Tag: fitness

Understanding the Injury Recovery Cycle: A Personal Journey

I’ve been taking a much needed mental health break these past few weeks, enjoying some down time. I received some bad news from the doctor regarding my injury recovery just prior to Thanksgiving. Hearing the words, degenerative damage, really sent me spiraling. I had been trying to hold on and push through, so hearing those words felt like a gut punch. Ironically, as bad as it was to hear, it was what I needed to move forward.

I’ve really been in a rut this last month. As my recovery time wore on, I became quite frustrated and deflated. I spent a lot of time trying to kick start my motivation and couldn’t quite get anything going. Having been through this before, I recognized that my mental wellness was suffering. While quite common during injury recovery, that should not be underestimated.

My thoughts recently have centered around injury recovery time and mental wellness of athletes. I am not a high level athlete, but I have always enjoyed participating in sporting events and working out. I thrive when I train and engage in these events, physically and mentally. I think it is the structure of training that fuels me. I love to workout for a purpose – i.e., to run longer distances, or run a distance in a shorter time. I strive to lift a heavier weight or to add a set to the lift. Knowing the end goal really pushes me to do the work.

Recently, I had been focused on my performance in pickleball. I’ve been working out at the gym to improve my performance, as well as drilling and playing games. I made steady progress and was truly enjoying the sport. It felt great to be part of the pickleball community. When the injury occurred, I assumed it would be a quick recovery. As the time passed and I still experienced pain, I began to try to navigate my way through.

I’ve come to understand that there is a cycle many athletes go through when recovering from injury. It doesn’t matter what level you are, though I imagine it’s far worse when you are an elite athlete. What matters is that, much grief, there are stages you move through as you work toward recovery. The mental aspect of this process is what I have been focusing on.

I have a competitive personality. I thrive when I am striving to accomplish a goal. I love to figure things out and especially love the learning process of it all. When I was a runner, I wanted to learn everything I could to make me a better runner. Same, in my professional life. I was always striving to learn and grow. My personal identity was strongly tied to my ability to run the distance, or improve my school. With an athlete mindset, I dealt with life through my sport, it is part of who I was. I was a runner, I was a Principal, I was an athlete.

The athletic part of my life became a strong coping mechanism for me, both growing up and as an adult. What a fabulous stress reliever to go out early in the morning for a long run, or workout. I started most of my days with an early morning gym session, run or walk. Therefore, when I get injured, it can feel like a personal threat to my identity. Suddenly, it feels like my life is altered and my routines disrupted. The morning athletic time is no longer an option, leaving me feeling isolated and sad.

I want to share my journey through this injury cycle. I hope it helps anyone else dealing with a similar situation.

Stages of Injury Cycle

Much like grief, there is a cycle people can experience when they experience an injury. Those, like me, who engage in training outside of professional sports, are no exception. The cycles do not necessarily follow a linear order. Instead, we go through them in response to our personal experiences. Here are the stages and my response to each.

1. Denial

The day I sustained the injury, I knew it wasn’t good. But, I thought if I stretched, I would be fine. When stretching did not help, I knew enough to leave the court. I went home and iced my foot, followed by compression and elevation. I thought for sure I’d be fine in the morning. I planned to take the next day off and expected to be ready to play by Saturday. I truly didn’t think it was anything serious. Honestly, I still haven’t canceled my playing commitments. I’m still going week by week, hoping to be back on the court. Denial of the injury is quite common and considered the first step in the recovery process.

2. Anger

As the days went on and turned into weeks, I started to get frustrated. I could barely walk to the corner without feeling pain. I didn’t understand why the pain wasn’t getting better and refused to stop trying to walk. Each day I got angrier about this inconvenience. I was angry at myself for not doing a proper warmup before playing and blamed myself for the injury. I was angry at my body for failing me. I was angry that I was missing so much playing time.

3. Bargaining

At this point, I was desperate to be done with the injury. I decided to rest for a few days and see if that improved my recovery. It was as if I said to my body, I’ll give you a week of rest, then will you heal? I remember thinking I just need to stop exercising entirely. I’ll recover quickly and it’ll be worth it. When that didn’t work out, I’ll admit I was back to anger. That’s what I say the cycles are not experienced in a linear fashion. When my bargain failed, I was right back to being angry. I was thinking, I gave you what you wanted, why are you not doing your part. It is quite frustrating!

4. Depression

Right before Thanksgiving I felt like I was at my lowest. It have been 8 weeks and I still wasn’t feeling better. Every day I had pain and I was ready to just give up. I remember hobbling in to the doctor’s office that morning and telling him I needed help. I shared with him everything I had done to improve and that nothing was working. I said there must be something he could recommend. I was on the verge of tears and said, soon I’ll be chubby and depressed. I will admit he was very patient with me and truly explained things to me. That is when degenerative issues came up. My feet have logged a lot of running miles. Many years of long distance running and training were not kind to my body.

5. Acceptance

This was the lowest point of my journey. I also think it was the moment that slapped sense into me. It felt like there was a moment of clarity for me here. I understood better the timeline and the reality of my injury. I also understood that it was not my fault entirely and I had done nothing wrong. As I drove home from the doctor’s office, I was extremely upset. When I got home, I got my gym bag packed and headed to the gym.

I decided that day, that I had to do something different. I was going down a slippery slope and needed to find something that wouldn’t cause pain. That day, I did something I’d been resisting. I put on my swim suit and got back in the pool to swim laps. I knew that meant I accepted my injury for what it was. I also knew that I still needed something athletic to engage in to improve my mental wellness. Swimming is something I’d done in the past when recovering from tendon repair surgery. I can’t say I love it, but it is very therapeutic and a great workout too.

Next Steps

I am two weeks past the news that this injury is way more than I anticipated. I have created a new schedule for my workouts. I have been able to lift weights throughout the injury, just modifying for anything that puts pressure on the foot. I’ve now added one mile lap swims two days a week. I also tried a Barre class locally and was able to do the class without pain.

My new routine has been so helpful for my mental wellness. I am focused on my recovery and finding ways to engage in movement is an essential component for me. I am now working out again, six days a week with one full day of rest. I started dry needling at the doctor’s recommendation. It is a bit painful, but I do feel it is helping.

My best advice is to find solace in setting new goals and focusing on other areas of your life. Injury recovery is tough, especially when you are used to being highly active. It is hard to accept that you are not able to just push through. Take that energy and use it to fuel your recovery. For me, setting new goals and focusing on other ways to move has been a lifeline.

I would be very interested to hear about your journey with injury. What have you found helped you the most? Please share in the comment section below, via email at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, or on Instagram.

Break Through Weight Loss Plateaus: My Journey

“When you get to a plateau, think of it as a landing on the stairway to your goal. And maintenance is a lifelong plateau, so a bit of ‘rehearsal’ for maintenance isn’t the worst thing in the world”. -unknown

Recently, I have been deeply reflecting on my journey. I have been in a plateau for the past three months and it was starting to wear on my mindset. When I hit 160, I was a mere 10 pounds away from my original target weight of 150 lbs. I was so excited and remember sending a message to my coach saying, “Say goodbye to the 160s!”. Not so fast my body seemed to say, for here I am three months later still here and weighing in at 164 lbs. How many of you can relate to this? So close, yet those last 10 pounds still the ever elusive target.

