Raise your hand if this sounds like you...
- You work out on a consistent basis. We're talking a solid 4-6 days a week, and you work out hard.
- You eat well. You don't splurge on break room donuts, and while you don't love salad you've come to respect it.
- Your party days are behind you. Or if you do go out, you opt for a glass of wine or are DD since you made a commitment to be healthier. You still have a drink after a long day, but you're not blasting through Gin and Tonics like it's NYE of 1999.
Despite your hard work at the gym, and your newly developed strength to resist cookies, you have hit a plateau.
And you're not moving any further towards your fitness or wellness goals.
Sound familiar?
There could be a few things that are stopping you from progressing, and you don't even know it.
1) You aren't eating enough.
Crazy as it may sound, you may not be eating enough food to let your body lose fat. If your body isn't getting enough fuel, it will go into starvation mode and will start storing food for later (not burning fuel).
Make sure you're eating plenty of veggies, fruits, and whole grains that are minimally processed.
But be careful that you're not.... (see 2)
2) You're overdosing on protein
Our society has made it seem like we need a sh*t ton of protein in order to gain muscle.
While you do need protein in your daily diet, if you overdo it, your body will just store it the same way it does with sugar and fat.
Good rule of thumb - you only need 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day. So for me:
0.36 x 150 = 54 grams
And I can get that from
Meat
Veggies
Whole grains
BONUS TIP - check the sugar content of your fav protein bar. If it's over 12g total, it's not worth it!
3) You're doing too much cardio OR you're doing cardio before your weight training ">How often have you gone to the gym with every intention of doing some weight work, and either get intimidated or realize you don't know what to do for your workout... so you decide just to do a ton of cardio instead?
Me too.
Doing weight work is EXTREMELY important to fat loss! The more muscle you have, the more you body is encouraged to burn fat. I know it can seem scary over in free weight land, but trust me it's going to help in the long run.
ALSO.
If you're doing cardio before you do weights, you're totally hindering your progress. Instead of burning fat, your body will go after your muscles for support.
Working your muscles FIRST will encourage the most protein synthesis (aka the process of building muscles) and then hitting cardio after will sustain a long term fat burn (since this kicks in about 2 hours after your workout).
If you're not sure what to do for strength training, use Aaptiv for some guided classes.
And here's a site with a beginners guide to weight/strength training - https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/strength-training-101-where-do-i-start/
4) You're not drinking enough water
Ben and I talk about this all the time - here's a good way to figure out how much water you need each day:
Take your weight number
Divide it in half
That number is how many fluid oz you should be drinking every day
For example
150lb/2 = 75 fl oz of water each day (that's two and a half Smart Water Bottles)
If you're focusing on fat loss, this is crucial. Water is essential to flushing out fat from digestion, and helps shrink fat cells. If you're working out, your body needs even more water to stay hydrated.
If you're having trouble remembering to drink water, check our resources page for a link to my fav water reminder app.
5) You're drinking too much coffee
At most, you should be drinking 16 oz of coffee a day. Which is equivalent to 100-200 mg of caffeine.
That's it.
If you're drinking more than that, you're hindering your fitness progress.
More than 5 cups (1 cup = 8oz) actually can encourage abdominal fat retention, and increase insulin resistance as well as glucose intolerance.
So if you're noticing you are having a hard time staying awake during the day, don't order another grande latte. Check your water intake, stand up and walk around, maybe even do some yoga to get the blood moving.
6) You don't do enough recovery
I saw a saying the other day that I just loved:
Muscles are worked in the gym
Fed in the kitchen
and Rebuilt in bed
If you're not getting enough sleep, if you're not stretching before AND after your workout, and if you're not taking care of your body while it's going through a tremendous physical change, you're doing damage to your body.
Be sure to stretch before you work out (to prevent injury) and after you work out (to decrease lactic acid build up) to ensure proper recovery.
If you can splurge on a massage or acupuncture, go for it!
7) You drink alcohol - more than 3 servings a week.
This one sucks. Cause I love wine.
But it's the bitter truth.
Not only is alcohol metabolized immediately (aka stored as fat or sent to your hardworking liver), but it also can hinder your metabolism for up to 4 days.
So that beer from Saturday could still be working against you on Monday.
No matter how hard you work out, if you're drinking alcohol on a consistent basis, you're for sure slowing your progress. Literally.
Worst case scenario for this is those who are "good" during the week, and "splurge" on the weekends.
Put down that glass of wine, and sub it for some Kombucha. Save the spirits for every few days, and take a carb blocker to help soften the blow.
I promise if you start making these little changes, you'll start feeling different!
If you have any questions or need help with this, just reach out to us for help.
Trust the process, and know you're awesome.
Cheers,
Megan <3
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Sources:
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek34.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/10085206/Regular-coffee-drinkers-at-increased-risk-of-weight-gain.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/is-drinking-alcohol-going-to-make-you-fat/2014/12/22/2099706e-8475-11e4-b9b7-b8632ae73d25_story.html?utm_term=.6caab0c7b884
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