| Here's a problem that has reared it's ugly head for all | | | | If your job keeps you sitting or standing largely in one |
| of us on our way to our healthiest, fittest, and most | | | | place, try adding in short, five minute bursts of activity |
| gorgeous/handsome weight. We have been following | | | | every half hour to forty-five minutes. Do it long enough |
| along on our chosen plan, doing the workouts and | | | | and hard enough to raise your body temperature. You |
| choosing what and how much and how often we eat | | | | could jog in place, do some squats, do some pushups, |
| very carefully and making noticeable progress. But, | | | | do some reverse pushups, practice your high front, |
| after a while, for no apparent reason, we seem to get | | | | back, and side kicks, do some V crunches, do |
| stuck. The scales don't go down or the inches don't | | | | something to get some muscle activity going, even |
| decrease or the waist to hips ratio won't budge and | | | | isometrics, for about five minutes. You'll be amazed |
| we stay right where we are for a week. Then | | | | how much more work you get done and how |
| another one. Then another.. And for some time, no | | | | energized you'll feel. This is in addition to your regular |
| matter how we stay the course, we seem to be | | | | workouts, of course. |
| stuck on this plateau. | | | | If you're not doing muscle-building body weight or other |
| And that's the thing. We keep doing what we have | | | | weight training, learn how to do it and get started. If |
| been doing, maybe even a bit more of it, and the body | | | | you are, ramp up the weight or number of repetitions |
| has adjusted in its own way. Maybe we have been | | | | to give the body more to do. Make sure all your body |
| eating so little the body has gone into starvation mode | | | | parts are being trained. For example, you might try |
| and is conserving energy and you need a couple of | | | | putting in more work on your core if you've been |
| days of higher calorie intake to reassure it. Maybe you | | | | concentrating on your legs, really push those pushups, |
| need to change the proportions of good | | | | or do weighted pull ups. |
| carbohydrates to protein one way or the other. Maybe | | | | If you haven't been paying much attention to your |
| your eat-o-meter has crept up a notch or two and | | | | balance and flexibility training, try making that a bigger |
| you need to take it back down. Or measure what you | | | | part of your routine. Yoga, tai chi, and related |
| plan to eat for the day into five or six portions and | | | | exercises have enormous benefits that may not be |
| keep the metabolism stoked by eating every 2-3 | | | | related to bigger muscles but do wonders for your |
| hours. | | | | quality of life. |
| Maybe you need to vary your exercise routine so | | | | If you haven't been getting enough sleep lately, try |
| different parts of the body are more involved. So if | | | | sacking out for a full 7 1/2 - 9 hours. Sleep deprivation |
| your aerobic exercise is centered on brisk walking or | | | | has definite effects on weight gain that could be |
| jogging, and adding in some hills doesn't work, try some | | | | counteracting all your good efforts. |
| serious swimming for a while. Add in periods of high | | | | Does this mean you need to do all of this at once? |
| intensity. If you're walking, add in steep hills or steps, | | | | Nah, just pick two or three things where you either |
| taken fast. If you're jogging, add some sprints of a | | | | seem to have slipped a bit off course and correct |
| minute or two at a time. Just don't let your body get | | | | those or areas where you seem to always be doing |
| too comfortable doing the same thing all the time. You | | | | things the same way and start with those. To get out |
| need to challenge it a bit or it stops progressing. | | | | of your rut, get out of your rut. |