In the past, this plateau would have caused me to get frustrated and perhaps even give up. This time, I’ve been digging in and holding on, embracing my time in this maintenance period. I believe my body was asking me for a break and time to readjust. Instead of giving up, I decided to really dive into what I am eating and how I am moving, trying to uncover why my body has stopped losing weight. This week, I’d like to share my process and reflection on being stuck.

What is a Weight Loss Plateau?

When we hit a plateau, it feels like everything stops. We question ourselves and often become overly critical. I know I always think I need to do more and be better to reach my goals. What we don’t take into account is that this journey takes time and does not happen quickly. It’s a SLOW process!

I know right now you are thinking about how long you’ve been trying, because that’s where my mind went. I’ve been on this journey for a long time too. This most recent journey started back on February 1, 2023, almost two years ago. What I think gave me some perspective on time, was when I thought about how long it took me to become this unhealthy. Truly the answer to that is a lifetime, but the most recent weight gain was a solid five year time span. Five years to gain over 80 pounds. When looking at that perspective, two years to lose 65 pounds seems fantastic. Plateaus are normal to hit and how we respond to them will determine our outcome. For me, I am holding on and trying to find ways to get things moving along again.

I wrote about weight loss plateaus when I first hit this one, back in July. I think the post is worth reading to understand the evolution of thinking about my weight loss plateau.

Pushing Past Weight-Loss Plateaus: Tips for Success

You can also learn more about this topic here:

Metabolism and Reverse Dieting

What I’ve Learned About My Weight Loss Plateau

In my original post, I talked about metabolic adaptation, or our body adjusting to its new normal. When we reduce our caloric intake, over time our metabolism adapts to the new intake level. In order to achieve balance, our metabolism slows. Over time, this means that our caloric deficit no longer gives the result of losing weight. This can lead us to reduce our calories further and increase exercise, which can give us the exact opposite result than what we are seeking. That’s what happened to me and the result I’ve had these past three months.

When I spoke with my coach and dietitian, they kept going back to my food logs. I log my food on Cronometer daily, to ensure I am meeting my macros that were set for me. Being plant based, I’ve paid special attention to my protein intake and my target was 90 grams a day. I struggled to reach that goal some days and would add additional protein shakes, or meals to my day. This left me not hungry and feeling full. The ironic thing was that my daily caloric intake was only at 1100 most days, far too low, yet I wasn’t hungry. It was concerning and I kept telling them both that I could not possibly eat any more food. I was literally so uncomfortably full.

My newest blood work showed that my LDL had increased again and they all believe, including my doctor, that this is tied to my low caloric daily intake, coupled with my high daily energy expenditure.

I felt like this testing was the slap I needed. My body scans showed that the minimal caloric intake I needed (BMR) was 1526. This rate is just for my body to do the basic functions needed to live, and does not take into account the high levels of movement I do each day. My new daily target is 1600 on less active days, and as much as 2000 on active days.

Further examination of my daily logs revealed that I was eating about 55 grams of fiber each day. The average RDA for women my age is 21. Though this intake is not unhealthy, this high amount of fiber was causing me, at times, to feel uncomfortably full. In my attempt to increase my protein, I was adding silken tofu, flax seed, hemp seed and chia seed at the same time to each shake, which was way too much.

What I Did in Response

I went back to a lower caloric intake and then slowly began to increase each week. I originally went from 1100 to 2000 in a day and was truly uncomfortable. It was too much too fast (story of my life!). This slower and gradual increase has been life changing and allowed my body to better adapt. I am now eating 1600 calories with ease and actually look forward to my meals. Once I am consistently eating in a healthier range, we will begin to look at cutting back to ensure a deficit, but for now the focus is to improve my metabolism.

I also increased the number of weight lifting sessions I do each week. I originally was lifting heavy two days a week with a trainer. First, I added a third day and this week I added in the fourth day. That will be my target going forward, to lift heavier weights four times a week. Despite the plateau of my weight, I have continued to lose inches as evidenced by my weekly measurements and clothing size.

I cut back on the number of days I was playing competitive pickleball games. This was a hard decision, but after reflecting on the data in FitBit regarding readiness scores, I decided I was stressing my body. Readiness scores are provided to help us avoid injury and ensure we take needed rest days. I am an over achiever by nature and tended to ignore that data. In consultation with my coach, I finally understood that I was stressing my body. My Fitbit step counts were averaging 25-30K steps per day, seven days a week. That included long walks and pickleball. I am now playing an average of 3-4 times per week and my average step counts are between 10-15K a day. I do not take long walks on days I play pickleball, just a nice short walk in the morning to start my day. I’ve also added a full rest day, during which I do a short walk and consciously rest.

Finally, I purchased a body scan scale that gives me valuable data regarding the composition of my body. As a data geek, I love to watch the shifts as they happen each week when I step on the scan. I am now better able to study my body composition, including body fat and body muscle percentages. I also find the BMR targets helpful, as they are targeted specifically to my body. When I started my metabolic age showed at 71! I was horrified. Today it showed as 49!

I will continue to monitor my journey, through weekly body scans, measurements and periodic blood work. I am extremely excited about the additional weight training session each week. I am seeing some nice definition starting and feel stronger each week. I am relieved that the increase of LDL was not something to panic over. I was truly feeling badly about that and it really helped to have a registered dietitian explain why it was happening and what to do in response.

Summary of Changes I Made

In summary, here are the changes I made:

  1. Slowly increased caloric intake to healthier levels
  2. Increased protein intake and split it evenly across 3 meals a day (50 grams at each meal)
  3. Increase weight lifting sessions to 4x a week
  4. Decreased cardio events each week to avoid over stressing my body
  5. Use of body scan to monitor body composition data

Next Steps

I hope this post gave you some food for thought about your journey. If you connected in any way to this post, please do reach out and share in the comment section below. I’d love to hear your experiences, as they always help me feel like I’m not alone on this journey. Feel free to answer any of these questions to help get a discussion going:

Why do you think your body is not letting you lose weight?

Are you currently doing weight lifting sessions each week? How many per week?

What have you noticed about adding in weight lifting?

What is your current daily protein intake?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your comments. If you feel more comfortable sharing via email, you can do so at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, or on Instagram.

The Compound Effect

“You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”
― Darren Hardy, The Compound Effect

As the fall weather is upon us, I am cleaning closets and thinking of the approaching winter season. Fall is my favorite time of the year. I start to organize and purge what not longer fits, including more than just clothing. Life is always about evolving and growing as we go and fall is the perfect time to slow down and reflect. In that manner, I have decided this week’s post will be a repost of one of my most popular blogs from this year. In this post, I speak about the importance of consistency and holding firm to my journey as I move through the winter season. Let’s all use the fall to prepare for the winter ahead. Much like the squirrels gathering their food for the winter, I believe we need to gather our motivation for the days ahead. I hope you enjoy the reread of this much loved post.

