It's Monday babes! Let's kick this week off the right way with some tips and tricks on how to bust through those paper walls. Paper walls are the blocks we have in our lives that are stopping us from hitting our goals or making progress. But they are fake; it's paper, it's not brick or even plastic. Paper melts in water; a baby can push through with ease. But our minds tell us it's blocking us, and we cannot go through; we are stuck. I'm here to encourage you...you are NOT stuck. You can run through so fast, look back, and tell yourself, "That's all that was holding me back? Paper"? Let's go over the nerdy part of it...ya know, the scientific reasons our bodies can or can't lose weight.
A big problem I hear a lot is, "Christina, I'm doing all the right things, but my body isn't changing! I'm not losing weight". First, let's talk about the science of losing weight. There are two main ways your body expends calories daily:
BRM and TDEE.
The human body follows the Laws of Thermodynamics, also referred to as energy balance. It's calories and calories out. Each person is unique and burns a set amount of calories every day just lying around, without physical activity. This is referred to as your BMR Basal Metabolic Rate. Depending on your age and weight that will vary per person.
Then there is your TDEE Total Daily Energy Expenditure. That means your physical activity. Walking around your house, your workouts, your workload, picking up things, etc... Anything where your body is not lying down. This will vary per person as well since we are all at different levels.
You then add in your food for the day, and if it is the same as the TDEE, you will remain the same and hit the Weightloss Plateau. If you're one of my Macro Clients, you know in our initial meeting, we go over your activity levels for the day, and we can confirm these numbers. It's all a science and numbers game. We conclude your Daily Caloric Goal and your Daily Activity level goal, and we work weekly to hit those so you see the scale go down. As weeks go on and you're making progress, we continue to monitor the two numbers so you continue to hit your goals. Depending on your goals and how fast you want to hit them depend on how long and how quickly you will see results. Another thing to consider is that weight loss is different for everyone, life happens, things come up, and you go off plan. So, think of your weight loss journey as a mountain with hills. You may go up and down, but over time, that line continually goes downward. As long as you are being consistent, you will see change. The best thing you can do for yourself instead of guessing is to write it all down.
Grab a notepad and ask yourself these 3 questions-
Have I been working out aggressively enough to hit my daily energy expenditure?
Am I sticking to my diet and logging every bite? Yes, even that cookie at work, stolen cheese cubes from your kid's lunch box, the extra Soda on your lunch break, a snack here, and a snack there unlogged. I've seen clients log 500 extra calories a day from mindless bites here and there. It's crazy how fast it adds up.
Am I getting enough sleep at night? When you are exhausted, your body holds on to extra fat to be able to handle the stress of whatever comes your way. Yes, fat is our savior in stressful times. It's our body's quiet fight or flight mode, not knowing what to expect. We also tend to overeat during over-exhausted times in our lives.
Every day, our body uses food to sustain life, give off heat, or store it for later. Those are its three purposes. Whether you consume calories through liquid (drinks) or meals will be accounted for one way or the other.
Use this journal to log your habits. Don't try to change anything the first week. Just log exactly what you're eating and how many minutes of workouts and sleep. Then, you will have a baseline of where you can start.
Weigh yourself, take your measurements, and add them to your journal as well.
Now that we have the baseline of your meals, workouts, and sleep, let's go over my top 8 tips to break whatever is holding you back.
My TOP 8 TIPS to Break the Plateau-
Change up your workout routine(are you getting your Heart Rate up high enough to burn the extra calories, do you only walk? Try jogging or weight training) Get your Heart rate to the 130-150 zone to burn fat for a minimum of 30 minutes a day.
Increase your N.E.A.T(nonexercise activity) Take your dog for a walk, stand up and walk around the house, complete yard work, walk up and down stairs
Take out sweets, sodas, and fast food for 1 week.
Go to bed by 10 pm every night for 1 week
Change your food up, eat something lighter and different. If you normally eat a heavy meal at dinner, opt for a salad or fish at dinner so your body will digest the food more quickly so you can sleep better.
Drink 80 oz + water a day
Get outside, play with your kids
Log all your meals, every bite, every lick, every drink, every glass of wine. Everything gets written down.
After you write down your meals and activities, you will see where you can add more activity or cut unnecessary calories to hit your goal and break through the plateau. Even "healthy" food can make you gain weight, so read every label. Sometimes, just looking at your journey and what you are doing will give you the reason why you have hit a plateau. Our bodies are super adaptable. They will find the shortest way to get the desired outcome. So you've been walking every day for a year, and your body knows how to do that by burning the least amount of calories. Have you been doing workouts with the same amount of weight? Your body knows it doesn't have to work harder or burn extra calories; this is easy.
I hope this blog helps you on your fitness journey and you can bust through those paper walls and hit your goals. I would love to hear how your fitness journey is going. Post in the comments below, or come find me on Instagram!
I love seeing your water jugs and sweaty selfies! Let's go work out!
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