of stretching. After one day of that I started losing weight again.
My routine is:
Warm up by walking 3-3.5 mph for 10 minutes, then run at 6-8 mph for 30 seconds to 3 minutes, then slow to about a 3-3.5 mph walk for 4-5 minutes, and repeat however much you want. I usually repeat about 3 times, and I vary the lengths of the running as I go. It is a little harder than walking was, but it works.
Then I do weights for my arms - whatever I feel like doing. Three or four sets at most. The same for legs. Then I stretch and loosen up for a few minutes. Takes less than an hour to do all that. I do it 6-7 times a week.
Hope this helped.
You’re going awesome, by the way. Keep going! I will too.
Kaitlyn