I first read Darren Hardy’s book many years ago as a new school leader. The Compound Effect outlined, is the strategy of being consistent with smart, tiny choices over time that will produce significant results. As I read the book I was focused on leadership, yet in the back of my mind I kept connecting back to my health journey. The concept is that smaller steps over a long period of time will have a greater, more beneficial and successful effect on your life than bigger steps in a shorter period of time (that most people will not stick to). Today as I view the predictable dwindling off of the New Year’s resolutionists at the gym I am reminded of this concept.

For many years, I was that person. The one who gets all pumped up for the reclaiming health journey. Those who have followed me over time know that every spring I have a rebirth and start over. Then, every winter I slowly fade away and fall backwards. This year has been different, albeit not easier. The temptation to fall back has reared its head repeatedly, especially on these 18 degree days. Using the concept of the compounding effect, I know that consistency is the key to achieving and maintaining momentum. I have held tight to that concept on my darkest of days this winter and continued with the small, simple habits and daily routines that will add up to a healthier life. My goal this year was to make it through the winter with habits in tact and see where I am come spring. As we are nearing February, I am very hopeful that this year will be different for me. 

Consistency is not easy if you make your habits too lofty, the key is to keep things simple and doable. When I selected daily habits, I’d say I even set the bar lower than I knew I could accomplish this winter. This helped me through the harder days and gave me added bonus boosts when I achieved more and kept me motivated. We all know success fosters motivation and failure often motivates quitting. For my movement goal, I merely set a minimum of a 30 minute walk in nature goal for every day of the week. This goal has been the easiest one to maintain, rain or shine. Setting a doable goal like this sets you up for success and avoids repeated failure that can serve to make you feel like a failure and give up. Obviously, it’s not my only fitness goal, but it’s the one I will never skip. Walking and being in nature cannot be undervalued on any health journey.

Another doable goal I set was to improve my nutrition through simple choices for my meals. I made a commitment to have a healthy breakfast every day. To make it easier, I decided to to a morning smoothie with protein and healthy nutrients, using simple recipes found in Joyfull, by Radi Devlukia. This sets me up for my morning workout and keeps me full until lunch. There are so many great smoothie recipes, but if that feels overwhelming just use a high quality protein powder shake, such as this one from Complement. I like the chocolate flavor when drinking plain and unflavored when using with the recipes from Joyfull. I have been super consistent with this goal as well. No cooking required for this breakfast and the variety of smoothies is endless. For lunch, I generally eat the main meal of the day to allow more time for digestion. I eat a whole food plant based diet consisting of protein, legumes, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. This also is very easy to do as salads are super easy to put together. 

On this cold winter day, I remind you that it’s not about perfection. It’s about the effort we put in and more importantly, the consistency we apply to our health journeys. Approach every day with a clean slate. If you ate too much yesterday (me eating pizza during the football playoffs), it’s all good, just return to your daily routine today. You slept in and didn’t do your gym workout this morning, get up do your 30 minute walk and return to the gym on your next scheduled day. Perhaps your body needed the rest. What we can’t do is give up and stop. Just keep to your routines as best you can and watch the compound effect unfold. 

If you have any questions or comments, please do reach out. I love getting emails at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog about your journey. Take a photo of nature from your 30 minute walk and tag me on Instagram at reclaiminghealthblog with #30minutesinnature . Let’s do this together, motivate each other and reach spring feeling healthier. It is only two months away!

Unlock Your Wellness Goals with Effective Scheduling

 “In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” –Tony Robbins

This week, I walked into a yoga class feeling like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz. I had a tough weight lifting session on Sunday, and boy was I feeling it. I had trouble putting on my socks for the class, that’s how stiff I was. When I started the class, I couldn’t sit comfortably and wondered how it had gotten this bad. Then it hit me, that I couldn’t remember the last time I took this class. Thankfully, my yoga teacher knew exactly what was needed and when I walked out of class an hour later, I felt much better.

Yoga is an important component in my wellness program. I have tight muscles and need to work to lengthen them. The deep and intentional stretching I gain from yoga has improved my flexibility and helped prevent injuries. Additionally, yoga keeps me grounded and focused on my emotional wellness. Whenever I don’t engage in regular practice, I notice a huge difference in how my body feels.

Later in the day, I was still thinking about this and couldn’t come up with any reason why I neglected to do my stretching. It was simply poor time management and veering from my schedule that caused me to miss yoga. Coming out of August, following my daughter’s wedding, I had COVID. This derailed me for a few weeks and getting out of my routines seemed to have lasting implications.

I bet so many of you can relate to this experience and have found yourself wondering why there never seems to be enough time in your schedule. We all lead busy lives and time seems to get away from us. Clearly, I hadn’t managed my time well these past two weeks. But, there is always learning found in these bumps in the road and now I’m highly motivated to focus on time management.

After reflecting on my time use, I noticed an increase in my screen time usage. I need to reevaluate this and move back to a more structured planning approach. I’ve decided to use the following strategies to renew my focus on my wellness:

Calendar:

The calendar will me the main tool I used to schedule and track my fitness goals. I will use the calendar in my phone, as it is always with me. I will schedule all training sessions, as well as personal appointments on the same calendar. When I wake each morning, I will check the calendar, prior to going out for my long walk. This will put the days events front and center in my mind.

Routines:

The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. Doing the same things on the same day, or in the same order, sets you up for success. Daily habits played an important role in my professional success. They will also play an important role in achieving my wellness goals.

My current wellness routines include, daily long walks each morning and assigning days of the week to specific activities. This repetitive use of time helps the activities become habitual.

Less is More:

I am an overdoer by nature. This causes me to become fatigued and has led to sport injuries in the past. Scheduling on the calendar, will help me to visually see how much I am doing each week. It will help me avoid overdoing and ensure I have ample recovery and rest periods each week.

Give Yourself Grace:

Missing a workout session happens, but when it becomes a pattern it can derail you. I can use the calendar I create to reflect on my daily progress, ensuring I’ve accomplished my daily and weekly goals. Based on this, I can make further adjustments as necessary and give myself grace for the things that come up. It’s always about progress, not perfection, but tracking and measuring can help with my focus.

Set Goals:

What gets measured, gets improved. Goals are the anchor to our wellness journey. If you’d like to join me on this wellness journey, I recommend you start by thinking about your personal wellness goals. If you haven’t already done so, consider doing the following:

  • Set a goal for your long term wellness. Ask yourself, What is my primary goal for long term wellness? What can I do right now to support that goal?
  • List what you currently do for fitness. From that list pick two primary fitness activities that best support your long term wellness goal right now. Those are the two you will schedule onto the calendar first.
  • Check your calendar for available time slots. Start building your calendar around your two main activities.

In Conclusion:

Time management can certainly feel like a juggling act, especially when we lead such busy lives. Creating a routine and schedule can alleviate some of the stress you may be feeling. It an also keep you focused on your wellness goals. Without this focus, it is far too easy to let things slide.

I implore you to prioritize your health when scheduling your week. Be as creative as you can and look for those pockets of time. For me, it was the hours I spent looking mindlessly at the phone. I used to start my day sipping coffee in bed, watching the news and sipping coffee. I’d scroll the internet and enjoy the quiet. But, that was two to three hours a day. It’s perfectly alright to sip coffee in bed, but across my week that was fourteen hours of time I was using.

