Losing Weight #2

I've plateaued! -_-

In the last, nearly year, I've been losing consistently. Everyone hits this at some point during a weight loss journey. It's frustrating, demoralizing, and heart breaking. It's still part of it.

There are a few different things people employ here. #1 on the list is "Boost your Workout". I can't say this enough: I HATE WORKING OUT!!!! That isn't going to be my path. I simply wont work out harder.

I've hit a couple of these along the way, but they were small. A couple of nights of protein shake in place of dinner, and I'm all good. It is very imporant to note that this isn't a decrease in calories. I have snacks and larger meals to ensure that my calorie intake isn't too low. I just replace dinner with a shake to stimulate intermittent fasting. This one is not falling to that tactic though.

A suggestion Pete made was to try and eat simpler. Crazy thought, right?! Why would simple eating help? Well, it turns out that the more complex the food is, the longer it takes to break down. During that break down time, your body is actually likely to store some of it as fat, rather than break it down to more energy.

The secret there is, avoid sauces and keep it to 1 protein and 1 veggie in each meal. This is surprisingly difficut and, as I'm sure you can guess, boring. We've tried it though, and it's not enough. This plateau just won't break.

So, attempt number 3, we are combining a bit of everything. We have very simple meals planned. I am eating clean proteins: JM2 beef, chicken breasts, pork tenderloin, and cod. We are also having steamed fresh veggies, baked sweet potato, and roasted asparagus. I'm also doing 2 meals of protein shake, just to force my body to boost digestion.

I am minimizing salt, and drinking 80+oz of water every day. The water helps keep me from feeling super hungry, and paying attention to salt helps keep me from retaining too much water. Salt is necessary for the Sodium Pumps that allow nutrients into our cells and muscles.

Finally, I am boosting my workouts a bit. I've been inconsistently doing 3-4 workouts a week. To get over this little hump, I will be pushing to do at least 5, and trying to get a little more out of them. I don't run! Pete has me doing workouts called HIIT: High Intensity Interval Training. This stuff is great. It's my kind of workout. My heart rate gets up, but I don't feel crazy out of breath. I'm doing resistance with bands and some small weights. If I have to work out, this is what I'd like to do.