Overcoming your weight loss plateau

Why are your results flattening? 2 reasons. Metabolic adaptation to your current diet and exercise routine. “Homeostasis” which is just a sexy term that describes your body’s preference to stay the same or you body has found its comfort zone.

2- there have been accumulated changes in your current exercise and eating routine that are causing you to eat more or burn less calories with exercise, and you aren’t aware of it. This is why I stress importance of doing assessments.

At the beginning of your program the weight may seem to be melting off (this happens a lot with individuals who start running) but as you get more fit, your body is going to require more of a workload to be challenged and get uncomfortable again which causes response. This is when new stressors need applied.

Adaptation is a disadvantage to us as we improve fitness levels. Don’t try to change too many variables at once, this will lead to confusion for yourself as to what’s working or not.

START WITH THESE SIMPLE STEPS⬇️⬇️⬇️
1- Drinking more water- this will help with appetite control, improve workout performance, speed recovery and keep you from overeating or eating out of boredom

2- Increase workout intensity- add more reps, add just 5 more lbs to weight your currently using, variety in rest intervals

3- Increase daily activity- don’t confuse busy with active. Add mobility and stability work daily to insure joint and muscle health

4- Improve food quality- like movement, we over estimate how well we eat. Decrease sugar intake, and start eliminating processed foods is a great place to start.

5- Sleep- my favorite! 🙌🏾 This secrets weapon we all have access to and misuse it. Sleep is key to recovery allowing you to be more active and train harder during your training sessions and keeping metabolism on point!

Tis the season of cravings!

Almost everyone has cravings. Cravings are intense desires for specific foods, and with our season changes come appetite changes. When it gets cooler, we’re craving comfort! That’s normal, but now more than ever it’s time you become aware of it, prepare for it, and plan for it! I will be giving you 9 craving crushers you can use to start incorporating into your process and continue progressing in your health and fitness journey.

Craving Creator 1- Not eating enough: One sure way to set yourself up for cravings is not eating enough (I see this more with clients than anything else that is killing their results). This will set you up for a vicious cycle of cravings and overeating. How to crush this craving creator- Eat more on a schedule- If trying to lose weight, remember lasting results come from consistency not crash diets.- Anticipate when you’ll be hungry, and have healthy foods on hand before it gets out of control.

Craving Creator 2- Not having a plan: There’s a sneaky reason it’s a good idea to come up with a meal plan for the next few days or check in your meals with your trainer. This will help you have food on-hand when you’re hungry. Yes, you might choose healthier foods by planning ahead. And yes, you’ll probably save money by avoiding last-minute binges. How to crush this craving creator- make a plan for your meals and snacks ahead of time and prep as much as you can. - As much as possible, stick with your plan.

Craving Creator 3- Being thirsty: Staying well hydrated can help ward off cravings. When your body is thirsty, you can interpret that feeling as hunger, which can spark a craving. How to crush this craving creator- Track your water intake. ( I have my clients shoot for a gallon daily) If you feel a craving coming on, drink some water and wait a few minutes to see if the craving goes away.

Craving Creator 4- Being tired: I know it’s hard, I’m working on it myself. Getting that 7-9 hours of sleep. ( I shoot for 6-8) Yes, this is another piece of advice you probably hear a lot, but that’s for good reason. That’s because your appetite is affected by hormones. Leptin and ghrelin that go up and down over the course of each 24-hour period. How to crush this craving creator- try to track your sleep- schedule your bedtime- No tv in bedroom

Craving Creator 5- Out of balance diet: Drink a lot of soda or other sugary beverages? Focus on calories vs. quality of calories? Eat a lot of processed foods? How to crush this craving creator- Avoid drinking soda, sugary juices or artificially flavored drinks- You want your carbs to be as close to it’s natural state as possible- adequate protein intake.

Craving Creator 6- Skimping Protein: Studies show that eating protein can reduce your appetite stopping you from overeating and helping reduce cravings. How to crush this craving creator- spread your protein intake out over the course of the day- mix up protein sources- start early with protein intake.

Craving Creator 7- getting stressed: Stress doesn’t just put you in an overwhelmed mood, it affects your hormones in a way that appears to be linked with cravings, especially for sweet foods! To add insult to injury, stress causes your body to release excess cortisol, which can lead to weight gain, especially in the belly region! How to crush this craving creator- Don’t wait to deal with stress, hit it head on- Make stress management a part of your daily routine

Craving Creator 8- Your environment and your emotions- For example. You might associate sitting down on the couch at night with specific foods. Afternoons with a sweet pick me up, or mornings with brunch foods. These triggers seem automatic, so you don’t even think about them. How to crush this craving creator- take note of your cravings and the circumstances surrounding them. Watch for patterns- Avoid keeping trigger foods in your home.

Craving Creator 9- Underfueling your tough workouts- You might notice that certain kinds of exercise or if you do resistance training workouts, working certain body groups, like your legs, make you hungrier than others. How to crush this craving- Don’t ignore the hunger, usually after strenuous workouts your muscles will let you know they need fed and replenished- if can’t keep up with the intake, scale back a bit from the workouts to decrease your chances of injury.

