October really was a scary month

Posted by X.I.R in carb cycling, challenges, diet, exercise, fitness, goals, high intensity interval training, HIIT, lifestyle change, motivation, plateau, setbacks, tips, workout

I usually love fall. October through December has always been one of my favorite times of year. But not this October. Pumpkins, fall leaves, and a fat ass. This October literally sucked. Yep, “plateauville” was where I lived. If location is everything, then my location sucked! When I did my weekly weigh in on November 1^st, I was only .4 pounds less than what I weighed on October 1^st (Yes, that is point 4!). That means I did not even lose a ½ pound in the entire month of October. Hmmmm….. I still followed the same program, ate lettuce like a rabbit, and exercised like I loved it yet I was rewarded with NOTHING. Trust me; the dreaded plateau is more frustrating than the last bite of pound cake falling off your fork.

The only good news is that this lovely plateau has cured me of my scale obsession. I decided to give up my daily weigh in when I weighed the same for the umpteenth day in a row and suddenly felt the urge to set my scale on fire. Yep, no more doses of daily scale for me. Anyway…. I am now determined to bust through this plateau and emerge victorious on the other side. So I decided to research plateaus in the hopes that I would find a solution to my problem. I spent hours online taking notes and writing down tips (Note to self: Run in the opposite direction whenever you see a forum titled “How long was your longest plateau?”….. Seeing people answering “years” almost made me puke up a carrot stick). More good news? This plateau sofa/daybed by designer Adrian McDermott is awesome. Much better than a real plateau! (Yes, I googled "plateau images").

It is amazing how much good (change up activity or diet) and bad (lower calories below 1200) advice there is out there for busting a plateau! I sifted through all the info and decided on a KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) plan for my plateau. The plan is to:

1) Drink more water. Sounds easy enough. Although I was already drinking 7-8 glasses a day, I read that really active people need to drink even more water. So I am upping my water intake to at least 11-12 glasses per day. I have already started this step and although the increased trips to the bathroom are annoying, I must admit the crystal clear water in the toilet AFTER I use it is amazing. Makes me feel downright healthy! (I know…way more information than you needed).

2) Carb Cycling. I decided I needed to mix up my diet a bit to get the weight loss going again. I read a lot about carb cycling and have decided to modify what I found out to fit my needs. My goal is to lower my carb intake overall by cycling low, moderate & higher carb days. I usually eat all the carbs I want within my calorie range so this is a big step for me! I know I can’t just do low carb (I love carbs too much!) but I know I can cycle in some low carb days knowing carbs will be back on the menu soon.

3) HIIT: High Intensity Interval Training. I decided I need to switch up my workout too, so my fat arse might get “shocked” into losing weight again. I already work out a lot (1-2 hours/day, 6 days a week) so I did not feel like it would help to add more cardio. Also, I already do a wide variety (cycle, treadmill, kickboxing, Zumba, cardio dance, step, etc) of workouts so I decided to look for something I had not tried. I am going to try some interval training since it is suppose to burn more fat and calories in a shorter amount of time. I am going to lower my cardio days to 3-4 days a week and add 3 days of interval training. This interval training will consist of running on the treadmill for 20-40 minutes, doing slower intervals for 90 seconds then running hard for 30 seconds.

This plateau better not last much longer cause I am a girl on a mission and I am not really good with being patient. I have GOALS and if I am willing to work hard then I expect to see the results. I know I am not the best at posting on this blog consistently but I promise I will post again within 2 weeks to let you know if this plan worked. If this plateau last years some of you will have to come visit me at the loony bin. I'll be the one playing checkers with myself as I shove donut, after lovely donut into my crazy face. *Sigh* Dare to dream.......

Pumpkin picture was obtained from ninitalk

Fabulous plateau sofa was designed by Adrian McDermott & was featured on Home Tone

Diet Cartoon was done by Brian Zaikowski and can be seen at his website Bztoons

Artistic running photo was taken by Bill Phelps and was featured on the Real Simple website

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at Saturday, November 07, 2009 and is filed under carb cycling, challenges, diet, exercise, fitness, goals, high intensity interval training, HIIT, lifestyle change, motivation, plateau, setbacks, tips, workout . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

5 comments

The Chubby Artist's Chubby Sister

Hey 'lil sis!

Sounds like your head is on straight. You are right there is some C-R-A-Z-Y advice out there! Here's the latest a friend shared with me....So I see her at the dentist's office and she tells me that she has lost 8 lbs in one week! My God! I had to know her secret.....so she tells me that she has gone on a "cleanse" diet. What pray tell does that consist of? (1) no food (did I studder? NO FOOD) (2) drinking a mixture of lime juice, maple syrup, water and Cayenne pepper....yep... and you drink this liquid (crap) for between 10 to 90 days.

Well, no wonder she had such a rapid weight loss (and brain loss). Starvation and violent diarrhea are effective, yet very stupid and unhealthy ways to loose weight.....and yes my crazy ass friend even pulled out the jar of this disgusting mixture from her purse and offered me a glass....uh...no thank you!

Your idea for more water intake, carb cycling, and HIIT beats the sh*t (pun intended) out of my other friends idea.

