5 Tips if you're saying "Help I might be stuck!"
Hello beautiful souls! I was feeling a bit discouraged during the last few weeks and spent some time pissing and moaning about feeling stuck in a small rut in my life long health journey! So, as the fabulous researcher Brene Brown encourages, I "pissed and moaned with perspective" I complained just enough to push myself to start
doing some research on busting past my fitness/physical plateau last week to give me s'more perspective...and it had me thinking: Our bodies are so amazingly adaptive and powerful and have the potential to accomplish SO MUCH FREAKING MORE THAN WE IMAGINE! So, cause I seriously LOVE giving, I want to share my insight, journey, research and general encouragement if you might be thinking "Help, I'm stuck!"
It really is interesting that my first 15-20 pounds of fat came off like a breeze. (See left hand before photo below in September 2013) I was 155/160 and I dropped to just over 140 in 1 year. Then I started lifting more and gained 7 pounds, body fat still dropping. Focused on Paleo style fueling and high protein/high veggie, bikini competition meal plans and my body chiseled right up. 🏼🏼 Now I'm at that level place, hovering right around 147 and 26% body fat. Right hand photo in swimsuit is this January 2016 as I prepared for my first pageant, Mrs. Alaska United States.
I always had this ideal of being 130 pounds. Where did that come from? Not 100% sure but I do know that my amazing momma was 130 when she got married, around my age. So maybe that's where my goal/standard came from. I'm so proud of her and know that she really worked on herself. But I have to remember I AM A DIFFERENT PERSON. Doing different things, AND, I've been working on making better ideals/goals and asking myself better questions. All I want to do is be the best version of me so I wanna see what my body can do! How strong can I get? How well can I eat? How disciplined can I be? I wanna FOCUS on those things rather than a number on the scale. When I first started this journey, who knew that maintaining, chiseling, keeping a positive mindset and pushing to that goal body fat percentage plus challenging my limits would be the true tough shit?
This is a message to my fellow athletes Who don't necessarily have high numbers of "fat pounds to lose" or to those who think they may have hit that dreaded "plateau". Firstly, ask yourself "Do I have an unrealistic goal or somewhere in outer space did I pull a "weight goal" out of my ass?" Remember, there are so many markers of progress beyond your clothing size dropping or the number on the scale going down. Did you lift more than you did last week? Did you master that yoga pose that just bugs the shit outta you? Did you fuel your body better than you did last month? Is there more muscle definition in your arms and is your endurance and energy greater? These are all WINS!! Sometimes I find it's easy to get discouraged when we don't see those major markers of huge progress like we did at the beginning of our intentional wellness journeys.
A couple of tips I have for you around the concept of hitting up against a plateau and changing your perspective for what kind of progress to look for. I just learned a few of these and have been practicing others:
TRACK YOUR PROGRESS. if you don't know how many reps you started with or how much weight you used to be, then how in the hell can you know how you're getting better?
REFINE. REFINE. REFINE. sometimes at the start of our fitness journey's we are so militant and detail oriented and then as we settle into being close to our goal weight we get a little loose. You know what I'm talking bout: that spoonful of Nutella, that extra bite of cheesecake, skipping a workout or eating late at night cause you're having a movie night. Set small goals and focus on things you can control. Can you clean up your diet at all? Did you practice a little bit of meditation this morning which meant you were more positive throughout the day? Did you say no to that crappy piece of cake that yes is still on your "cheat day" but you know you could say no and therefore make progress in your self-control?
CHANGE IT UP! Our bodies are highly adaptive and definitely will actively work to find that place of mediocrity. Confuse your body either in your workouts or your eating. Try some intermittent fasting, try a day higher calories and the next day lower, go a week vegetarian, cut out all gluten, try a week no grains etc! Mix it up and try new things especially if you've been doing the same exact size routine for months and months, add something new in, one thing I love doing is mixing my week up with 3x a week CrossFit , PiYo, yoga, CIZE dancing and then a few 22 Min Hard Corps workouts. I love having a huge plethora of workouts to choose from so I can always keep my body guessing. Try a Zumba class, or better yet, do something completely out of your comfort zone like trying new sport or take a spin class!
IT MIGHT BE HORMONES OR STRESS. One of the biggest reasons why our bodies hold onto fat is because of high levels of stress in our lives, high levels of cortisol and adrenaline. (you can do the research I'm not an expert) when our bodies going to that starvation mode and think that there's a fight and danger then our bodies start holding onto fat. Is there way you can reduce the stress in your life? How about practicing some meditation or taking a yoga class or how about say NO to more freaking things! Lack of sleep plus excess stress are huge reasons why we could potential he hit a plateau. When I was doing a little bit of research I realized that this point, number four could be my issue because of the higher levels of stress I've been experiencing in the last few months. If you feel that it could be something like an hormone imbalance, maybe go get a bloodwork panel done. You deserve to be in touch with what's happening in your body and care for it to the best of your ability. Some of my friends with intense thyroid issues have trouble losing weight and if they didn't know that they would probably be extremely frustrated.
STAY POSITIVE & REMEMBER THIS IS FOR LIFE. Remember this ain't no short-term quick fix diet. You started this journey to be the healthiest version of you and every day that you practice self-love and self care by nourishing your body with the food to fuel it and using your body to move and strengthen, you are showing love to yourself and dedication. Our bodies are the highest quality machines out there and they were designed to move and be fueled by what will help then run the best! So keep tweaking, modifying, stay in the mindset that you were always learning and always open to try something to better fuel your body to live out the life to the best of your ability that you were designed to live!
Just a reminder that I'm not a nutrition expert or have a 100% professional grasp on any of the things mentioned above. This article comes out of my own journey and recent frustrations of hitting that "plateau". I am actively using the tips I gave you above to continually work on being the best me! I am always striving to learn and grow and this blog is also meant to provoke you to think about how you could take it up a notch in how you care for your body and not get angry when you don't see the number on the scale going down.
Moral of the story is this: if you've hit some kind of plateau in your fitness and health, don't be downtrodden. Stay positive, continue to love and nourish your body while learning and trying new things continually. we all deserve to be the best version of us, mind body and spirit and ant no little "plateau" gonna keep us from becoming that.
Blessings, love and joy,
Constance Joy