The more you say NO, the more you’ll grow….

I want to talk about something that will make you feel more in control of your time and also your actions … and it can have a spillover effect into other areas of your life.

● It’s saying NO more often – that’s right, all you have to do is JUST SAY NO to things you are not wholeheartedly interested in doing!

● In fact, you can even take it a step farther and ONLY agree to things that make you say HE$$ YES!

● If your schedule is usually jam-packed and you sometimes wonder how you’re going to accomplish everything on your list, it might be time to take back control!

● What does this have to do with health and wellness? A lot!

● Here’s why: Overcommitting your time and mental energy can leave you feeling overwhelmed, stressed and drained. It can even take a toll on your wallet … and your health!

● After a while it becomes challenging to do everything on your list WELL– and that can mean everything suffers, including your own quality of life!

● Also, a lot of people say they don’t have time for their own self-care, but that’s because they put everything else ahead of it on their to-do list.

● But the truth is, if you limit what you do to the things you truly value and are excited about, you bring up the level of quality and also the level of enjoyment.

● One way to start saying NO more often is to think about what your priorities are. 

● What are you working toward right now– building better relationships, your family, your health, or maybe your career?

● I know all of those things sound great, but working toward all of them at the same time is very challenging. It doesn’t necessarily mean you ignore the things that are not your priority, but they do fall lower on your list (right now!).

● Once you have your priority in mind, it’s easier to say YES to the things that fall in line with it … the things that make you excited and will add value to your life.

● For example, if your family is your main priority, that can still include career and health activities, since providing for them, being a role-model, and being healthy are part of the equation.

● One way you’ll know that saying NO to something is the right thing to do is to trust your instincts – if you feel a sense of relief at the thought of not doing it, then you’re probably better off without it! 

● And if actually SAYING the word “NO” is hard for you, one trick is use definitive words, instead of a vague excuse or apology. (This was hard for me at first)

● Some samples: “I don’t have time to bake brownies for the bake sale.” “I don’t go out for drinks during the week.” “Weekends are family time.” “I work out every morning.”

● You get the picture! Basically, using that language helps you set a clear boundary, which means people are more apt to understand and give you less push-back when you say no.

● Remember, along with your health, your time is one of your most precious resources.

● You never get back the hours you spend doing something you don’t want to do!

● Guarding your time is one of the best ways you can take care of yourself! (And many results will follow!)

Metabolism and your mental.

Let me tell you a little story about a woman I know. I have permission to use this story, but I’m not using her name. :) 

She was absolutely crushing her program – getting her workouts in, following her nutrition, and staying active even outside her workouts – and she also was making sure she got plenty of downtime to destress. 

Her fave destressor: arriving early for appointments and listening to audiobooks in the car (her personal sanctuary, where no one would bother her)!

In just a few months she dropped 4 pants sizes and 30 pounds. Amazing, right?

But then her elderly mom had a stroke … and suddenly she was in the middle of a major stress overload. 

Especially when the job of being a caretaker (which she took on happily and willingly) fell onto her shoulders – on top of her already demanding career.

And you guessed it … suddenly her results screeched to a halt … even though she kept up with everything else on her plan to the best of her ability. She even started to regain some of the weight she had worked so hard to lose!

It’s tempting to think we can “walk it off” when it comes to stress, but your hormones are powerful and they can throw your entire system into disruption. 

This can happen when you have chronic stress like the woman I told you about – who, with a few lifestyle changes – was able to get back on-track.

And it can also happen when you have unchecked CHRONIC stress that you’re under every day. 

Here’s a quick list of what can happen metabolically/hormonally when you’re under stress:

Almost immediately, you can start burning fewer calories. A study done a few years ago at Ohio State found that stress was linked to burning fewer calories for women.

In the study, women were fed a high-fat, high-calorie meal. Those who reported being under a lot of stress the day before burned 100+ FEWER calories than the women who weren’t under stress.

Plus, the stressed-out women had higher insulin levels, which can exacerbate fat storage. 

You start to crave high-fat, high-sugar foods, thanks to the extra cortisol (a primary stress hormone) in your system.

Emotional eating. Snacking on those fatty, sugary comfort foods can fire up your brain’s reward centers, giving you temporary relief. Over time, this can become a habit or go-to method of self-soothing.

These less-than-healthy comfort foods can leave you feeling blah and tired, affect your mood, and set you up for feeling even worse.

PLUS … studies show “ultra-processed” (like the fatty/sugary foods in the studies) actually cause you to eat more than you would if you ate healthier foods.

So … what can you do?

Stress is a natural part of life, and it hits all of us eventually. It can be a job with constant deadline pressures … relationship or financial issues … and it can even come in the form of “good” stress, like a new baby in the house!

The most important thing you can do is to BE AWARE and listen to your body.

1) Be mindful about how you are feeling … and what you are eating. This lets you stay in (or regain) control. If you find yourself stressed or tense, take note!

