"changing up" examples?

Ok - i've been at a complete stall for a little over a month.  It's frustrating, even though it's expected and I know it's "normal."

I've seen advice on here about "changing up" food and exercise.  Sounds appropriate, but I'm not sure exactly what you mean by that.

I've changed my exercise type from alternating running days with cardio/resistance band days to days where I'm doing more mixed work in a single day.  For example, today I did a 15 minute "hard sprint" on the rowing machine, followed by 10 mins on the elliptical, followed by about 10 minutes of weights.  Tomorrow I'll be doing something like squats, lunges, pushups and jumprope, probably with a little treadmill... the day after that, I'll run (or i may switch the next 2 days and run tomorrow, not sure).

But as far as eating, should I be changing protein or fat amounts? or what type of protein (I do mostly fish and chicken, a little red meat each week)?  I make sure I'm getting 2 - 3 servings of fresh fruit each day, and fresh veggies as well (squash, cauliflower, tomatoes, some salad, broccoli, etc. are all favorites right now).

My calories are in the 1000 - 1100 range most days (some a little lower than that).  My protein goal is 78 - 98 and i'm usually in the upper reaches of that.  Fat range is 24-48, and I'm usually in the 40 range on it.  I try to keep my carbs in the 50 - 75g range, which mostly comes from the veggies and fruits.  No sugars, very little refined flour or "bread" products.  I have about 2 - 3 of the "Flatout" multi-grain with flax seed wraps weekly, and that's about it for bread-type stuff.  Well, except for those truly awesome cinnamon buns at Liz's, but this stall started LONG before that - haha!

Any ideas, folks?  Or should I just "wait it out"?

Thanks,
Karen

Eliminate all carbs except for green leafy veggies, keep your carb limit in line with your fat limit.  Do 3 days at 800 cal., 3 days at 1100 calories, then drop back down to 950 calories, change the order of the days that you alternate but do three straight days of a particular calorie range.  Change on a daily basis between meat, poultry, fish and dairy.  Change the order of your meals, have dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.  This should really wake up your metabolism and make it think it has to pay attention. 

Cool - thanks for the advice, Nan!

So when you say "eliminate all carbs except green leafy veggies" you mean no fruit?  

Being dense, sorry...

k.

Absolutely, eliminate all fruit.

Nan, thanks also! I love that I still learn new things. I never thought of changing calories like that. I have changed up meals and snacks, but always have the same range of calories. I am going to try this to help lose the last of the baby weight! LOL

7 more lbs to go!

Nan had great advice, and trust me, it works.  I use it for stalls.  Exercise wise too, take three days in a row OFF, you'll confuse your body AND give it time to "rest up" - I'm not a personal trainer but I have worked on a lot of different programs and read a lot.  Sometimes my body really does well with a few days off - most of the gurus I have worked with have brought this up and made it a recommendation.  I know that consistent, regular exercise is a must but sometimes with rigorous exercise it's good every six weeks to take a week off.  Now mind you, off can be doing something "lighter" for a week like yoga or just stretching.  Just my two cents.

k

Keri,

Thanks for the idea on the exercise, too.  It's so easy to fall into the "I must not be working hard enough" mind trap.  But you're so right - it's about "tricking" your metabolism and keeping it off balance.

Karen

Nan is our expert on these things!

 I was just going to suggest a call to the NUT and see if your calories are in line with all the exercise you are doing - sometimes we aren't getting enough calories so the body holds onto it - I don't think that is your case - but they are there to ask if you wanted to!

Liz,

If the stall keeps on much longer, I will definitely call the NUT.  At this point, I feel a little silly doing it because I'm at one of the "scheduled times" for a stall and know that... but we'll see.  And thanks for the reminder!

Karen

If you are still drinking protein shakes try drinking them at different times or try different brands/types. Don't know if this was mentioned but get in that 64 oz of liquid.

Just one more thing: Multigrain does not mean whole grain. You still may be eating white flour. Multi grain simply means many grains but they still may be refined. It has to say "whole" grain to not have refined flours.

I have also not exercised for a day or two in a stall then started back just to confuse your metabolism. It works.