There's always time for a respawn...

[RxLady]

(Note: cross-posted in my Daily Battle Log)

 

Sigh, my friends, sigh.  It has been a while since my last post.  Having a little downer of a week in terms of eating.  Time to get back to being more engaged with NF forums and the academy.  

 

The good news:  

  *I have been keeping up working with my trainers and average 3 workouts per week - 1 with him and 2 on my own (mostly weight training and small amounts of cardio)

  *I still prepare my lunch for the week over the weekend - paleo-ish style Bachelor Chow (as my husband calls it) - Ground Turkey or Grilled chicken, peppers, onions, mushrooms, garlic, 1 can of beans. I eat 1.5 cups or so of this with a small avocado. 

  *I have lost weight overall!  When I started this journey (3+ years ago) I was 210 lbs.  I have managed to stay around 180-184, so I do consider this a success.  

 

The bad (Less-good?) news:

  * I have plateaued in terms of weight loss.  I have read some of the opinions on this topic (through here and otherwise) and I understand that usually when you get to this point you have to shake things up again.  I'm just not sure where to go next.  

  *My eating is good, not great.  I have been experimenting with intermittent fasting (my hours are 11-7) and it doesn't seem to be helping (it hasn't been PERFECT based on my work hours sometimes, but better than 90% for sure). I do very well just drinking tea or water in the morning until 11am, and then dig right in to my prepared Bachelor Chow/avocado... HOWEVER - there are times where I am just crazy hungry and a very opportunistic eater still!  Whatever happens to be around (especially at work) I will graze on. It makes me so upset at myself when I give in, but I still have the thoughts of "I've been doing really good with workouts" and "I'll just have a little" and I am still treating food as a reward. 

 * I have stopped doing much on the days in between lifting days.  I think this is partly timing, partly motivation/soreness, partly just wanting to do other things.  

 

I have also found myself thinking a lot about the people in my life and how I wish I had more close friends (Yes, I know, if wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak ^_^).  There was always a stage of my life where I had people around me to be closer friends with (high school, undergrad, professional school) but eventually you move on from those life stages and those relationships tend to fade, both due to proximity and partly because priorities and interests shift.  Of course now, there are coworkers and of course my husband and I have our couple friends that we see on a fairly regular basis.  But I'm not sure I have that one friend that you go to for everything- chatting, hanging out, whatever it may be... So that has been keeping me down a little bit lately.  But it comes and goes.  Sometimes you get too busy to notice - until you're not. 

 

So I have taken a few steps to working on some of these things:

 

**First, I am going to Nerd Fitness Camp in the fall!  I am bringing my sisters along, so we are going to make it a sister bonding trip, but I really hope to find some people to connect with.   

**I'm looking around for some clubs to join.  A running club strikes me as good, but I'm not really a distance runner, and I haven't run for a while, so not sure I would be of benefit to anyone else trying to improve....

**Speaking of not running for a while, I have a goal to run on my non-lifting days. No specific time or distance goals.  Just to keep moving on my days off -and I do like running but I tend to shy away from it in the cold weather, so I jog maybe 6 months of the year (sometimes).  Maybe signing up for a 5K this summer (finally)?

 

I am hoping that summer and good weather will help improve my habits and mood overall.  There's always time for a respawn, right? 

[SNL1M]

First of all, a big congratulations on maintaining a loss of 21lbs over the three years! A lot of people don't even make it that long as far as maintenance is 

concerned. It certainly shows that you do have a solid base of healthy habits that you are already leaning on.

 

Its really hard to give targeted advice without knowing all the details, but Ill share some of what Ive learned thru out my own journey.

 

1) About plateaus: Yes, they really are frustrating. I usually let mine sit for around three weeks before I start making any changes. Try to focus on one variable at a time to really know what changes did really work.

 

For example: A lot of people of people would try to cut carbs to lose weight. But you really have to dig it in if the person lose weight because of eliminating carbs, or did he simply just lose as a result of eating less because of the carb elimination.

 

What I would suggest is simply replace the carbs with healthy fats of equivalent value to know if carbs are the problem. It can also work the other way around like adding back carbs and reducing some fat intake if your already low carb for a long period of time.

 

Hint: Most of the time it isnt a problem of the carb, fat, protein ratio. Usually its the ninja calories or the total amount thats causing the trouble.

 

 

2) About IF or any Eating Schedule in general: What I think works best is when your eating schedule syncs with your life schedule, not the other way around. I have nothing against IF, Ive been on it to bust a plateau in the later part of my journey and have gained a lot of valuable insights from the experience. It really does boils down whether or not you were feeling a lot better physically and mentally when you are still following a traditional meal pattern or IF.

 

3) I really love your idea of joining a running club or any fitness club in general. Let it be the one and only variable you change for the mean time while keeping your eating habits constant. Maybe the added activity will help you breach the plateau!

 

Hope this helps!

[Evicious]

About joining a running club...

 

So, I know that in America, we really buy into the social idea of total independence. Which is great, in that we tend to get things done instead of waiting around for group approval. But sometimes that whole concept gets in the way: sometimes, we think that if the group has to adjust for *us*, then we don't belong in the group. I can't speak for every social circle, or even for every running group, but I can speak from my own experience joining one recently... the group honestly doesn't mind adjusting. The people you end up liking to run with don't mind: they'll slow down if you're struggling, and encourage you to run faster when you can. And even if you are THE slowest person there when you first join, you won't stay that way. And one day you, too, will find yourself slowing down for someone else; sticking next to them as they struggle up a hill, and high-fiving them at the top. So I want to encourage you to at least give it a try: go on one run with the group to see what it's like. No one expects you to show up and be the first to finish the route. And if you're dead-last, so what? People who want to get faster run with faster people. People who want to go out and enjoy running as an activity run with other people who want to do the same. Those two sets of people (and every other set in-between) can all be in the same local running group. So go run with them sometime. Who knows, maybe you'll even find your new best friend there! It's worth an hour or so to find out, anyway.