2) Take regular anti-stress breaks. Sometimes you have to be sneaky. I know of several people who make solo grocery trips and stand in the longest checkout line to extend their “alone” time.Also, experiment with meditation or breathing exercises a couple times a day.

3) Make time for exercise. This can help with stress management and boost your metabolism in the process. A brisk walk counts!

4) Honor your needs. Just because someone in your life has an urgent need doesn’t mean your own needs are less important. Make time for YOU!

And above all, don’t stress about stressing! The key to it all is being MINDFUL, and adding “self-care” to your do-do list.

You need to know these numbers before starting your health and fitness program…

You ready to take back control of your health and fitness? Over the past few months if you haven’t realized how important it is to make your health and fitness priority, you’re in trouble. Not saying that to scare you, I’m saying that to make you take a look at what are you making priority, and in return sacrificing your health?

The amazing thing about this journey is it’s never too late to start! The key is understanding where your current fitness level is at, and starting from there. This is where most go wrong.

Some will try to pick up where they left off over 5 years ago, before having kids, career change, relationship change, or maybe an injury and think “this is what used to work for me.” This is where you hit the ground running hard, and burn out because your current demands in life don’t allow for the 1-2 hour workouts anymore. So you’ll quit because, you don’t have the time, what was working before isn’t working anymore, or your friends program isn’t as effective for you as it is for him or her….. and that’s because it’s not YOUR program.

Below are the key numbers that you need to look into before starting your journey to understanding and achieving long term results! ⬇️⬇️⬇️
1- How many days a week can you commit to? This is great for building momentum and confidence early in your process. After you’re able to complete 2-3 days a week of working out you’re getting quick wins and you can work on adding additional days from there. If you haven’t been in a routine in over a year, it’s not a good idea to tell yourself “starting next week I’m going start working out everyday day” you will be setting yourself up for disappointment.

2-Resting Metabolism- for effective weight loss and/or gain this number is important as this is the number of calories burned when you are at rest. Yes those of you with lean muscle mass, you are burning a lot of calories outside of the gym to feed that muscle and to keep the body functioning. Dieting?? Are you still doing that? Restricting yourself from calorie intake? This is a definite way to destroy your metabolism and have everything work against you once you are off that diet, and could take over a year to regulate. When starting your journey, find out what your resting metabolism is. This number is going to shock you at first because it’s going to be a number that is more than what your intaking now. More than likely, a lot more. 80% of the time, I have to tell a client who is just getting started that they have to eat more! (What trainer tells their client they need to eat MORE!??!?) I do, if I want them to be successful. I need you to fuel your body for the work we need to do ahead and the calories need to be available for energy. What happens if you’re not getting the sufficient amount of calories in? Your daily energy source will come from muscle, instead of bodyfat. Yes we want to lose 20lbs, but not 20 pounds of muscle.

3- Skelatal muscle/lean muscle mass- keeping this number in a good range, will keep your metabolism reved up and allow you to bend on your intake a little more. For most this happens when they’ve put in some years and made the process a lifestyle! (The best way!!) during your process you want to make sure your intake is on point as you don’t want this number to decrease too much, as well as increase to much if you’re not wanting to put on too much muscle mass. Sometimes the increase in muscle could cause the scale number to increase, but what you’re not seeing in that Scale number is the decrease in bodyfat% (which normally happens when your muscle increases) the increase in metabolism, and more energy!

4- Bodyfat%- again, get this number in YOUR recommended range, and your body is functioning at peak! Metabolism is high, energy is through the roof, appetite is healthy, and them jeans or that new suit that you want to get in Is yours! This also helps regulate body temperature, cushion joints and protect internal organs.

Now, we now what the damage of a high bodyfat% can do, but also too little may lead to osteoporosis in later years, leave your more prone to injuries, irregular periods and possible infertility.

5- BMI%-LADIES!!!!!! this is an important number for you, as this plays a big roll in the number that’s reflected on the scale. The number we use as a measure of success in your process (which we have to work on stopping) If you have a a couple of days of high sodium intake, this number will be up because that sodium is holding on to all the water in your body, you’ll feel the puffiness, and then for some strange reason, you’ll get on the scale🤦🏾‍♂️ Of course you’re heavier. If you don’t get in enough water, your bmi% will be up as well, again making your weight increase. You’ll then get on the scale, and yup, your weight is up 🤦🏾‍♂️ Time of the month? Yes, this is major water retention time, hormones are all over. Knowing this, guess what? You still get on the scale and your weight is though the roof! 🤦🏾‍♂️ During this time realize your weight is at least 3lbs up during your cycle, and bmi% is high as well. Only numbers that are pretty accurate during this time is your bodydat% and skeletal muscle/muscle mass. Last but not least, if you’re not getting enough sleep or you’ve been stressed, will cause your bmi% to increase as well as our body is producing some cortisol. But it never fails, you continue to get on the scale, validating why you never wanted to start the journey anyway.. sound familiar?

Get these numbers before starting your journey for longterm results, and an enjoyable process!