The Dreaded Plateau

Well, it has happened. For the past 2 months I have been in the dreaded plateau. My weight has been doing about a 5 pound fluctuation. Kevin warned me about it early on in our relationship. He started preparing me for it about 2 months in. "It's natural. Once the body adapts to what you are doing, you have to change things up. Most people hit their first one at about 2-3 months." 4 months in he said, "Hmm...you haven't plateaued yet." Then at 6 months it became "Why haven't you plateaued yet??!?" (think he was kinda freaking out). While my weight has stalled, my body fat and my waist have continued to drop a little. Not in the big way they were before, but at least that is still going in the right direction. 

I know it has been a while since I have posted. This year has been hard on me. Several stressors hitting me from several directions, but such is life, so I don't say that as an excuse as much as an explanation. So a quick recap of what has happened in the time since my last post. 

The end of the 90 day weight loss challenge  has come and gone. My awesome green team dominated the team category. Was there ever any doubt? I didn't win the individual prize, but honestly I wasn't expecting to. I had already lost so much before the competition had started. The closer one gets to the goal, the harder it becomes to lose. By the end of the challenge I was already seeing the plateau on the horizon. 

I started a new job 2 weeks ago. My brain has been fried trying to learn all the new stuff for the new job. It is going to be a good thing, but any life change brings new stress for a while. The hours are different from my old job, which means changes had to be made in my workout schedule. I now celebrate Kevin-day on Mondays. Tuesday is RPM with Shawn. Wednesday is BodyPump with Erica, and hopefully soon I will be adding BodyFlow as a second class on Wednesday with McKinzie and Velvet. Really looking forward to the stretch mid-week. Currently Thursdays are BodyFlow, but if I join in on the class Wednesday, I will make Thursdays RPM with Linda to get a second good cardio in for the week. Fridays end my week with BodyCombat with Madison. This is a good way to punch out all the stress of the week. I'm pretty excited by the new workout schedule. I really think it has some good balance to it that may get me off this plateau.

There has also been a lot of changes to the faces at the gym. Some people that I love dearly have moved on to bigger and better things. While I am happy for them, their presence is sorely missed. Christa will ALWAYS be one of my favorite instructors. Her energy and friendship has made this ride fun. Then there is Chance. He was my first contact, the first one I bonded with, his friendship and encouragement has meant the world to me. It has been life changing. Luckily for me, my friendship with him extended outside the gym. While I no longer see him on a daily basis, I still benefit from his knowledge and his passion for fitness. He my no longer be at the gym, but he is still in the thick of this battle with me.

Josh is the newest addition to the list of peeps. He is young and enthusiastic (almost to the point of being bouncy). I kinda like him, except when I want to smack him for bouncing. He has already been brave enough to join me for a class. We will see where this goes. ;)