Plateau Busted Again? I Sure Hope So!

I thought I had that thing beat almost 2 months ago! But alas, my body has other ideas (and my brain and my stomach and my liver.. .haha). I was doing everything I said I was going to in my How To Bust A 3 Month Plateau blog. Eating more, upping my workouts, running a few times a week, strength training, eating more protein, less sodium. But I partly kept derailing myself will overindulging. It's just proof that even after doing this for over a year, it's easy to slip back into old habits. I still enjoy getting beers with my kickball team or my boyfriend. And that tends to lead to not so great food choices.

But, step 1 is identifying the problems!

Problem #1 - Still not eating enough?

Well, that one I took care of with my calorie zig zagging schedule that I've been following for a week and a half. In that time my weight has stopped bouncing all over the place and started to settle into a nice steady decline. I had one blip after Cinco De Mayo, and its been going down ever since. I was able to log a 1.4 lb loss this week. I'm now 149.3 and it feels amazing to see those 140s again (hopefully for good!)

For how to zig zag, refer to my good MFP pal AggieCass's Blog and this website to get your own plan: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

Problem #2 - Not enough working out?

I admit, I was getting a bit lazy. Skipping working out from Thursday-Sunday isn't gonna cut it  I need to MAKE time for it! And I'm really enjoying running and the progress I've been making. I ran an 11:25 minute mile! That's crazy!!! I actually went running around the neighborhood yesterday (wow it was hilly, so running/walking). But I'm aiming to run 4 days a week now, plus my personal training session (where I usually warm up with a short mile run). Especially with the amazing weather we're getting. I have my second 5K on Saturday morning and one more scheduled for June 5th. I really want to improve my time of 39:33!

Problem # 3 - Overindulgence

I think this is one we all relate to! Bag habits creep back in. Boyfriends that love to eat and drink and get ice cream all in the same night!!! Friends that want you to have one more beer and stay at the bar for a while. Or that damn cupcake cart at the mall! Oh how I have trouble resisting your gourmet chocolatey goodness. Right, back to the problem at hand. It needs to get back under control. And I've been keeping an eye on it for the last week. And look, 140s! I have to stop sabbotaging myself! Not have 5 drinks at the bar. Or the calorie-laden dinner. I got the single crab cake with veggies on date night last weekend. Was it hard? No! Was it delicious? YES! And did I still have my 2 beers? You betcha! It's all about balance.

So, now that I've gotten myself on track again, I just need to stick with it. Summer is coming, I've been trying on my bikinis and not crying when I see the reflection in the mirror. It's a great feeling and it's helping me to keep moving forward. I can tell how much body fat% I've lost since January, even though I haven't really lost weight. Now I'm ready to see the scale start to move again too. I'm so close to a flat stomach (at least the top pooch, the bottom is still a work in progress). But I feel much better being back in the game. Maybe my body just needed these last 5 months to readjust. Get comfy with being smaller. And now finally it's moving again, yay!