I now rise, dress, walk for an hour, then come home and sip coffee. Getting up earlier can definitely give you some nice quiet opportunities for fitness. Be creative as you look at your week with new eyes. I know you can find some time slots to use toward your wellness. Your future self will certainly thank you!

Drop me a comment in the section below and tell me what you plan to do to find time for your wellness goals. I look forward to reading your ideas, so please do share.

The Impact of Giving Up Running on My Health Journey: A Reflective Journey

“Movement will give you access to joy that will dramatically improve the quality of your life.” – Kelly McGonigal

I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on my current health journey. I feel like I’ve learned so much about myself through this reflection. It’s no secret that this last journey has been by far my hardest. There were many causes that led me to my lowest point, I can not just name one. It was like the perfect storm, a particularly bad or critical state of affairs, arising from a number of negative and unpredictable factors. In isolation, each event that happened was life changing. In combination, they served to wreak havoc on my mental and physical health.

The past four years have been some of the hardest in my life, but as they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I am finally in a space where I can reflect on all I’ve learned through my experience. To share, my perfect storm consisted of the following events coming together, 1) physical injury that caused me to give up running; 2) COVID pandemic; 3) death of my mother.

I’d like to reflect today on the impact giving up running had on my overall wellness, as I believe it was deeper than I ever imagined.

Physical Injury

I was always a runner. I was up and out early mornings with my father as we ran around the neighborhood park. The loop was 1 1/3 miles and we did 3 loops to start our day. Later, I ran track in school and found I wasn’t good at the short, fast events, but I could run long distance. I’ve run 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon races. Running was a great sport for me, as I loved the time spent outside in nature. It truly is meditative.

During 2017 and 2018, I was training for the NYC Marathon. Both years, I did not make it to the starting line as I sustained a femoral stress fracture up near the hip joint. This injury required 12-16 weeks non weight bearing, followed by physical therapy. In 2018, I also sustained three broken toes. My body was definitely telling me it was time to cut back on running, but I had always wanted to run the NYC Marathon.

In 2019, I knew I wouldn’t be able to cover the training distance needed to get to the starting line, but was determined to get there. I used a different approach that year, cutting back on training run distance and working more on my functional strength, stamina and cardio. I signed up for CrossFit and used that as my main method of training, coupled with shorter runs, no more that 10 miles. That year, I was able to complete my goal and finish the NYC Marathon.

As excited and proud as I am about that goal, I know that I sacrificed my body to achieve it. I finished this race with another femoral stress fracture and this one seemed by far to be the most painful. I was back on crutches and back to the healing process. I knew that would be my last race and promised my family I would give up long runs. What I didn’t realize was how hard it would be to give up running and what role running played in my health journey.

Mental Wellness

When I returned to work, following the marathon, I was back on crutches. I was mad at my body and mad at myself for doing this to myself again. I truly felt that my body had failed me and didn’t understand why. Knowing my training and running days were over, I seemed to have less interest in recovery or maintaining my fitness levels. I had what I describe as a pity party and ate anything I wanted regardless of the fact that I wasn’t moving at all.

Going through COVID shutdowns and the death of my mother a few months later, I had no motivation to heal or do anything. If I couldn’t run, I didn’t want to do anything. I gained so much weight during this time and looked like a different person. When I look back now at the photographs, I don’t even recognize myself.

I didn’t understand that movement, not just running, had played a pivotal role on my wellness and its absence would have a profound impact on me.

Movement

I now realize the role movement played in my life beyond just running races. Movement was critical to my overall wellness, both mentally and physically. If I look back, I was running 4 miles most mornings with my dad around the park before the sun was up. Training for long races, required me to do long distances before work, meaning I was up and running most mornings before the sun was up. I’ve seen so many sun rises out on the road and never realized how important seeing them was to my overall mental health.

When I knew I wouldn’t be running anymore, I gave all that up without realizing it was the glue that held me together. Post-marathon depression may not be a clinical diagnosis, but it’s real. To put it into context, when you accomplish any goal that you worked toward for years, it’s only normal that a letdown occurs when it’s over. Add to this the knowledge that it was your last running event and you can see how deep the loss is.

When I finally pushed myself to get back out there, I was walking. It was different for sure, both in distance covered and effort, but it felt good to lace up my shoes. I like to say walking saved me. I wish I had known just how important movement was to my health. I never acknowledged that, just saw it as training or a work out session.

I’ve learned that, movement is vital for overall wellness as it significantly improves both physical and mental health by reducing the risk of disease, boosting mood, managing stress, and improving cognitive function. Essentially, it contributes to a better quality of life across various aspects of health. My journey can attest to these facts. When I stopped moving, my health declined both physically and mentally. In its absence, I was not well. When I started moving again, my wellness both mentally and physically improved.

Movement can take many forms, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.  Movement can include things like, walking your dog, mowing the lawn, sweeping or raking leaves, working out at the gym, swimming, playing pickleball, taking a yoga class. Honestly, the possibilities are endless. The more time we spend moving and not sitting the better we will feel.

Movement in My Day

  1. Walking – I walk outside twice a day, once when I first get out of bed, before the sun rise and once in the afternoon. I do this regardless of the weather, but do have access to a treadmill should I need to stay indoors.
  2. Pickleball – I play pickleball almost every day, either drills or competitive games.
  3. Weight Training – I am currently lifting twice a week, but will be adding in a third session soon.
  4. Yoga – I try to grab a yoga class whenever I have time.

Possible Movement at Work

  1. Walking – Walk around the block after you park your car before entering the building. Walk at lunch.
  2. Walking pad – They now sell walking pads that you can place under your desk to allow you to get your steps in. I haven’t used one to recommend, but here is a an option that looks portable enough – Walking Pad Compact Size
  3. 1 minute Exercise sessions – Set your timer for 60 minutes. When the timer goes off take a short walk, or do some air squats, or wall push ups in your office. Just get up out of the chair.

Conclusion

I find being outdoors walking in the early morning, before sunrise, to be magical. It’s so quiet and still out there and it’s truly unlike any other time of the day. I’ve been starting my day like this for over 50 years now and didn’t realize how critical it was to my health, until I stopped doing it. I am so thankful to be back out there and know that it’s helped heal me. I hope you find time to experience that time of stillness and beauty in your health regime. There are many proven benefits you will get, mentally and physically. For further reading, consider this article:

6 Proven Scientific Benefits of Walks at Sunrise or Sunset

I’d love to hear about your journey. What has helped you along the way? What roadblocks are you facing? Feel free to reach out to me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or in the comment section below.

Embracing Personal Accountability for a Healthier, Fulfilled Life

“Personal accountability requires mindfulness, acceptance, honesty and courage.” – Shelby Martin

Personal success can be achieved through taking accountability for our actions. This shift takes time and is one I’ve embraced on this health journey. It’s also one I hadn’t embraced in the past.  It’s hard to come to terms with the reality that you and you alone are responsible for the decisions you make each day, but personal accountability is the key to living a healthy, fulfilled, and meaningful life. Even though it can be challenging, accepting personal accountability will enable you to learn from mistakes and make adjustments to your journey.

Our consistency and day to day life decisions play a huge role in the progress we make and results we achieve. Believe me, I know it feels better to blame work stress, genetics, health or other outside reasons for my failure to make progress. Blaming others or making excuses can lead to giving up when things get hard. There are certainly cases where outside factors are a key reason one is not achieving results, despite putting in the work. I would never want to minimize that, but, today I’d like to talk about accepting personal accountability for your health journey.

