It takes a lot of time and effort to work towards fitness related goals. When things don’t progress how you hope, an overwhelming sense of frustration can set in. I understand and relate all too well. Plateaus used to throw a wrench in my goals time and time and time again. Over the years, I learned more about my body and effective ways to approach plateaus – to either keep them from happening or karate chop them out of the way when they would hit.

I recently received a question via email on whether or not I have had to deal with plateaus when losing the baby weight and what I would do when encountering one. For the purposes of the reader request, this post will focus more intently on weight loss plateaus, but many of the ideas presented can certainly apply to other fitness related goals.

First up – I feel the need to clarify what I deem a plateau. I think a plateau occurs when ZERO changes happen for an extended period of time – in my opinion, close to a month. You may not notice a change on the scale but can definitively fit better into your clothes. Not a plateau. You may only see a half pound loss on the scale each week for a few weeks instead of the pound you were seeing. Not a plateau. I consider a plateau a lack of progress on all counts – ZERO change even after allowing your body the time to catch up with your efforts and make changes.

Now that we have that straightened out we can focus on the ways I avoided plateaus while achieving my Body After Baby progress and the steps I took when I found myself in one.

Have Room To Progress
I never quite understand the notion to nose-dive into a fitness plan with the top intensity, highest level of dietary restriction, or most challenging plan from the beginning. That can only lead to burn out. If you have super human will power and avoid burn out, then your body will eventually adapt as it’s a smart little yoda…and then where do you go?

source

I like to start with the smallest of changes so I can build up habits, remain consistent with them, and have options to tweak the plan as my body grows stronger.

Take A Break
The first thing I will do when facing a plateau is proactively decide to take a break. Counterintuitive, no? But it works. I allow my body to take it easy on workouts for a week. I eat a bit more. I don’t stress over my goals. By the end of my break, I feel rejuvenated and ready to take on my goals with a new, stronger intensity. The stress from eating less, working hard, or just fretting my goals inhibits my body’s progress greatly. So, when I chill out for awhile my body appreciates it and reciprocates with future progress, like it did after my recent vacation.

Look Closely at the Little Details
Sometimes the small things we do add up to make a bigger impact than we imagine. We know that our training and eating habits have an impact on progress and will readily look to them when facing stalls. However, we also must consider our other habits. I always take a look at the other details of my health to determine what areas I can improve. Am I drinking enough water? Am I getting enough sleep? Am I active in other ways throughout the day? Am I stressing too much? Am I “regular”? Am I facing some crazy hormones? Those things have key roles and need to be in order for progress to happen.

Track It

It doesn’t need to be drastic (like measuring raisins!). If I want to track to check my habits, I usually resort to a few simple protocols. I measure foods that I can have a heavy hand with when serving (peanut butter or cereal) to make sure I am taking proper serving sizes. I will count calories loosely in my head for a week or two to see if I have any areas I can tweak. I will stay more mindful of extra bites or licks I steal while making M her food or cooking. Nothing excessive, but enough to pick up on habits that may need to change for progress to get back under way.

Add Another Gear
Up. The. Intensity! I don’t believe in adding a ton of extra time to workouts, but I do think we can push ourselves out of our comfort zones to maximize our results and get the ball moving again. When we get in a routine, we can easily start sailing through workouts out of habit. To avoid this, I try to mix up or increase the challenge of my workouts every 6-8 weeks. I will either try something new, add in more intervals, shoot for new distances, vary up my strength training routines, or pull out workouts that I know kick my butt. Work harder and smarter.

Ride It Out With Positive Thoughts
If all else fails, I go here. If I know I have done all I can to have taken a balanced approach to eating, training, and caring for my health, then I can only accept that and stop expecting so much from my body. I trust that respecting my body will bring it just where it should be and let it happen naturally. I stop stressing. I picture my goals and keep working hard. Surprisingly enough, staying positive and committed ends up bringing the desired results down the line. After all, when reaching this point the only options are to keep chugging away with determination or give up and say forget it. I know one of those choices won’t help me achieve my goal…so why not just dig deep, ride it out, and trust? It can only do good.

• What tactics do you use when facing plateaus in your goals?
• What is a detail outside of diet and workouts that you have to take care of to feel your best? I think sleep impacts me the most!

Another week. Another Monday. Another chance to take on the world. And another stellar strength training workout to get going for the week. Same thing as taking on the world, right? Maybe not, but I still find it a motivating kick-off to my week.

Circuit One

Circuit Two 

Circuit Three

Since I only had strength training on plan for this morning and knew it would only take me around 35 minutes to complete, I opted out of having a small snack beforehand. I came home wanting to gnaw off my arm. This workout awoke the hunger beast, that’s for sure! In fact, it made me want something with more food than my typical oats. I whipped up an odd little combo including an over easy “dippy” egg…

…a grilled swiss cheese and jelly sandwich (if only I had brie!)…

…and a sliced apple. Chomping through all that food left my belly quite content. 🙂

And I’m sure you’re thinking “Okay. Okay. That sounds good, but get on with the progress update already!” Don’t let my mind reading powers scare you. They bring results after all…because here you are – Month 7 Progress!

As always, last month on the left and this month on the right…

As I mentioned in last month’s progress update, I have basically reached my “happy place”. I no longer actively seek to lose more baby weight or make significant progress from month to month. My goals now focus on maintaining my healthy habits and allowing my body to change or progress how it will through half marathon training, regular weights workouts, and everyday active living.

I don’t see huge changes, but I feel perfectly comfortable with that considering I listened to my body – pushing through some tough workouts or taking it easy for a week because I needed the break. All that’s not to say changes didn’t still happen. I gave up the scale so I don’t have progress to report there, but measurements all dropped a smidge.

It just hit me that I have lost almost 24 inches off my body since February. That’s TWO FEET!!! Is that even possible? I think the photos (and tape measurer) say yes…

Even when things don’t seem to happen or when you feel off your game, the body can still do its thing if you care for it overall. I cannot stress enough the importance of consistency in my journey. I give any and all credit for my progress 100% to the desire to honor and respect the body God blessed me with as much as possible on a daily basis. Not a Monday through Friday basis. Not a for six weeks and then move on basis. On a daily basis.

That doesn’t mean each day I strive for perfection…that’s ridiculous and would only end with me in a mental hospital. It means that each day I work to listen to my body and treat it well – with food to nourish, activity to energize, rest to replenish, and love to live well. It’s something every single one of us can do. Take it day by day…and always include love for that body. It deserves it!

• What accomplishments have you seen with consistency in part of your life?
• What is your favorite kind of cheese? Do you even have to ask? Goat! Although I do love me some Swiss on sandwiches.