Guess what. It’s Friday, y’all! Wow. I felt like the biggest redneck typing that. Even living in the South my entire life, I have never been a big “y’all”-er. But it’s Friday and Friday deserves a little crazy. So – Happy Friday, y’all!

Just like the past couple of weeks, Friday now means a rest day for me. Though, it still a little odd resting on Friday instead of Sundays (my standard rest day of choice for years). I feel like on a weekday I should get up and do something just like all my other weekdays. Then, I remind myself the rest prepares me for my Saturday long runs and gives me the chance to have a less stressful and crazy morning one day of the week. Much needed and both good for the health.

Besides, just because I’m not getting my workout groove on doesn’t mean I don’t do things to better my health in other ways. I think we too easily forget about all the many, many, many ways we affect our health beyond our eating and fitness habits. Like flossing, sleeping, taking care of our money, hydrating, taking the stairs, or saying “I love you”. But you know what? Those DO count!

You know what else? Those can also count and add up to moolah in your pocket. You heard me. Cash. Money. Bills. Well, more aptly…Starbucks. iTunes. Amazon. Fandango. SpaFinder.

Yes. I’m for real.

Earlier this week, I received some information about a new site called DailyFeats.

At first, I thought “whatever…another product pitch”. Then, I took a closer look. You sign up. You check in daily or throughout the day (they even have an app!) to mark off certain feats you accomplished. You earn points for every little thing you do to better your health. Your points add up. You cash in your points for prizes – like gift cards to iTunes, Amazon, Fandango, and Starbucks. Ummm…why the heck not?!?!

I have received nothing for this. Nothing. I simply had to share it with you all. I love that DailyFeats offers a site to focus and reward a broad spectrum of healthy behaviors and positive actions.

 
I can finally get something for the incessant laundry and dishes!!!

There are so many things to earn points with. Not just workouts or meal choices, although those are there too. Just like I enjoy checking in with my budget to remain aware of my spending, this is a cool way to check in with my habits to look at my lifestyle and how I care for myself. AND earn some free new running music down the line…helping me rack up even more points.

Sure, it’s another thing to keep up with online. Sure, there are some ways they could make the site more user friendly – such as allowing you to check in more than one feat with one click instead of individual clicks for each. Sure, it can take a bit of time to rack up 2000 points for some of the better gift cards (although I have racked up over 200 in just a few days). Even with all that, I still think its a pretty cool site. I’m signed up. I have the app. And I’m working towards a free movie night with the husband. We don’t have a huge entertainment budget, remember? 😉

• What are some ways you take care of your health beyond the standard eating and fitness habits?
• Want to sign up for DailyFeats? Earn 50 points to get you started by entering the code faithfitnessrun50 when signing up. 🙂

**I cannot express enough that I received nothing for this post. I was simply made aware of this site and decided to give it a try out of my own personal will. The opinions are 100% my own, honest thoughts.

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!