My Journey

I’ve been on this health journey for what feels like a lifetime. I’ve honestly tried everything there was to try. I worked with countless nutritionists who wanted to sell me endless products. Everyone seemed to have their own angle on what I needed to do. I would try what they said, not see results fast enough and give up, then blame them. I believed every advertisement I saw that spoke to those who haven’t had results, but would if they only tried their new approach. I worked out endlessly, ate clean and couldn’t seem to ever stay on track. It wasn’t until I shifted my mindset from doing what someone else said I needed to do, to taking control over my own journey, that I began to have success.

Think about this, every single decision you make in a day is in your own hands. I decide every day whether I will sleep in, get up, work out, eat out or cook. I needed to accept responsibility for the decisions I made. Recognizing and honoring this was a necessary first step toward making lasting changes in my health. It was also a powerful tool toward changing unwanted behaviors and ways of thinking about myself.

Many of us spend our days drowning in negative self talk, blame and procrastination. On this journey toward reclaiming our health, we first need to address the elephant in the room – blame and excuses. Yes, it is far easier to say I’m still overweight because I’m a middle aged woman, or my parents were overweight, or, or, or. Accepting these excuses and reasons for our struggle can lead us to accepting where we are, giving up on trying to change our way of life. I know this first hand, as I had given up on even trying. I began to accept that this was just how I was going to be.

Personal Accountability

Personal accountability is the practice of accepting responsibility for your actions, words, and behaviors, and the consequences that result. It involves taking ownership of situations, and doing your best to improve, whether the outcome is good or bad. People who are personally accountable don’t blame others or make excuses, and they try to make amends when things go wrong.

Personal accountability does not mean we place blame, or shame on ourselves. Rather, it is meant to be a means to accept that despite where you are right now on your health journey, including the reasons for being there, you have the power and responsibility to improve your health and make lasting changes.

Roadblocks

Two of the most common reasons for not achieving our goals can be tied to lack of consistency and not having a strong enough purpose – your why.

Consistency:

I’ve written about the importance of consistency on your health journey. This blog is worth your read – The Compound Effect. Consistency is your super power. Quite simply, the small decisions and moves you make over time will determine your rates of success. It’s a lifestyle, not a diet or program.

This hit home for me once when a doctor asked me about my activity levels. I replied that, I run 3 miles most mornings, swim other mornings and ride my bicycle. She said that’s a great way to start your day, but what do you do for the rest of the day? I had to pause and think. I often sat and read, worked on the computer, binged Netflix, etc. Most of my activity for the day was completed by 10:00 AM each day, leaving me feeling like I had put the work in. Sadly, I was thinking of exercise as something I needed to get done.

Exercise is part of an active lifestyle, not something you do to check off a box on your daily list. The more you move, the healthier you will be. I now move throughout my day, not just in the morning. For example, I take a brisk walk when I wake each morning for about 30 minutes, about 1 mile. I then often relax and have breakfast. A few hours later, I head down to the pickleball courts and play games or practice for about 2 hours. I then cook our main meal of the day and we eat lunch. I relax, do some reading, or computer work and then take my afternoon walk, about 1.5 miles. When I return, I either go down to the pool, or go into town to the beach area. We have a light dinner and I walk with the dog for a bit to end the day. Then it’s either relaxing evening home, or we go out. As you can see, I am moving all throughout the day. You can change the walking to bike riding in the nicer weather, or yoga for pickleball. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you are consistently moving your body.

Purpose:

MY WHY -Having  strong reasons for getting healthy can help improve your focus and drive. Losing weight for a special event, while motivating in the short term, won’t sustain you over the long haul. Generally after the event is over, so is your motivation and drive to continue. Further, we often feel we have achieved our goal and begin slowly to loosen up on our decisions.

Center your purpose around longer term goals to keep you grounded when the going gets tough. In my case, my why is to maintain optimum health as I move into the next phase of my life. When I declare my why I say, “I WILL hold on to my memory and live a long, active life.”    This is my motivation and my drive.  It pushes me out of bed when I don’t want to get up and exercise.  It pushes me to think about what I am putting in my mouth.  It helps me hold on to the gains I’ve made these past years and continuously pushes me forward. It helps me not stray far off the path, even though there are bumps along the way.

Next Steps

Success on this journey will require action. This action includes accepting personal responsibility and not allowing yourself to make excuses when you fail to follow through

Here are a few of the ways I have been holding myself accountable.

Planning

They say a goal without a plan is just a dream. Planning is the biggest key to success on any health journey. When I fail to plan, I always end up making decisions that aren’t in my best interest, especially around food choice. Planning for me includes shopping for healthy food, planning for meals and scheduling workouts. Using a calendar and developing a schedule is the easiest way I get my daily workouts in. Blocking out times to move my body has been essential. I wake up, brush my teeth, throw on shoes and go for a brisk walk every day. I do this before I do anything else. It’s now a habit. After lunch, I go for another walk every day. I sometimes bring my phone and catch up with a friend. Build your routines into your daily calendar and you will see improvement in your consistency.

Menu planning and food shopping go hand in hand. If I don’t plan out my meals I end up cooking whatever is easy, not necessarily healthy. Whenever I am off target I know that it means I haven’t been diligent about shopping and planning. I am not a meal prep person, I just don’t like to have the food all prepared for the week. I like to cook easy, simple meals to avoid the one long day of prep. For example, yesterday we ate Miso-glazed Eggplant with Farro . On the table in 45 minutes, delicious and easy. Whichever approach works for you, this area of planning is essential for success.

Share the Journey

Writing this blog over the years has allowed me to share my journey. It’s picked me back up when I’ve fall down and holds me accountable. I find writing very therapeutic, as I work through issues I am facing myself. Making my journey public has held me personally accountable. I can’t write about things others should do if I don’t do them myself. This blog keeps me grounded in my why. One of the best ways to stay strong and focused is to share your journey with a friend or loved one. Find yourself a partner and support each other along the way.

Positive Self Talk

Blame, negativity and excuses are hard to stave off. I’m working hard on using positive self talk to replace them whenever they rear their ugly heads. Find yourself a means to use positivity and gratitude to keep your spirits up. This will be a difficult journey and there will be times when your emotions take over. Having an outlet, or means to keep it positive will go a long way towards keeping you moving forward. I’ve written blogs on this topic, which can be found here Kritajna Hum: I am gratitude, Things I’m Letting Go Of

Tracking Progress

At the gym I always hear this, “What get’s measured gets improved.” Tracking progress will greatly improve your motivation and drive. Don’t just weigh yourself and lament over lack of weight loss. Measure all progress – This week I worked out six out of seven days, Today I ate three healthy meals, I slept through the night, etc. There are so many areas of our life that we can look to for progress. The scale is only one way to track our progress. In past blogs I’ve talked about taking your measurements as an alternative to the scale. Taking photographs is another positive way to see progress. Recognizing our daily and weekly successes helps change our thinking around success.

