Beating that dreaded plateau

By Virginia Winder
Hills aren't the problem in this fitness mission - it's those plateaus that are hard to get over.
Some sports nutritionists say that our bodies do their best to stay in balance and don't actually like losing weight.
So we have to keep surprising them with different foods, new exercises and prevent them from slipping into that comfort zone.
Talked with a friend today and she's lost about the same amount of weight as me - 16kg - but feels she too has reached that levelling out place.
Her aim is to look great at her daughter's wedding, mine is to become an athlete again and I know others who simply want to be avoid all those health issues that come with ageing and being overweight.
Tonight I forced myself, despite feeling under the weather all day, to go to the gym. I had an appointment with Courtney from Contours and she was extremely helpful.
"It's 80% what you eat," she says about affective weight loss.
Then she quizzed me about my snacks.
The truth is I don't exactly have any, not really.
It seems that I'm doing it all wrong.
If I'm exercising so much I need to fuel myself by eating something every three hours, like fruit and nuts, or yoghurt and nuts, or canned tuna or salmon, or have a protein shake.
It's also important to have a small snack about half and hour before exercise and half an hour after, she says. All these snacks should include protein.
So smaller meals more often is the ticket, which I'm going to try for the next two weeks.
And, I'm going to keep a food diary for two weeks, just to see if I am on track.
The other big thing is water.
My new aim is to drink 1.5 litres before lunch and 1.5 litres before tea. So that's 3 litres a day, which is a good idea because of how much I'm sweating during workouts.
There is debate about how much water we should be drinking, with some doubters definitely against large amounts of water intake, but I'm going to see if it makes a difference to me.
According to the gym scales I've lost 2kg, but the tape measure shows only a couple of centimetres have disappeared from my body - from my left leg and around my stomach. Perhaps the rest of weight loss was from my brain, because it certainly feels like it.
Anyway, for the next two weeks, I'm going to refocus on what I'm eating, but still without dieting. I kind of like the idea of having to eat more often to keep my metabolism powered up. Who would have thought it, eh?
Found some great advice from writer Paige Waehner on about.com, so check out her plateau-beating tips.
Off to get some more water now...

Today, I:
Slept 5.5 hours (at night) and 3 hours this afternoon (yep, definitely feeling fatigued)
Worked 12 hours
Went to the gym and walked home, with a fast hill climb in there for good measure
Have upped my water intake (aim to drink 3 litres a day)
Had three nutritious meals, but only one tiny snack of nuts
Started a food diary (to do for 2 weeks)

Health more important than workouts

Yay, I'm getting better.
Plus I've been learning on the way back to wellness.
"Remind yourself that your body is fighting an illness," writes certified fitness trainer Paige Waehner on http://www.about.com/. "It needs all the energy it can muster for that, so don't take too much away just to get in a workout. In the long run, it's your health that's important...not missing a few workouts."
Thanks Paige, because I have been feeling frustrated and wondering if I should drag myself up and out for a trot around the block.
Also, a friend just said that instead of going back to bed, why don't I sit in the sun. It will boost my vitamin D, so am heading out there now.
Have been lying in bed listening to Henning Mankell audio books. The works by this Swedish writer are grim, but gripping. But I do wonder if illness and Mankell make such good bed fellows - after all his main character Kurt Wallander is a dour man.
Time to boost myself with some fresh orange juice too. Haven't felt much like eating.

Yesterday, I:
Worked for 3 hours (couldn't get out of this)
Slept for hours and hours
Ate hardly anything, but craved Vegemite
Drank lots of water
Did zero exercise