I did a little reading yesterday. I read about diet and fitness plateaus. Titillating stuff. None of what I read was earth shattering by any means and I probably knew most of this information in the back of my mind. But, it takes very little to put me in a tailspin these days and yesterday 2lbs on the scale did just that. I have calmed down and started thinking a little more rationally now, at least until the next tailspin hits. Here are the things I learned, again, not news flashes, but if you are anything like me information that you don't want to hear has to be pounded in to your head repeatedly before it really sinks in.
1. Plateaus in diets are not only common, but when you have lost large amounts of weight (aka my 100+ lbs) they are to be expected. How's that for a pat on the back for doing such a good job?? You've come all this way, now you can't reach your goal... Pffffft!
2. There is a good chance I have not been taking in enough calories for my activity level. Counter intuitive, ABSOLUTELY! More days than not I don't top 1,000 calories. I know because I have started tracking them on my phone, something I swore I wouldn't do again because I become obsessed with the numbers. But in this case, with the workouts I am doing, the activity level of my job, and my inability to sit still at night, I probably need to add a little more fuel into my day.
3. I am not getting enough protein, more specifically my protein to carb to fat ratio is off. My nutrition tends to be more vegetable related which translates to carbs, good ones but still carbs. But again, with the muscle I am putting on from the workouts my body needs some more protein support that process, otherwise it can't efficiently do what I am asking of it... So, it looks like #2 and #3 can work together, extra calories obtained through some extra protein.
4. I only thought I was drinking enough water. I probably drink between 65-75 oz of water a day. More than the average bear. But, according to several different nutritionist the suggested amount of water intake for weight loss is an equation that looks like this... Body Weight divided by 2 = # of ounces of water to be drank daily. That means I need to be drinking 80 oz of water a day... No doing the math to figure out how much I weigh!! That is a lot of water, so, if you see me running to the bathroom a lot its because I am water logged.
5. My workouts are not hard enough. Don't get me wrong, they are hard. But, I am at the end of a 90 day program. I have a week and a half left to be exact, which, I will finish because I have to finish. My muscles are officially trained to this workout and are performing the maneuvers so efficiently that it is no longer hard for them. I have found myself doing extra reps of things while the people on the video are recording their results or drinking water, so in the back of my mind I have already been trying to compensate for that. I have a new workout coming in a couple weeks, so hopefully this problem will get remedied there. Oh man, I am not ready to be super sore again... They also suggested changing the time of day I workout. Since I have been working out at night for some time I think I will change to mornings when the new workout gets here.
6. Stress is holding me back. The more you stress the more your body creates that crap called cortisol that makes your body think it needs to hold onto everything for impending doom. I think its safe to say I have been stressed as of late. I haven't been sleeping, having weird, bizarre, vivid dreams when I do sleep, tossing and turning and over thinking when I'm not dreaming. It's not good. I've been here before and its hard to get out of. It's an attitude thing and a little bit of luck thing. If I got one thing to turn my direction I can usually get everything else to make the corner too. I have a lot of balls I am juggling right now and currently they are all up in the air. So, God willing, one will land where I need it to and things will start to fall into place.
There's my plateau busters, so to speak. I am going to work on each and everyone of them and see what happens. I'm sure in the mix I'm going to have to have some patience to transition out of this, which by the way is NOT one of my virtues, but I'll work on that too. Here goes nothin....
Oh, I almost forgot the milestones... First one, we have reached over 1,000 page views for this blog... That means that you guys (most likely gals), have come and read the blog over 1,000 times... THANK YOU!! Thank you for the quiet support and kindness of following my crazy thought process, it means a lot to me. Secondly, I finished my ab routine with no breaks what-so-ever. I always falter at the scissor maneuver because he does it at a tortuously slow pace, but yesterday, I made it, and that was cool. Lastly, I have had people that I know don't read the blog compliment me lately and tell me I have done a great job, which is awesome to hear and means I am probably doing something, God only knows what, right. It wigs me out a little because I start to feel accountable to the people that are proud of me and if I gain I feel like I let them down, but for the most part its a good thing!! And, I need to let it be a good thing. So, again, THANK YOU for reading, as long as I am neurotic, I'll keep it coming (aka DON'T expect this blog to end any time soon).
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