Move to Live

The more we move, the better we will feel. Movement across the day is an important pillar of my journey. I plan it into each day and have cultivated strong habits around movement. Dr. William Sears clearly states, “sit less, move more, live longer”, which definitely is the plan here. I’ve written a blog post on this topic and you can visit it here – Move to Live. I hope you will take the time to read this and lace up your shoes for a walk.

Reach Out

I hope you are connecting to your current health journey. Moving forward is always our goal. In reflecting on where you are right now, perhaps ask yourself, “What are some ways you currently hold yourself accountable?”,  “How do you maintain your positivity?”, “Do I move throughout the day?”, and “Who can I share this journey with?”.

I’m always interested in hearing your thoughts.  Please take a moment to share your ideas with me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or in the comments below.  Also, consider sharing this blog with a friend who is on this path with you.

Reclaiming Health: The Power of Taking the First Step

“The first step to getting somewhere is deciding that you are not going to stay where you are.” -J.P. Morgan

Several times a month, I get asked the same question, “How did you get started?”. It is a question I’ve asked as well, many times to many people on my health journey. Getting started always feels like the hardest part, especially when you feel so far removed from your healthiest self. I was literally at rock bottom at the start of this journey. I truly had given up and felt there was no way for me to get back to being healthy. I came to the point where I accepted myself as I was, which is fine, but also had no plan to do any work to regain my health. I felt I was past the point of no return.

I wish I could have given my friend the answer she wanted, but I know it’s not that simple. There is not one way to take this journey, and my way may not be the way that works for her. The simplest answer I can give to the question of where to start is just to start. Think of yourself as you want to be, healthy and happy. Ask yourself, what would it take for me to get to that place. Pick one thing you can do right now, this minute, that will move you toward that version of you. For me, I put on my running shoes and started walking. I was way past the point of being able to run, too heavy and out of shape. But, I knew I could walk, so I put on the shoes and walked around the block. That was all I could master at that point and that was more than enough.

A month later, I walked around the block of my school every morning when I got to work to add a second walk to my day. Then, I dusted off my old Fitbit and set a goal to reach 5,000 steps a day. I didn’t always make it, but I felt better about myself for even trying. After I retired, we moved to a community in Delaware and they had a health club. At that point, I added some weight lifting using the machines they had. I did that three times a week.

A year and a half later, I feel so much healthier and am so glad I took those first steps. Imagine how I would feel if I hadn’t. If you are also wondering what to do to get started, my best advice to you is to just start. Here are a few ideas to help you.

Getting Started

  1. Set Realistic Goals – For me, I was so unhealthy, I knew I could not return to running, as much as I wanted to. It would not be realistic for me to try to use running as my exercise of choice. In order to start, I needed to use a different form of movement. Walking was the best choice for my current fitness level. Select a movement that you feel you can do at your current fitness level. Do not over do it, or you will quit. Just move your body every day and increase gradually.
  2. Be Consistent – Consistency is your ticket to success. If you aren’t consistent, chances are you will not be successful. This is a commitment to a lifestyle, not a quick fix. I made the commitment to do at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. Since I was walking, that meant I would walk every day, rain or shine and I did. I wrote about the importance of consistency here The Compounding Effect. I know that consistency was a huge part of my success.
  3. Give Yourself Grace – You cannot change everything at once. That is an important concept to wrap your head around. I did not become unhealthy overnight. It was a combination of many things, but it happened over time. You cannot become healthy overnight, but you can over time. Give yourself the grace to work at this. You will have days where you make unhealthy choices. Just today, I ate some Nutella on a spoon. It happens. Give yourself grace and don’t let one decision deride your goal of improving your health. Just keep moving forward, one day at a time.
  4. Think About Your Habits – I really needed to evaluate my daily habits. This involved looking at my movement patterns, which at that time were nonexistent. It also meant looking at my eating patterns, which involved takeout and restaurants. Examine your habits and ask yourself if they are helping or hindering your health journey. Again, don’t try to change everything overnight, but begin to make plans to make small changes. For me, I started with my breakfast patterns. I changed those first, as they were the worst and easiest place to start. Then, I worked on my lunch. Finally, I made a drastic change and embraced a new lifestyle of eating whole food plant-based. I have not looked back in the past eight months.
  5. Sleep – If you don’t sleep well, you will have a hard time regaining your health. Sleep is critical to your health as it is when your body cleans and restores. I tried so many different approaches and one day my doctor finally said, if you don’t address your sleep you will not see real change. The road to sleep has been challenging, but I am making progress. I have a set sleep schedule and really try to stick to it, within reason. I wrote extensively about sleep in these past posts, Sleep Your Secret Weapon, Sweet Dreams

It is my sincere hope that you find your way to take those first steps, because they may be the hardest. I am so glad I did because if I didn’t I honestly don’t know where I’d be right now. It’s not an easy journey, but the rewards have been so exciting. I’m feeling healthier and I have energy to do more than I have in years. I’m looking forward to continuing on my path and am proud of the progress I have made. If you want to reclaim your health, I hope you’ll take those first steps. I’d love to hear about your journey and am here to cheer you on. Feel free to reach out to me via email at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or in the comment section below. Let’s do this!

Hydration and Weight Loss: The Crucial Connection

Drinking water is like washing out your insides. The water will cleanse the system, fill you up, decrease your caloric load and improve the function of all your tissues. –Kevin R. Stone

Last week, I wrote about possible ways to push through weight loss plateaus. One area I neglected to mention, that can help your metabolism greatly, is water consumption. Water has long been my nemesis, as I have always had a love or hate relationship with it. During the hot summer months, I have no issue consuming water, especially when exercising. When the fall comes, I inevitably stop drinking water.

How Much Water Do We Need?

According to Harvard Health, most healthy people need four to six cups of water per day, but the amount varies based on other factors. These factors include how much water people get from food and other drinks, as well as health conditions, medications, activity level, and temperature. Personally, I drink 8 glasses (8 oz) of water each day. For me that is slightly higher than 1/2 of my body weight. The issue I have with using 1/2 body weight as a goal, is that when I was at my heaviest, it just was not a realistic amount of water for me to consume.

Originally, I thought the 8 glasses of water I needed to drink each day needed to be plain water. As a result, I had great difficulty meeting my target because I was full from tea, or the smoothie I was consumed. I’ve since learned that you count the water used in making those drinks as part of your 8 glasses of water a day. That small tidbit helped me get on track with my water consumption and I now regularly hit my target.

Water and Weight Loss Plateau

Research suggests that drinking water can help with weight loss and also break weight loss plateaus in several ways:

  • Suppressing appetite: Drinking water can help reduce hunger cravings and it’s healthier than the same result obtained by drinking coffee, with no sugar or cream required. Additionally, it can also lead to a decrease in saturated fat, sugar, sodium, and cholesterol.
  • Boosting metabolism: Drinking 17 ounces of water can increase metabolic rate by 30% in both men and women.
  • Making exercise more efficient: Being hydrated can help your body work more efficiently during exercise.
  • Reducing calorie intake: Drinking water instead of high-calorie beverages like soda, fruit juice, or alcohol can lead to a significant reduction in calorie intake.

Other studies found a link between dehydration and higher body weight and found that even mild dehydration can slow down your metabolism by 3%.

