Hi ,

 

I want to share a secret with you--I've been off my workout game this summer. Yep. Less workouts, less intense workouts and mainly, just listening to my body more and giving it the breather that it seems to be needing. Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's less motivation. Maybe it's just needing a break after more than a decade of never missing more than a couple days of exercise. 

 

Sigh.

 

You might be asking:

a) How come? What's going on?

b) Did I blow up like a whale? :)

c) Have I lost my mojo?

 

And the answers are:

a) I want to manage my stress better and give my body the relief from intensity that it needs

b) I did not, because my physique doesn't depend on the volume of exercise I do--I can maintain through nutrition alone

c) Maybe ;) Ha! No, I actually don't think I've lost my mojo and in fact, I'm hopeful that giving myself the time & space I needs that I'll be able to bump my volume come Fall with a renewed sense of intensity and passion. We'll see though.

 

But I'll admit it--this switch has been tough, mentally. And scary as hell!

 

My identity has been defined by exercise for a very long time. Hardest worker, most muscular build, most intense workouts of everyone at the gym and never missing more than a day or two in a row. So to be doing the regimen I'm doing now, there's been a bit of a mental switch. 

 

Below is the regimen I'm currently following for workouts weekly in an effort to reduce my stress, give my body a rest and also learn to use nutrition exclusively to stay on point, because I know that the more I rely on exercise to maintain my weight, the more of a rebound I'll eventually experience. No thanks!

 

 

No cardio right now. Three lifts a week. Lots of walking. That's it. And for a former Cardio Queen and workout maniac, this is practically nothing.

 

If someone had told me a year ago that I'd be WALKING and calling it exercise, I would have laughed in their face. But, honestly, it's something I look forward to now. It's a metabolic reset and a cortisol-reducing activity, not to mention a great way to connect with Jade for an hour a day sans smartphones :)

 

 

Stress is becoming a MUCH larger piece of the fat loss puzzle than we previously thought, and yet, we pay it no heed. Because well, people who worry about stress aren't tough enough to push through it. Right?? :) 

 

Certainly a mindset I had for a long time. 

 

And with "metabolic damage" popping up all over the place with female competitors and yo-yo dieters, the main issue is metabolic stress and a result of never giving our bodies time and space to reset and restore. We hate this, though, don't we? We want it to be as easy as more exercise and less calories. We want to muscle through it. We want a specific formula to get follow. A guarantee of results. 

 

And yet, the fat loss process is infinitely more complicated than that. The Magic Meal Plan is a myth. The only thing that's certain is YOUR body, YOUR choices and YOUR formula. And stress can play a huge role. We talk about this all the time with our ME Lifestylers. Fat loss is as much a mindset change as a physique one.

 

Check in and maybe, just maybe, think about instead of doing more exercise and cutting cals to smaller amounts, understand that too much stress will stall results and taking a leisure walk over HIIT cardio might be a good option to just try. 

 

Let me know how you're doing! As always, I'd love to hear from you!

 

Ox,

Jill