Shake it up Baby

Plateaus.  They happen.  Or what we think are plateaus happen.  A true plateau is your body holding onto your weight despite continuing current healthy eating and exercise conditions for a period of generally 6 or more weeks.

Bruce Lee is Awesome.  That's all.

On Wed, the 19th my weigh went up a few pounds, and this past Wed it came back down plus another 0.6. So You could say that for how I was losing previously this sounds like the beginning of a plateau, and it kinda feels like a plateau. I feel like my body is not changing much, and I'm not challenging myself as much compared to the rapid-fire it was going at previously.  I could wait 6 weeks to see if things keep not moving, or I could do something about it now.  I've been doing pretty much the same routine for the past three months, and it might be time to change it up.

What do we know about breaking up plateaus?  To break them you need to shake things up.  There are two major areas to do this.  Diet and Exercise.  It's really all about balancing taking in the right about of calories with balanced macro-nutrients, and keeping your body's metabolism going in the most efficient way possible.

1. Diet
• Are you eating everything you should?
• Are you eating at least 5 servings of vegetables a day, and some fruit?
• Are you writing everything down?
• Are you drinking your water?
• Are you following your plan?
2. Exercise
• Do you have an exercise plan?
• Do you stick to your plan?
• Is the exercise pushing you outside of your boundaries on a regular basis?
• Is the exercise challenging?
• How do you feel upon recovery?
• When was the last time you changed up your plan?

You could just read this picture
instead of this blog post

My Diet:

I try as best I can to eat six healthy meals a day.  I've been slacking just a little bit for the past few weeks though.  I've had more processed, wheat carbs than usual like a few chips here or some animal crackers.  I haven't been writing everything down on My Fitness Pal like I usually do.  I've also been having a few more caloric beverages, mostly coffee with creamers.  It's not much when I have it, but 50 calories here or there can add up.  But do I think this is my issue? Not really.  I generally eat healthy, whole foods like chicken, turkey, fish, veggies, fruits, brown rice, and I'm getting into sweet potatoes. That being said, I'm going to try to write everything for the next 30 days, and limit my empty drink calories to 60 a day for 6 days a week.

My Exercise:

This is where I think I to change things up.   I've been doing a pretty predictable routine for the past few months, and I think the muscle memory is setting in.  You can do lots of simple things to help kickstart the losses again.  It could be as simple as changing the time of day you exercise, the class you take, the routine you do, switching your elliptical to a treadmill or vice versa.


My current weekly routine goes like this:

Sunday: Zumba Class in Evening or Rest day if needed
Monday:  Caveman class in Evening
Tuesday: Personal Training at Noon
Wednesday:  Active Rest Day or Caveman Class at Noon
Thursday: Kickboxing or Zumba in the evening (sometimes both)
Friday: Personal Training at Noon
Saturday: If I'm off work, Caveman class in morning, if I'm working, elliptical or strength at the Y after work OR Zumba/Dance videogames after the kids go to bed.

I have some ideas to change things up.  My work schedule is going to free up my Mondays and Wednesdays starting next week, so I could look at moving my training day.  But here's what I really want to do.  I would like to give my trainer my schedule of all my open times I could exercise, a list of all the exercises I enjoy, and a list of my goals, and I want him to just tell me what to do and when.  And I'm going to do it.  Maybe he has some ideas of things that could push me further and shake things up, or a better way to schedule it out.  Here are my lists.  Now I need to go make a nerdy spreadsheet of  my schedule to gently nudge his way next week.

Exercises I either currently do or am fine/open to doing:

• Caveman classes/caveman exercises/circuit training like ropes, tires, ladders, kettlebells, TRX, etc.
• Kickboxing
• Running
• Zumba
• Free Weights (I'm not good with the machines, but I have experience with most lifts with free weights)
• Classes I'm interested in trying at the Y Bootcamp, Tabata, R.I.P.P.E.D.
• Elliptical/Cardio equipment as needed
• Dance Videogames at home
• Hope activities in small doses while my kids play: Equimpent - Resistance bands, Jump rope, Body Weight, Exercise Ball, Foam Roller
• Something else new? :) 

Fitness Goals:

• Gain Strength - Increase Muscle %
• Lower Body Fat % (duh)'
• Increased Endurance
• Full lower body ROM - "ass to grass/staying parallel" with squats, tire flips, and deadlifts.
• Increase Balance
• Increase Flexibility
• Increase running speed (and in order of goal)- Run/Walk a 5 K - Run a mile - Run a 5k

Now to convince my trainer to organize my training life, because my life right now is organized around my training.  Easier said than done!