Hey LostDog,
Sorry to hear about the stall. How long have you hit your plateau?
One of the things I've noticed is that the more junk you eat, the more you want it. E.g., McDonalds isn't even slightly appealing to me. In fact, it ranks down there with pickled beets with my all time least favorite foods. But on my move to Denver I stopped at a McD's drive through in Kansas. The meal made me feel like total shit, but a few hours later, I saw a McD's billboard, and somehow it looked appealing.
Long story short - my 'cheat meals' are typically something that I don't usually eat, but nothing in the realm of frankenfoods.
Take last night, for example. I went backpacking over the weekend, and I burned WAY more calories than I consumed. So I awarded myself a decadent meal at a German restaurant after I got off the trail. I got a 12 oz elk fillet, together with gravy, egg noodles, mushrooms, cranberry sauce, a salad with blue cheese dressing, and a tray of wonderful rye bread with real butter. Normally, I wouldn't eat the gravy, noodles, dressing, bread, butter, or cranberry sauce, but I wolfed down every bit of it, and damn was it good.
That's a cheat meal that I don't have to feel guilty about, because I needed all those calories (about 2000 [img]smile.gif[/img] ), and they were from whole foods. I'll definitely be going back to that restaurant.
Anyway, I'm not sure about your specifics, but sometimes it's necessary to completely shake everything up to break through a plateau. Break the routine, from what you're eating, to your workout. If you're shopping at Costco, go to a local market and choose completely different meat and produce (or vice-versa). If you're doing general weight training, switch to a specific program, like power training, or bodybuilding - whatever is furthest removed from your current routine.
Hope this helps.
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