So rock on!
n

November 7, 2009 12:18 PM

Cidtalk

I weigh myself about once every 5 or 6 weeks, and to tell the truth, I'd give it up completely if I didn't have THOSE DAYS. YOu know the ones, when you just feel bloated, more huge than usual, like someone injected you with about 20 pounds of something to drag you down.

Well, ditch the scale as much as possible and pay really close attention to things like the fit of your pants, the hang of your shirts, how you FEEL!! That's what counts. :)

November 15, 2009 5:43 AM

X.I.R

Hey sis! That is just about nasty.... and to carry it in your purse no less. Oh well, I understand the desperation most of us feel to lose weight but I would like to spend most of my time OFF the potty!

November 21, 2009 8:25 AM

X.I.R

Hey Cidtalk,

I am really trying to aim for once a week but find it hard for some reason (guess I am a glutton for punishment). I did finally take my measurements so that I would have a different way of measuring my success. And, even though that stupid scale still haunts me sometimes.... you are right, I DO feel & look so much better!

November 21, 2009 8:28 AM

RhiannonSTR

It's so tough. My body has just not been the same since children. Some of it I can't change (size and shape of boobs), however, I do try to be as healthy as I can. I think that you are doing right - staying healthy and losing weight. Hang in there - you'll break through.
Rhiannon

)

November 29, 2009 7:52 AM

Chubby Sister's Roasted Romanos & Tomatoes with Tapenade

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

- Kosher Salt

- 3/4 lbs. green or yellow Romano beans, cut into 2-inch lengths (3 cups)

- 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

- Freshly ground black pepper

-1-1/2 cups assorted-color cherry tomatoes

-1 tsp minced garlic

-1 tsp fresh thyme leave

-1 recipe easy Tapenade (below) [you will want to go ahead and have all these ingredients prepped and ready to put in the food processor before beginning to cook the beans]

Instructions:

ONE: Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the beans in the water until crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to cool. Drain well.

TWO: Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the beans in a medium bowl, toss with 1 Tbsp of the olive oil, and season with 1/2 tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper. spread the beans in one layer on a heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet, leaving space for the tomatoes.

THREE: In a small bowl, toss the tomatoes with the remaining 1 Tbsp oil, garlic, thyme, 1/4 tsp salt and a few grinds of pepper. spread the tomatoes on the baking sheet.

FOUR: Roast the beans and tomatoes just until the tomatoes start to split, 7 to 10 minutes. Slide the beans onto a serving dish, topped with the tomatoes and dot liberally with the tapenade. Serve, with additional tapenade on the side.

FIVE: [we made this while the beans and tomatoes were roasting - see note above] Yields one scant cup:

-1/2 cup pitted Nicoise or Kalamata olives (pitting these is no fun so anti-up for the pitted version).

-2 Tbsp fresh lime juice

-2 anchovy fillets, rinsed

-1 medium shallot, quartered and peeled

-1 large clove garlic, quartered and peeled

-1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

-3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

-kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the olives, lime juice, anchovies, shallot, and garlic in a food processor and process until smooth, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil through the feed tube and process until you have a smooth paste. Stir in the parsley and season to taste with salt and pepper.

As I see it

Make this, I did!

Brushetta Chicken Bake

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 pkg (6 oz.) Stove top stuffing mix for chicken (I try to use the whole wheat with fiber if I can find it)

1/2 cup water

2 cloves garlic, minced (I buy the already diced stuff in the jar since I am lazy)

1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp. dried basil leaves (probably would have been great but I didn't have any so substituted parsley flakes and was still great)

1 cup low or reduced fat Mozzarella Cheese (make sure you use a good cheese, not rubbery! The two times I have made this I used Sargenteno's and weight watchers and it was good both times).

1) heat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix tomatoes, stuffing mix, water and garlic just until stuffing mix is moistened.

2) layer chicken, basil, cheese and stuffing in 13x9 inch or 3-qt baking dish. ( I like to sprinkle cheese as the last layer on top)

3) bake 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through.

This is so easy, so tasty and low fat. I like to serve it with a light caesar salad. Yum.

Chubby Sister's Balsamic-Marinated Pork Chops & Grilled Peaches

Serves 4. Hands-on time: 10 minutes. Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (which includes 1 hour marinating)

Ingredients: -1/3 cup balsamic vinegar -1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil -3 tbsp honey -1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped -4 (5 oz) lean boneless pork chops, trimmed of visible fat -Olive oil cooking spray (optional) [I used 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil] -Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste -4 peaches, halved and pitted [I quartered them] -Fresh thyme leaves for garnish

Instructions: ONE: In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, honey and rosemary. Reserve 2 tbsp and add the rest to a 1-gallon zip-top bag. Add pork to bag and refrigerate for 1 hour, turning occasionally. TWO: Preheat broiler to high or coat a grill pan with cooking spray and heat to medium-high over stove. Remove pork from fridge, discard marinating liquid and season pork with salt and pepper. Broil pork or cook in grill pan until pork is opaque throughout and feels firm to the touch, or until internal temperature reaches 160° F on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 to 6 minutes per side.

THREE: meanwhile, cook peaches under broiler or in a grill pan over medium heat until tender and juicy, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate, season with pepper and brush with reserved 2 tbsp marinade [I reserved a little extra to go on the pork chop too]. To serve, place a pork chop on each of 4 plates and top with 2 peach halves. Garnish with thyme leaves.

The Chubby Artist

October really was a scary month

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