Wow, last week was such a combination of frustration and inspiration! I was still feeling stuck but then realized, yet again, an important connection between weight loss and hormones. Each time I get to a “stuck point” I’ve noticed it involves increased estrogen and lowered adrenals. To fight the “Puff Mama” (an overall body puffiness) I tried increasing my progesterone. I also tried a few of Jessica’s tips to get unstuck (see her post below) and boom, an immediate difference. Now I’m tweaking my hormone levels and remembering that this will take a bit of time and patience as hormones are so individual and temperamental.
Happily, I lost 2 1/2 more inches and the two “weirdo” pounds from the week before. Even better, I’m focusing on how clothes fit and not the scale or even necessarily the tape measure. Because I remember how some clothes fit from before (or didn’t) and that is tangible “evidence” to me that my body is changing, as well as my energy and overall wellness and happiness.
I’ve had moments of total frustration (i.e. working out daily/intensely for 35-45 mins and eating 1400-1500 calories a day and not seeing ANY seeming change) and I’ll tell you, I threw caution to the wind and ate a cheeseburger and a few bites of Dave’s chocolate malt. Vive le American way! But I’m fighting that frustration (besides with an occasional burger) by focusing on what I’m doing well–good eat, exercise, and energize habits no matter the outcome. And I’m listening, finding out, and trying to do things differently.
I can’t believe I have only one more week of my original 8-week goal! One thought that has become ingrained in me is this: time will pass, what will make a difference? It’s my small choices. Every day I can do one thing towards better health and energy to create an overall happier and more joyful life for myself and my family. Even this morning, it was a holiday and I did NOT feel like exercising. But I did. Then I took a FABULOUS nap with my baby. Heaven. Both of them were good choices:)
I continue to encourage you in your good choices, and listening to your body–knowing when to workout, when to nap, and when to enjoy that burger and malt.
Best,
Connie
Connie’s Fit & Fab: Week 7
Goals
Eat: Try 1400-1500 calories a day, still no eat after dinner
Exercise: Upper body/lower body/combo days switch up
Energize: Help baby to sleep at night
What worked:
*Our baby is sleeping at night!!! Only waking once. I’ve had several nights of good sleep and that has been absolute heaven.
*Protein shakes and bars for breakfast or half a bar for a snack
*Homemade broccoli soup, fresh veggies easy to nab for snacks, continuing lots of water
*Increasing progesterone, taking all my proper supplements (sometimes I forget), increasing DIM supplement (to fight high estrogen)
*Decreasing workouts to 35-45 minutes, much better for my body right now than 60-75 minutes
*Switching upper and lower on different days for variety
*Enjoying the kids and life and shelving the frustrated feeling of not seeing results (this has happened sooo many times, need to find out why)
What didn’t work:
*My body not seeming to budge
*Sweet baby getting a side effect sickness from the medicine for his ear infection
*Adrenals feeling low and my supplements not arriving yet
*Switching upper and lower doesn’t seem to show results as fast
What to do differently:
*Mix up more variety in my workouts
*Research more compound movements, love those
*Find out why my body isn’t responding–my hormone doc has previously given me some ideas on this, need to go back and revisit
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P.S. Check out this great post on “getting unstuck” by trainer and nutritionist Jessica Plowman. She is fabulous!