Ways to Increase Water Consumption

Here are a few of the ways I’ve increased my daily water consumption:

  • Eat water-rich fruits and vegetables – Many fruits and vegetables have a high water content. Some of the best include berries, oranges, grapes, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, and melons. I keep a container full of cut up fruit to snack on in my refrigerator. These containers are my favorite for storage of my produce.Rubbermaid Produce Savers
  • Drink a glass before each meal – This can help in the digestion process and it fills you, reducing how much food you consume at each meal.
  • Take it everywhere – I invested in a large half gallon jug. I fill it each morning and take it with me to the pickleball courts. I always have my jug with me and by the end of the day it is empty. If I don’t have water with me, I will never make my target. This is the jug I use, but any water bottle will do. I just like having one with no refill required. I can add ice throughout the day if I want it colder. This is the jug I am now using. Yes, it is heavy at the beginning of the day. 64 oz Thermos
  • Measure what you drink – If I am making a cup of tea, a glass of fruit flavored water, making an extra protein shake, or mixing my end-of-day probiotic drink, I pour the water from my thermos. That all counts toward my goal. This was life changing for me. The size of my jug is my daily target and measuring any water mixed drink from that container helps make sure I am meeting my target daily.

How do you know if you’re drinking enough water?

Your fluid consumption is adequate for your needs if you rarely feel thirsty and your urine is colorless or light yellow.

Next Steps

In conclusion, prioritizing proper hydration through the practical strategies offered here can significantly impact your health, and help you push through any plateaus you hit along the way. By incorporating water-rich foods, consuming water before meals, and maintaining optimal hydration levels, you will see and feel a difference. I know I have seen a difference in how I look and more importantly how I feel. Please reach out and share how you are doing with your water intake and how you feel as a result. I look forward to hearing from you. You can reach me by email at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or in the comment section below.

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Pushing Past Weight-Loss Plateaus: Tips for Success

“When you get to a plateau, think of it as a landing on the stairway to your goal. And maintenance is a lifelong plateau, so a bit of ‘rehearsal’ for maintenance isn’t the worst thing in the world”. -unknown

Since I retired and changed my lifestyle, I’ve lost weight, albeit slowly. They say slow and steady wins the race and in this case I must agree. I have been tracking my progress for over a year and love what the data reveals. I’ve noticed that I lose an average of 2 pounds each month. I’ve also noticed that there were a few months where I seemed to hit a plateau and lost just 1 pound. I’m currently in a plateau and it comes as I am a mere 10 pounds away from my goal weight. If I look back at the other plateaus, they do appear to be at critical milestones in my journey. Though it can be frustrating, for me it is a learning curve and I love to learn. I want to understand why I am hitting these plateaus and what I can do to push through them.

What is a weight-loss plateau?

A weight-loss plateau is when you stop losing weight, despite eating and exercising in the same manner. You’ve been cruising along, losing steadily each week, when suddenly it just stops. I’ve long thought a weight loss plateau is just my body trying to adapt. I believed this to be a good thing, as I want my body to settle into the new normal. I was correct about the body trying to adapt. Who knew those old Science class lessons would come in handy. I know that these plateaus happen to everyone, so thought I’d share my learning.

What causes a weight-loss plateau?

Generally, when we begin a weight loss journey, we are highly motivated to eat clean and exercise diligently. The weight generally comes off easily, due to water weight release and newly created calorie deficits. I’ve learned that this is due to the body getting needed energy by releasing stores of glycogen, a type of carbohydrate found in the muscles and liver. This causes the release of water weight.

Our bodies are indeed adapting to the weight loss and seeking balance, known as homeostasis, or a stable physiological state. This simply means that as you lose weight, your metabolism declines, causing you to burn fewer calories than you did at your heavier weight. This is what slows the weight loss. If you decrease your calorie intake further, your metabolism will slow further as your body continues trying to find homeostasis.

What I thought in the past, was that I needed to eat less and exercise more to push through the plateau. I would then become frustrated as that never worked. I mean, how many times have you said this – “I don’t get it. I’m eating nothing and working out like crazy and the weight just won’t come off. I give up. I’m going to just eat and do what I want.” I know I have. This time around, I am pushing through the plateaus each time they come.

How to Push Through Plateaus

These are a few things that have helped me continue on this journey, despite the plateaus that arise.

  • Change Focus

I remind myself that I am not on this journey to just lose weight, I am on it to be healthy, fit and happy. I continue to weigh myself, but remember it’s just a data point along the way. I also remind myself that these plateaus are completely part of the journey, as my body is seeking to find a set point. I give myself and my body grace and time to adjust and continue to push forward. It’s also important to note that maintaining my body weight is a win. Anytime you are maintaining and not gaining, you are winning. Hold on to the maintenance period as you set yourself up for the next cycle of losing.

  • Change Exercise Routines

You might hit a plateau if your body has become too used to your routines. Further, sometimes the routines get stale as your body adapts to them. What can you do to change things up a bit? When I hit a plateau, I like to engage in different routines, or exercises to change things up. For example, instead of a hatha style class I will take more vinyasa flow classes. Or, instead of vinyasa level 1, I will take more level 2 classes. I don’t increase the amount of classes I take, I just change the variety.

Other ways I change the exercise routine are to swap out one activity for another. For example, I take two 30 minute walks each day. When I hit a plateau, I like to swap one walk for either a lap swim, or bike ride. I truly believe variety in our routine can spark movement through the plateaus. And, even if they truly do not, they definitely change my mindset and thought patterns.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, if you are not engaging in weightlifting, you need to add it in. When I started playing pickleball, I cut back on my weight training. Before I knew it, I wasn’t going to the gym to lift. I was working out every day and hard, but not doing any designated weight training days. Muscle helps you to keep up the rate at which you burn calories (metabolism). Further, having good muscle tone beautifully shapes your body. Building muscle can definitely help you break through a weight loss plateau. In fact, strength training can help speed up your metabolism and burn more calories, which can help you lose weight. Finally, muscle is denser than fat, so you might not see a change in weight even if you’re losing fat and gaining muscle. 

  • Change Eating Patterns

The same goes for my eating patterns. I am a creature of habit and routine and can fall into patterns of eating at times. In times of plateaus, I change my eating patterns. For example, I like to have nutrient packed smoothies for breakfast, as I’m not a big morning eater. I pack these with vegetables, protein, and healthy fat. When I hit a plateau, I like to change my breakfast and eat different foods. Today, for example, I had a hearty bowl of amaranth with chopped pecans and bananas.

  • Use Your Data to Guide You

What gets measured gets improved is a saying I used to hear endlessly at the gym. There is so much truth to that statement. I am a data geek. As an educator, data drove my decisions and led to success. This journey is no different. I keep a journal and track patterns in my weight, sleep and overall well being. This data is a goldmine for me to mine through when I hit a plateau. For example, I was eating a lot of Thai and Asian inspired meals when I hit my last plateau. When I looked deeply at the journal, I noticed I was eating a lot of noodle dishes. That coupled with the salt content of the tamari and soy sauce used led me to make some dietary adjustments, not cutting calories. Once I cut back on the frequency of those ingredients and meals, the scale started moving again.

