Chronic EYE twitches. Severe bloating and digestive issues. Psoriasis breakouts. Daily soreness and general malaise. Anyone?
Does your body ever tell you to rest but your hard driven mind says you have to workout or you’ll gain weight?
Just so you know, I do this too. You’re not alone in this way of thinking.
Even as recent as last year if I didn’t work out everyday I felt fat. I would tell myself "you’re lazy, you are a professional trainer, walk the walk or you’ll gain weight if you don’t work out"
Here is how you turn this shit around. You have to STOP following some random diet and fitness program and START paying attention to your body’s signals. Listen to your body. It is telling you exactly what to do.
If you are always tired, feel bloated, swollen or puffy, have no motivation, feel chronically sore, on edge, easily annoyed, have overwhelming cravings, feelings of overwhelm, TAKE SOME TIME OFF. take a day off, or a whole week off like I did in San Diego.
I assure you, actually I promise you that YOU WILL NOT GAIN WEIGHT.
Last week in San Diego I did an experiment. I ate less, and exercised less, and relaxed. I ended up sleeping 9 + hours every night, walked a ton, ate intuitively and just lived in the moment. I ended up dropping 4lb of scale weight and my body just looked so much better.
How is this possible? Why did doing so, so much less, I was able to drop some weight and look and feel better? Well, your body holds on to water and bloat during times of chronic stress, and yes exercise is also a stress. When I gave my body a break from the gym, opted for long walks and used long hot showers as a form of stress relief, I dropped some bloat and some water weight.
Training and recovery is all about finding your sweet spot. How much, how often and how intense will differ for everyone. As a coach, I help clients find that sweet spot. How do you know? You will know when weight will even out, your clothes always fit, your hunger, energy and cravings will be similar day to day.
This will take time. It will take practice. You will need to experiment with different modes of exercise, increasing your sleep, and listening to your hunger signals.
When I was in San Diego, I was able to finally practice an eat less and exercise less lifestyle. I wasn't training 8-10 clients a day, I wasn't lifting heavy weights nor was I doing any long duration or intense cardio, so naturally, my appetite was suppressed. This just shows you how much exercise drives up your hunger, and why I do not use cardio as a fat loss tool.
Here is what my 5 days looked like: There is a difference between exercise and movement.
Day 1- walk 1 mile at a leisurely pace to get a coffee down the beach, walk 1 mile home sipping my coffee.
walked to the grocery store and back in the afternoon- carrying my bags home- another 30 minutes of movement.
Day 2- as above- coffee walk
Late afternoon- 8x100 m sprints on the beach - sprint 100 meters, walk back to recover- this took me 10 minutes!
Day 3- walk 30 minutes to the end of the beach with Becky- walk back - 1 hour walk.
Day 4- walk 1 mile to the Pacific Pier, 100 walking lunges on the beach- walk back - flirted with 2 US Marines on the beach who were throwing a football. I actually had many conversations with men here. I love American men! LOL
Day 5- 8x100 meter sprints on the beach- sprint 100 meters, walk back to recover
walk with Becky to get coffee and relax.
EVERY day I walked, I slept 8-10 hours, and I ate small snacks and one large meal a day.
I also drank wine and prosecco every day. At least 3 glasses. But I didn't worry about it as I was drinking a ton of water and I know my body isn't made or broken in one week.
Result- a scale drop of 4lb and my belly bloat was gone. My psoriasis disappeared and my eye twitches, which I have been getting for 6 months went away.
I know getting more sunshine and sleep is what made this happen. I also ate slowly, without distractions, and with good company. Humans need humans and social networks in real life and not on Facebook are important. I live alone and sometimes wonder if my life would be different if I had a partner to share my life with.
I loved how I felt while on this vacation. I realize my life is lacking some very important elements.
So, now being back home I am going to try and keep this going. Now that spring is here I need more sunshine, more outdoor activity, less gym time, and a lot more sleep.
Sleep is restorative. It allows you to recover from hard training sessions.
Sleep resets your brain. We do a lot of thinking and that is taxing on our bodies. Sleep allows us to recharge and reset after a long day.
Sleep is when we burn the most fat. Getting enough sleep also helps us be more alert and refreshed the next day... and when we're in sleep debt, we tend to overeat more so than we would being fully refreshed.
The metabolism is adaptive & reactive. Many of us think that if we eat less and work out more we will lose weight, but that's simply NOT always true. In fact, doing so is often a recipe for weight gain. Taking time to eat less and train less may be just what you need. I finally was able to experiment with this myself and it works! Now I am ready to get back on a eat more, exercise more program for a few weeks. Then I will repeat a week of the above, eating less and training less. I am excited to help you all dig into this too.
Are you having issues with stress and weight loss resistance? Effective programming may be just what you need. As always, hit reply and let me know if you need help. I have coaching spots open in May.
Yours in strength,
Fitbabe x
