I was watching the Superbowl last night, and towards the end one of the commentators said something that caught my attention.
They said that all week the Saints had been talking about how they were going to "keep something in reserve to show Peyton Manning something different in the 4th quarter." Basically, something new to throw the other team off.
It got me thinking about how much that resembled my "game plan" over the past year.
Me vs. The Plateau:
No matter how consistent I was with eating well and working out I would inevitably come to a point where my weight would hold at a certain number. It may have only been for a week at a time, but it was always frustrating and in the beginning it was pretty disheartening.
However, I quickly learned that you can overcome weight loss plateaus by shaking it up a bit. This could mean any number of things depending on the situation.
Sometimes I would get a little too focused on the eating and without realizing it my calorie intake would drop low. Eating the appropriate amount of calories isn't just about not eating too many, its also about eating ENOUGH.
So when I wouldn't see the number on the scale moving, and I knew I had been eating "good" one of the first things I would do is increase my calories a bit. I know that seems counterintuitive, but it works. I would simply increase my intake by a few hundred calories. And I'd make sure they weren't "empty" calories.
This is not an excuse to drink a soda each day. It would either be some extra nuts, some avocado on my sandwiches or a nightly "dessert" of apples and natural peanut butter. Those extra calories would jump start my metabolism and I would often see a loss.
If I was eating the correct number of calories and the weight wasn't coming off then I would look for ways to shake up my workout routine. That could mean anything adding extra cardio, breaking it up so I did it morning and night, strength training or simply trying a new workout. As long as it was outside of my normal routine, it seemed to throw my body off guard and I would inevitably see a drop.
How do you bust through plateaus?
And be sure to enter my Oiselle Running shirt giveaway. I worked out in their Roga shorts yesterday and was once again reminded how much I love their clothes.