Plateau - to reach a state or level of little or no growth or decline, esp. to stop increasing or progressing; remain at a stable level of achievement; level off
This could not happen at the WORST time. Holiday season is here. This means, FOOD, decorating, FOOD, shopping (endless shopping), FOOD, school concerts (multiple school concerts....ugh), FOOD, wrapping, baking, FOOD, parties, vendor gifts at work (FOOD), no time to exercise.....Now don't get me wrong, I don't want to sound all 'Ba-Hum-Bug' here, because I really do try to enjoy the true meaning of the holiday and take the time to experience the joy and fa-la-la-la-la, which is why...... I've got a plan.
('of course she does', you say...)
Here is my plan of attack. The whole idea of this journey is to place the necessary priority on keeping up with my own health, so that I can be 'better' for everyone else, and in whatever goes on in my daily life. It would be so very easy right now to put this all on hold until 'after the holiday', 'I'll restart January 1st' etc. Yes, THAT would be the easy soloution, that would be the 'old me' knee jerk reaction.
But, this is a 'new me' now, and my plan to beat this plateau is simply...KEEP GOING! Yes, if I have to run at 4am because I have shopping or concerts to go to on an evening, then I MUST run at 4 AM. I have learned that exercise relieves my stress, keeps me balanced and gives me energy. This time of year would NOT be the time to stop doing this for myself. So the first rule of my plan is, DO NOT STOP EXERCISING. No excuses, no putting off....just.keep.doing.
My plateau is affecting not only my progress on the scale, but I feel like my running progress is stalled. Yes, I have a 41 minute run scheduled for today...so in that sense, yes, I can run longer now - so that IS progress...however, I feel like I am running slower. I know that is really the whole point of base building, long, slow EASY runs....but I'm struggling to be patient with this concept. So maybe it's a good thing that my FOOT POD for my Garmin stopped working this week! It is not the battery, I've tried everything and it is simply not pairing up with my watch. So, not only can I not record my distance while running, I can't see my pace either obviously. All I can do is watch my heart rate. Therefore, I have less numbers/data to obsess about, so I will just have to let this aspect go until I have time to replace the foot pod or look into the warranty etc.
Less numbers to obsess about seems like a good idea, therefore I have made the following plan:
A) I will STOP weighing myself every day. This has always proved to be difficult, so after I weigh in on Wednesday morning, I will ask hubby to HIDE THE SCALE.
B) Not only will he hide the scale, but he will hide it for TWO WEEKS! (I can just hear the collective gasps from my BP's)
Yes, I have concluded that the scale number really means nothing to me right now, so although I will continue to take and log my measurements each week, I am basically going to ignore the scale for awhile. The scale is just causing me frustration right now, so I am going to remove it from the equation for a bit.
The purpose of weighing in every two weeks, is just so that I can be assured that nothing TOO crazy is going on. Therefore, the trade off is, if I'm NOT weighing daily/weekly, I MUST log my food intake EVERY DAY. So that is the third part of my plateau plan. As long as I journal my food, I will be less likely to nibble holiday treats mindlessly, or at least, maintain some control. If I get a dose of 'shock and awe' at my two week weigh in, I will have my journal to look back on to either pat myself on the back, or smack myself across the head. I am not accountable to the number on the scale. I am accountable for every bite of food I put in my mouth.
And finally, I am shaking up the workout routine a bit with the Fitness 'Total Body Workout (from hell)' that I started on Thursday. I have to do it again today, and then I will do the recommended 3 times per week. I hope that this will shake up my metabolism a bit, build some more muscle and strength. I am STILL sore in some places from my Thursday workout...which is a good thing, as that tells me I really worked some little utilized muscle groups, so there is growth going on there! So I feel confident that doing this workout for a few weeks will help bust me through this plateau.
And so, that is my official Plateau-Busting plan! Today I have a 41 minute run (woo!), and Fitness workout. Yesterday I ran in the cold, windy driving rain/sleet. Which rocked!
Happy Sunday all!
7 comments:
What a great plan, Cyndi! That ought to see you through the holidays in fine form. I found tracking food to be a major key to my weight loss. That and mixing up the exercise routine. An instructor said yesterday that when you do strength training your metabolism is revved up much longer than it is from running(and she's a runner).
I live right over the mountains from Honolulu, about 30 minutes away. I'd love to take you and your fam hiking or to my fave beach. So, start planning, ok? Cool signature too
Good luck on the 41 today. I know pace can be frustrating, but you are doing it the correct way. Yeah! Now if only I can tell myself the same thing, and believe! haha (WE ALL WANT SPEED)
U still trying intervals on non long-run days?
Cyndi: I like your plan. I am in the same boat in terms of plateau, but mine is because I have not fit in the exercise like I should.
How are you doing on water intake? Anything you can do to shake up the food variety a bit?
Excellent plan. :)
Sounds like you have a good plan laid out for yourself. I commend you on being able to put the scale away...I would so go out of my mind. LOL.
Maybe that Garmin going out is a good thing for right now, it will help alleviate the attachment to all sorts of numbers.
It is amazing that in this time of out of control obesity that companies still send all the crap at the holidays. :-)
Don't worry about slowing down, you're running longer and that's all part of the plan. I slow down for longer runs too, helps keep me going.
How was the 41 minute run?
Sounds like you've got things under control, and you've figured out that fitting in the exercise is actually going to help you get through the season. So I think you're golden.
You're "shock and awe" cracked me up, too!
About the Fitness DVD thing, I checked, and I didn't get one with my mag that came in the mail- I feel jipped. Do you have a subsctiption, or did you buy it?
Hey Roobabs ~ I bought mine in the store. I must have snagged it when they first hit the stands, because now I see just a 'plain' issue, no more DVD's - must have been a limited number put out?
Thanks for the tips...I love 'cow cheese' and you're right - probably better than peanut butter!
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