Sometimes you just need a break. I hit a wall shortly after my 5 month check in. I think I mentioned it a time or two in my posts….But I am happy to report I have broken through my wall. All I did was scale back a bit on EVERYTHING.
I was working out like a beast, hitting my diet 100% week in and week out. But, I was progressively getting more and more tired. I was just beat down, fell into a fairly bad mood 24/7, stopped sleeping though I was always sleepy, and although I was constantly eating all day long, I was just always hungry. By month 6 I had climbed up to 133lbs and had missed my period. If everything else wasn’t a red flag, THIS FREAKING SHOULD BE.
Physically exhausted, I had been beating my head trying to figure out what was going on with me and why my amazing progress had started regressing. My trainer added refeeds into my weekly diet, hoping to up my calories and carbs enough to boost my metabolism again and stimulate my hormones, but nothing was working. Feeling so down and defeated and helpless my trainer asked me to take break. Just walk away and take a breather. I was not to step foot in a gym for 7-10 days. I fully embraced this. No more getting up at 7 am on my days off just to go to the gym. I slept in, made breakfast in bed every morning. I didn’t stress about my diet, following it for the most part out of habit but indulging when I wished, eating out left and right. When my hiatus form the gym eventually ended and the day came for me to get back on the horse, we were both certain this had been my issue. After a month of upping my calories, two weeks off plan, and one week out of the gym, my measurements hadn’t increased at all.
I honestly felt amazing! Aside from the expected feeling of being bloated and like a stuffed sausage, I was sleeping better, had energy, and was back in a better mood, with a bit of a pep in my step. Another week later, I was 8 pounds lighter. I had busted through my wall and was back on the forward march of my journey. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why I had hit a wall so hard and was gaining and couldn’t stop!…My body was telling me it needed a break. I was over working, and under eating. It wasn’t until I started feeding myself, and laying off the butt kicking in the gym that my body started responding again. To me this is the perfect example of why you shouldn’t have to spend every waking moment in the gym. Wasting your life away, hours and hours on the treadmill. YOU CAN DO TOO MUCH.
We are aaaalllll different. There is no perfect diet for everyone, or calorie intake for women vs men, or low carb, no carb, paleo, clean eating, can’t eat after 6pm or everything will be stored as fat. Every single person’s “perfect diet” is completely different. For my body, I know what my magic number is. The number that kicks my metabolism into over drive, and turns me into a fat burning machine. I know that as long as I hit that number every single day, I do not have to live my life in a gym. One hour a day, 4 days a week is enough for me and my body. Absolutely no cardio, not a lick of it. Because I do not have to. My abs are made in the kitchen.
I was so deathly afraid of refeeds, or upping my calories, or starting a maintenance phase and losing all the hard work I had put in the last 6 months. All I knew was summer was right around the corner and that drove me to completely ignore what my body was trying to say, and push harder. If I was going to focus on my training I should have fueled my body appropriately. A very nice Instagram stranger once told me, refeeds are like 1 step backwards but 2 steps forward. I had taken a step backwards, but I have now jumped ahead two.
Do not be afraid to put your journey aside and focus on yourself. It will always be there when you are ready to get back on the horse. Listen to your body, because when it is pissed it will do the exact opposite of what you want and fight us every step of the way. Mine was telling me, you are doing TOO much. LESS IS MORE. From now on I will be scheduling in a break for me and my body to recharge and refuel and just relax and enjoy life regularly, because I know I respond well to that.