I am not getting any bigger. Do I need more protein? I have been working out. I am not loosing any weight, and I am eating perfectly. It was my birthday and we had company. I want to run an 8:30 pace. It is just not dropping off like it did before.
We all want. Myself included. And somehow, we want it to be comfortable. Why can’t we remember how good it feels when we finish a hard workout or achieve a weight loss or medication goal? That feeling is so fleeting. Why can’t someone bottle that up and sell it? Sadly, if you felt that good all the time, you wouldn’t have any motivation. I think they call that under the influence.
It is easier to do intervals. Do something hard for a brief period of time and then rest. Just long enought to feel the discomfort but then bring the effort back to easy. It could be running for 2 minutes then walking or following a plant strong vegan diet for 2 days then going back to the SAD foods. There is progress being made, but it depends on the intervals. Depending on how fast you run for how long determines your improvement. If you rest too long you will also loose benefits. On the other hand, if you push into your comfort zone and hold it just a little bit longer than you thought you could, you will finish feeling success. If you do the same weight machines day in and day out and never really fatigue your muscles, then you will at best maintain your current state of strength. If you follow a sugar, oil, salt free plant based diet for three days and then eat fish, cheesecake and chips for a day, you may even slide backwards with your weight loss goals, inflammation goals, and glucose goals.
Eating intervals are a little more tricky because of our complex biologic systems and the role of our microbiome. Change one thing and many others follow. The interval of bad eating can derail efforts on more fronts than just a salt and calorie load. Inflammatory mediators and microbe changes can make the processes feel like one step forward and two steps back. But just like exercise, the rewards of accomplishments are just as sweet. Feeling better and having more energy is motivation to keep pushing. Seeing the pounds and biologic markers drop is inspiringing to push forward.
What are your goals? You need a long term goal and some short steps along the way. Just like the Tour de France, you can win a stage and bask in the yellow jersey for a day but there are many stages ahead. A marathon can be 26, one mile repeats and a victory lap of 0.2 miles. Once you have your goals, form a plan of action. Everything works better with a plan. Not sure how to proceed? Let us help you cover the distance. The victory is sweeter if you have someone to cheer with you and help you to set and maintain the goals.
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