Plateau be gone: week 1

Miranda Kerr, Victoria's Secret model
 but not my role model.

I could have thrown my scales across my room this morning. After what I thought was a good week of healthy eating and exercising hard, there was no change on the scales. 

I'm very frustrated. 

For the first 10 kilos of my weight loss, the weight came off very straightforwardly. Whilst I was exercising regularly, diet was so shocking that cutting out the massive junk binges made a big difference.

The next 4-6 kilos required a bit more work. I changed by exercise patterns quite a bit. When I was at my heaviest my workouts were the same, 40 minutes of cardio on a machine, a plank, some pushups and a stretch. I did this because I didn't want to venture into any part of the gym where I would be forced to look at myself in the mirror, so the group fitness rooms and the weights area were out of the question. 

Once I realised that there was a section of the group fitness studio down one side that was not covered in mirrors, my exercise changed a lot. I started with pump classes, which are hour long classes doing weights with a barbell, and now I do attack (high intensity aerobics style cardio) and CX (30 minute core class) too. This injected some much needed variety into my routine as well as some all important  strength work. 

Going to group fitness classes regularly was a big step forward for me. Not only had I been afraid of the mirrors, but I found exercising in front of other people so intimidating. It also took me bit of trial and error to find instructors that suited me. 

My confidence was so low that being in class full of gossipy, cliquey, impossibly fit and toned yummy mummies was too discouraging. I also found it somewhat soul destroying to be in a class where the instructor screams at you, demanding that you to think about what you've eaten that day and to push harder to get that "bikini body" or your squeezing into your skinny jeans. 

At that time I had to dredge every ounce of confidence I could muster together to convince myself to walk through the studio door. To do that and then spend the hour working really hard whilst being patronised and insulted was not exactly what I had in mind.

It made me wonder whether it ever occurred to these instructors that the things they were yelling were things that most women barely stop thinking about. If beating ourselves up about our diet and reminding ourselves of how imperfect we are worked, we'd all be perfectly fit and healthy. I think that a lot of instructors lose sight of the fact that people exercise for a multitude of reasons. Assuming that the only reason people exercise is to get into lingerie model shape is somewhat presumptuous. 

Weight loss was a part of why I was exercising, not the whole box and dice. Even then, I wanted to lose weight so that I felt like a normal person again. I think unless you've been truly unhappy with your appearance it is hard to understand just how distressing it is to feel abnormal and how different that motivation is from wanting to be 2kg lighter to fit into a teeny tiny pair of jeans or bikini. 

One other important factor that motivated me to exercise was that it did a lot to help the mental health problems and sleep difficulties I was having. The endorphin rush exercise provides helped to re-train my brain how to feel happy, positive feelings. 

Being yelled at and put down must work for someone, because many instructors operate that way. After a little bit of trial and error it was obvious that the bitchy yummy mummies were die hard regulars at the soul destroying instructor's classes. So to avoid one, avoid the other! 

For me, I exercise best when I have fun. I'm lucky in one sense that I do really enjoy exercising and I find it easy to focus and push myself hard. I like group fitness classes because there is music and choreography which helps to distract me from any discomfort. Luckily I found an instructor whose classes are incredibly upbeat, positive and fun. Instructor Kyle is so lovely and has lost 45kg himself. You would never, ever guess by looking at the lean, toned creature that he is today that he used to be overweight! He is so good at making people of all abilities feel welcome and comfortable in his classes whilst encouraging improvement through positivity, not intimidation. 

Anyway, back to the plateau. I have been hovering around the same 2kg range for sometime now. From this week I can see that I'm at a crossroad in my health, fitness and weight loss. Getting through this frustratingly stubborn plateau is going to be the hardest part of this project yet. It is going to take more discipline than I've needed before and a greater level of commitment.

So what do I think that actually means? First of all I think I need to get more sleep. The tennis is on and I've got into a habit of going to bed late. As a result my meal times have been all out of whack. I've probably exercised too much for the amount of sleep I've had. It is Sunday morning now and I'm exhausted. 

I refuse refuse refuse to do anything that resembles a fad or a crash diet, so the dietary modifications I make will be continue to be sensible and healthy. I have been eating too many starchy and sugary foods late in the day as a "pick me up" as a result of the tiredness. 

My foreseeable challenge this week is that I am going to Adelaide to visit my grandmother tomorrow. She will try and force feed me chocolate and encourage me to join her in eating large, fatty and starchy meals. This is tough because I love her dearly and don't want to offend her but I also need to make achieving my goals a priority. 

This trip will also mean 3 days away from my beloved gym. I will go to bed early tonight and get up early tomorrow to squeeze in a gym session before the car comes to pick me up at 7.30am for the airport. I will need to find a way to get at least 1 more solid workout in over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

For today, I need to try and stop a disappointing weigh in from ruining my day!

Important pointers for me:

• 8-9 hours of sleep per night (if I'm well rested I suspect the carb content & unnecessary snacking will take care of itself)
• Eat protein and fruit or veg at every intake - the idea here is to switch the common logic around; rather than taking on a restrictive attitude, I need to focus on getting good stuff in my system. It is a far more positive outlook and by the time I have eaten well my desire to eat something unhelpful will usually pass.
• Smile, be kind to myself and don't give up!