I know. I know. I just shared a post on blogger responsibility last night and here I am posting “6 Steps for Getting Back in the Workout Groove”. Well…simply remember that I’m not a professional. This topic simply coincides with my life this week and I want to share about it and how I handled the challenge. Mmmmkay? Good.

So. Workout grooves. I have had some struggles finding mine again this week. I honestly missed my regular workout routine while away at Fitbloggin and felt excited to get back to it come Monday. However, once Monday rolled around I did not have the same motivation I previously felt. I knew I had to take some proactive steps to make sure I didn’t suddenly end up facing my race next Saturday without any training the prior weeks. And seriously? Next week is my race?! When? How?! But back to my post…

Step One: Find a workout that excites you.

I planned a spinning workout for Monday with my favorite instructor. Getting to see her again and have her kick my butt sounded good and all sorts of fun. Any other workout might not have gotten me out the door. Spinning can always motivate me to get moving!

Step Two: Plan ahead for a workout time that you will least likely skip.

I know that if I put my workout off until the evening I have a much harder time finding the energy to power through a session. Unfortunately, I could not get my gym time in on Monday morning. It almost deterred me from going to spin Monday night. Good thing I love spinning so much that it got my butt out the door. Needless to say, it reminded me why it is so important to choose a time that works for you! Don’t make getting back into a groove hard on yourself by choosing to workout at 5 am when you hate the morning or at 6 pm when you know you will want to die of exhaustion. 

Step Three: Find a Buddy.

this image doesn’t REALLY fit in this post but I LOVE it too much and had to slip it in - carriedphotography caught this one of Katy & I during the conference

I’ll be honest…one of the biggest things that motivated me to hit spin class on Monday night was you all. Blogging sure provides a heck of a lot of motivation sometimes! I know you all wouldn’t feel disappointed in me or anything ridiculous like that. Workouts are just my best blog brainstorming time! If blog brainstorming so you have something to discuss with blog buddies doesn’t motivate you, then find a “real life” pal to drag along and make things less miserable.

Step Four: Ease Back Into It.

Confession: I picked up this step in hindsight. After attending a conference that also focused on fitness I got a little gung-ho on my weights workouts of the week. I completed the following two workouts.

MONDAY: PLYO, CHEST, TRIS, & ABS WORKOUT (done as a circuit)

TUESDAY: HAMSTRINGS, BACK, SHOULDERS, & BIS WORKOUT (done as 3 different supersets)

Ahem. My body hurts. Ouch. Not the smartest move on my part to go back in so forcefully. Take note that easing back in would make things much easier to keep up with and more natural in getting that groove back.

Step Five: Be Realistic and Adapt As Necessary.

Along the same premise as step four, I quickly learned that I would have to openly adjust my workout plans so as not to sideline myself with intense soreness. Wednesday my training plan called for a 5 mile tempo run, with my tempo miles at an 8:43 pace. Ha! Hahahaha! My legs said no way and I had no problem adjusting that run’s goal to simply completing 4 miles, screw the pace. If I had tried to push it, my workout groove would have quickly turned into creating a nice groove in my couch cushions instead. You know…since I would not have a shot in the world of moving from said couch cushions.

Step Six: Just Do It.

Nike is onto something…

Remember all the reasons you love working your fitness. Then, get out there and go for it. Try not to make excuses because every bit of delay will make it that much harder to return later. Consider the goals you hope to accomplish, that approaching race (cough cough), the wonderful sense of accomplishment you feel after a workout, or the health you enjoy. Think about what got you to the gym or out pounding that pavement before your break. Use those same things to motivate you now and just do it. Getting started is 99% of the challenge for me! The other 1% is my sore legs. Dang you Fitbloggin trampoline workout and deadlifts!

• What ways do you get your workout groove back in action?
• Does blogging ever motivate you to do a workout?

Time for Part Two of the Body After Baby Q + A! Check out part one where I discuss things like calorie counting, the baby pooch, and more. Now, more of your fabulous questions! Once again, please remember I answer solely based on my own experience.

Do you ever feel like you’re doing well but the scale doesn’t reflect it?
YES! The scale varies so much for me from week to week. I try to focus on the overall trend and also keep other measures of tracking progress. If the scale hasn’t moved for awhile, but I still see measurements going down, notice clothes fitting better, or feel and look stronger/leaner, then I don’t bother with what the scale says. So many variables can affect that reading – like water weight from what you ate recently and your hormones. I also turn to progress pictures for the most motivational progress tracking.

However, if I notice the scale not moving and other measures not displaying progress for more than a few weeks, then I know I need to take a closer look at things to bust through a plateau. This is another reason why I believe in eating more, not cranking out 2 hours of workouts a day, etc. That way, when you reach a plateau you have room to tweak things such as cutting back a tiny bit more on food or adding a little more intensity in workouts. For me, this usually means just cutting back a little on the treats I inevitably have during the weekends and giving a little extra EFFORT (not extra time!) to my workouts.

How do you know when you’ve reached your “happy weight” and can go into maintenance mode?
I stand by the fact that if you eat whole, quality, nutritious foods the majority of the time and move your body on a regular basis your body will get to its happy place. In my opinion, you know you have reached your “happy weight” when you have energy, feel strong, and you consistently fuel and exercise your body well. Personally, by doing those things, I don’t stress myself and have steadily been dropping the baby weight.

Another thing I remember is the fact that if I have to take on practices that leave me hungry, fatigued, deprived, or less than optimally functioning in any way to lose more weight, I am likely already at my “happy weight”. I think we all need to change our ideal weight or size to match with our healthy weight or size. Be sure the two coincide and if you take care of yourself, your “happy weight” will naturally be where you feel healthy.

How did you determine what you were ready for physically?
I always started out with as light a workout as possible for a week and then checked how I felt. If I felt okay, experienced no soreness/fatigue, and had no signs of doing too much too soon (increased *ahem* bleeding), then I would increase my workout load. In a way, I almost worked backwards from my pregnancy. I started off with moves I could do easily the end of my pregnancy, then gradually added back in things I could do earlier on in the pregnancy until achieving my regular workout intensity. Keeping up workouts while pregnant certainly helped me regain my ability to workout sooner!

I listened to my body and kept feeling great so kept trying just a little bit more. After the first month or two, I found my body able to pick up where it left off quicker than I expected. I will also say though that it took me a good bit longer after Makenzie. I think my body knew what to expect more after the second pregnancy.

You always seem to make progress so easily. Do you ever struggle with the weight loss? Please, tell me you do and that I’m normal!
Of course, you’re normal! Trust me when I say that making progress in reaching my “happy place” does take work. I don’t skip through workouts and keeping track of my eating without a single care in the world. The weight does not just fall off me as I sprinkle rainbows and sing Barney tunes. Heck, no! It. Takes. Work. And a lot of it. I have an avid sweet tooth coupled with a raging appetite from nursing that I always have to be aware of with this journey. I am busy and have plenty of days where I want to not worry about cooking a healthy meal or getting to the gym. I know how much better I feel for it though, and that motivates me to keep going. It certainly is not easy.

Even though, making progress is not what I would deem easy, please note the importance of not making it harder than it has to be either. I make my progress by consistently working towards my health. That’s pretty much the gist of it. I don’t try to restrict food so much that I’m starving. I don’t fatigue myself with overtraining. I don’t jump from this diet to that eating method to this cleanse to that detox and all that madness. So yes, progress is hard for me in the sense I have to persevere through things at times, but not hard in the way I approach my goals.

• What ways do you bust through a weight loss or training plateau?
• Enter my Love Grown Foods Granola giveaway!!