Oh, it's ON!!!

My gym is having a Biggest Loser competition. To date, 20 of us have lost over 200 lbs. in 6 weeks. I am mathematically in the lead, and that makes me happy.

Now, let's talk about what does NOT make me happy. I had a "no-loss" week last week and most of this week looked like it would be the same deal. Also, I have been hearing that some of the other women in the competition have posted big numbers this week so they're gaining on my lead. I do not like this at all...I do not like it Sam I am.

So, back to happy...I weighed in this am when I ran in for some cardio before tonight's group workout. I weighed in at 240. This is a 2.5 pound loss this week, and even more importantly for me, a total of 25 pounds since 1/15/2010. HAPPY!

But, before we get all "yippee---let's go eat cheesecake" about this loss, let's talk about what got me here. It's normal in any weight loss program to have plateaus. That's just a fact. But apparently I had gotten it in my head that I would amazingly be the exception to this rule and the math would carry me. Well folks, that's just not true. I hit the plateau and I'm pretty sure I would've stayed there for a while had I not changed things up.

Oh yeah, it was time to change things up. Since the Body Bugg is really all about math, let's consider this math. RMR....resting metabolic rate...this means how many calories it takes to keep your body going when you're doing nothing at all. When I started using the BB I weighed somewhere in the high 250's. When I started exercising and reaching for "Fit By Forty" I weighed 265. So, for this example I'm going to use 265 as my starting weight.

For a 5'6" woman that is 38 years old, weighing 265, the RMR is 1939. So my body is going to normally consume 1939 calories per day just to stay alive.

My initial BB program was based on this. The program said to burn 2900 and consume 2050. This gives a deficit of 850 per day. I lost very well on this program.

Then I hit the plateau...and I wasn't coming out of it. So, time for a change. Time to create a new program. Consider THIS math:

For a 5'6" woman that is 38 years old, weighing 242 pounds, the RMR is 1839. Hmmmm....suddenly I am burning 100 less calories per day just living life. One hundred per day...that's nothing, right? It probably doesn't make a difference at all....Consider that over a week though. Over a week we're talking about 700 calories. That's pretty significant.

So I created a new program and set new goals. Now I have a new target burn of 2800 and a new intake of 1900. My deficit is 900. This is not much different from before, but the little change in routine is doing a couple of things.

First of all, having less calories to consume means that I am more careful when choosing what to eat. It's only 150 calories, but I'm making sure that what I'm eating is good for me. Lots of protein. Low fat. I'm not going to waste 100 calories on something unless it's high in protein and will help carry me through. (thank you lite yogurt!)

Also, reducing the number of calories I have to eat is making me weigh, measure, and log carefully. I got pretty used to what 2050 calories was, so maybe I only logged once per day. Not anymore, buddy! I'm logging after every meal if possible and if not, I'm jotting it down and logging as soon as I can.

I am committed to hitting the cardio HARD for the next 2 weeks. (After that the competition is over at the gym) Once I'm not in that competition mind set anymore I will weigh every other week and do more strength training with the cardio. I want/need to burn, but I also need to tone as I go, so it's time to do some more strength training. This quite possibly will slow the actual pound loss down, but that will be OK once I'm not competing for the Biggest Loser challenge at the gym.

Plateaus or gains can be the kiss of death to any weight loss journey. It's EASY to say "Screw this...I'm not working THIS hard and getting NO results....I'm done....someone pass the cheesecake". Way too easy. The hard thing is to look at the speed bump, give it the finger, and keep on traveling down the road. Change it up...if you're a BB user, create a new program. Do something different at the gym or from your home. Just change it up...your body is getting used to the status quo and isn't losing as quickly.

Also, put things in perspective. Did your weight stay the same? Well, you didn't GAIN! Sure, the point is LOSS, but staying the same is better than a GAIN. Maybe you made some food choices that were less than stellar. Maybe you didn't hit the gym quite as hard as you were before. Whatever the reason, move forward. Don't let a tough time be the reason you threw in the towel.

You're WAY better than that!