Everything I'm reading seems to say the same thing: less calories, more movement equals weight loss (anyone else saying duh here?) But what if someone is following that equation, and still isn't seeing any minus signs? Yes, I've had a few splurges over the past few months, but I've been sticking with Weight Watchers on a pretty consistent basis and working out for at least 45 minutes every day. I talked it over with my husband and mom, and through the discussions, and my Internet research, a few light bulbs went off for me as to why I may be experiencing a stall.
- I'm stressing too much about the scale. I have to admit, when I work hard on the food and fitness plan all week, then get on the scale and don't see any difference, I get pretty down about it. And we all know stress isn't good for the body! (Read this article from WebMD about the correlation between stress and weight gain.) Combining the scale anxiety with work, having my husband traveling for a total of 6 weeks over the past few months, family health issues, etc., is probably not helping me stay too "Zen." So, first and foremost, I'm putting away the scale. It is too tempting to have it sitting right there in the bathroom when I'm headed to the shower, so its new home will be our hallway closet. I'm not going to say I won't weigh myself anymore, but at least I won't go through what feels like a weekly beating.
- I'm not getting enough sleep. I was surprised by the findings of several studies done a few years ago that found that people who sleep two to four hours a night are 73 percent more likely to be obese than those who get seven to nine hours. Those who get five or more hours of sleep a night are 50 percent more likely to be obese than normal sleepers. Those who sleep six hours are 23 percent more likely to be obese. Makes me want to go home and take a nap! HA HA! I have always been a bit of a night owl, and I think the increased exercise has given me a lot more energy. More nights than not, I find myself wide awake past midnight, and I even when I do finally drift off, I end up waking up at 3:30 a.m. on the dot and not being able to get back to sleep for a good hour or so. Maybe a good dose of turkey or Sleepytime tea may help me get some better rest?
- Am I drinking enough water? I keep gallons of water handy at my desk, and have several glasses while at home, but I don't really keep track of how much I'm drinking. The Mayo Clinic recommends the standard 8, 8-ounce rule, but they say number of factors (exercise, environment) can influence your target water intake. I think I'm going to have to pull out my trusty Nalgene bottle with the handy dandy ounce counter on the side for awhile to make sure I'm keeping up with my fluids!
- I do the same exercise routine every day. While I'm starting to love the results I'm seeing (more-defined legs, flatter belly) from Jillian Michaels shred challenge and my usual walk/jog with the pooch, I do wonder if doing the same exercise routine every day is causing more harm than good. Dr. Patrika Tsai over at healthcentral.com says, "When you do the same exercises each day, your body becomes more efficient at performing them, and you may not see as much change in weight loss or muscle strengthening as you experienced when you first started. Adding new exercises will often allow you to develop parts of your body that may not already be targeted by the activities you are currently doing." That's some good advice! I do want to finish the shred, but I'm definitely going to incorporate some new workouts to my current mix. Volleyball has been on hiatus for two weeks, so I'll be glad when that starts up again. I'm also going to look into some aerobics classes (something I've been saying I'm going to do for awhile now), and do more intervals of running while out on my walks.
- I may be eating too many carbs. On the way to work this morning, I was listening to a radio station that had a health and fitness expert on as a guest. (Ironic!) A lady phoned in to ask her about her own weight loss probs, and one of her suggestions was to not eat a lot of carbs at night. I'm going to try to keep dinners more protein-veggie strict for awhile and see what happens, and eat earlier in the evening. 9 p.m. probably isn't a good time to have a bowl of spaghetti, portion controlled or not. :)
Maybe a few modifications will get me on the road to reaching my goals. I hope anyone who is struggling as well will find this information helpful, and any other tips and tricks are much appreciated. Best of luck to all of us! :)
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