When I hit a plateau in the winter, I noticed my sleep patterns were off. Then I went to my food journal and noticed that I had 1-2 alcoholic beverages during the week. Once I stopped drinking, my sleep improved and the scale started moving. If you don’t have this type of data source, it will be hard to know which direction to go in when you are stuck.

  • Don’t Cut Calories or Give Up

Resist the temptation to cut even more calories when you hit a plateau, as this can wreak havoc on your metabolism. Rather, stay in maintenance and hold the line as you implement some of the changes I’ve discussed. Even if you lose fat and gain muscle without losing weight, your body composition will change. Keep telling yourself this will pass and continue pushing forward.

Finally, I’d like to share that the most important thing I’ve changed is my mindset. Whenever I hit a plateau in the past, I got frustrated and gave up. It was just plain easier. But, I made a pact with myself this time, that I would not do that. When I hit a plateau, or rough patch, I hold on to my healthy habits. I know that this will pass. This was actually the first year in my life, that I didn’t put on weight over the winter months. I made it through that time with no gain and started the spring, and summer months way ahead of where I would have been had I quit. Plateaus will happen along the way, but it’s best to ride the wave and try some of the suggestions I have made.

If you have ideas about how you have pushed through plateaus, I’d be most interested in hearing. Please share with me via email at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or here in the comment section below.

Healthy Lifestyle: Food, Exercise, and Joy in My Daily Routine

“Health isn’t about being “perfect” with food or exercise or herbs. Health is about balancing those things with your desires. It’s about nourishing your spirit as well as your body.”
― Golda Poretsky

Many have asked me about what I eat, how much I exercise, how many days I work out and other questions about my daily life. This week, I’d like to share what a typical day looks like for me. I am not a medical doctor, nor am I am I advocating you eat what I do. I am merely sharing my routine, in the hope you reflect on yours and consider ways to ensure you are setting yourself up to live a long and healthy life. As wellness is truly a personal journey, we all need to find what works for our lives and our bodies. This is what works for me, after many years of trying and failing.

Food

As you know, I eat whole food plant based, dairy and oil free. Many have asked me how this is different from vegan. The simple answer is that vegan is a lifestyle choice based on personal beliefs regarding animal cruelty, the environment, health and can include processed foods. Most vegans do not purchase any products, including clothing and shoes made from animals. Whole Food Plant Based is a lifestyle choice based on health and wellness and centers around food choices. It also includes wanting to protect animals and the environment, but does not include processed foods. I am sure there are other areas to include in the difference, but that’s my short answer.

I try to eat a minimum of 30 different plants across the week. It’s not hard to do at all as you’ll see in my sample day. The trick is to eat a variety of plants and fruits, or eat the rainbow of colors. Variety is key to a healthy gut, so don’t just eat the same foods day after day. For example, if you eat baby spinach, don’t use it in the smoothie, salad and at dinner. There are so many other greens that have great benefits for your wellness. Here’s a sample day for me:

  • Breakfast – I like to make a smoothie most mornings, as it’s easy and helps ensure I get extra plants in. Today I had, almond milk, kale, red beet, kiwi, date, blueberry, hemp seed, chia seed, flaxseed, cinnamon, avocado, organic pea protein (11 plants)
  • Snack – I don’t always have snacks as the shake keeps me full. Sample snack, 1/2 banana and walnuts, or hummus and vegetable sticks, any fruits with almond milk yogurt.
  • Lunch – I eat my dinner at lunchtime, whenever possible. Yesterday, we had leftovers – Basil Pesto over pasta with broccoli, roasted tomatoes and tofu. The pasta was whole wheat, high fiber fettuccine. (4 plants)
  • Dinner – I generally eat a light dinner. If I didn’t have a smoothie for breakfast, I will have it for dinner. Otherwise, I eat a big salad bowl full of plants, or a soup. Yesterday, I had a big salad bowl of arugula, baby spinach, strawberries, pumpkin seeds, mini peppers (red, yellow, orange) and cucumbers. (8 plants) (23 total plants for day)

Eating the main meal earlier in the day helps my digestion and improves my sleep patterns for the night. It also aligns with the rhythm of the day better as in the evening the body is preparing to slow down for rest. When I was working, this involved packing my main meal to eat at work, or ordering food in to eat. It can be done, but requires better planning. I included plant counts merely to show how easy it would be to eat 30 plants across your week. I’ve already had 23 in one day. For me, the key was ensuring I was getting a variety of plants. This led me to stop buying food in bulk. Buying everything in bulk may be more cost effective, but that sets me up to eat the same fruits and vegetables every day. Since, I am seeking variety, I buy the smaller packages now and vary what I eat daily. This also keeps the food more interesting.

If you want to read more about my eating, consider reading these posts I’ve shared – Change Our Thinking About Food, Fork Power, Cooking to Nourish Your Mind, Body & Soul, Cookbook Recommendations

Exercise

  • Walking – When I started this journey, I had difficulty walking around the block! Walking was my go to exercise and one I still incorporate into my day, every day. Walking doesn’t require a gym membership and can be done alone, or with a friend. I tend to prefer to walk alone, but do bring my dog with me on my daily walks. I walk every single day, regardless of the weather, for a minimum of 30 minutes. This, for me, is about 1.5 miles of distance. I walk outside in nature, as I want the added benefits that provides. Walking in nature is great for your mental wellness, so please if you can avoid the treadmill, you may find you enjoy walking more than you thought.
  • Pickleball -I play pickleball at least 4 days a week, sometimes more during the season. It’s a great form of aerobic exercise and I truly love the social connections I’ve made.
  • Yoga – I practice yoga 2-3 days a week both in studio and at home. This keeps me flexible and is also great for my mental wellness.
  • Weight Training – I try to lift weights, or use the machines at the gym at least 1-2 times a week.

I highly recommend finding a group sport you enjoy and adding it to your week. There are many elderly people out there on pickleball courts across our country. At my indoor facility, we have an 82 year old woman who plays to win daily. Yoga is also for every body and can be modified to meet you where you are. The benefits are many and I do believe you will come to love how you feel in a very short time. Lastly, I am an early riser, so much of the gym, sports and yoga occur before lunch daily. Walking happens after lunch, or dinner. Like food we eat, I believe we benefit from engaging in a variety of exercise. I have shared more about my exercise in prior posts found here Move to Live, Svadhyaya – Study of Self,

Finding Joy

For me, this journey is about finding myself, my health and above all joy. For far too long, I focused too heavily on counting calories and stressed myself out. Life is not meant to be lived that way and honestly, I was never successful with that approach. Counting plants, something I mentioned above, is something I did in the first week of eating whole food plant based. Once I realized how simple it was, I’ve not counted again. It is something you need to stress over if you eat whole food plant based meals, unless you have a specific health issue. Nothing to count, not calories, macros, micros or anything else. Just eat whole foods and ensure you eat a variety of plants and fruits. I feel healthier than I have in years, perhaps decades. I’ve shared so many posts about my journey, on my blog over the years. I hope you’ll take some time to revisit these most recent posts – Try Something New, IRAH: Individual Retirement Account for Health – A Personal Transformation Journey, Stress, Eat to Live, The Compound Effect, Hold On

I hope this helps to give you an idea of my daily life. If you take time to visit some of the links I’ve shared to prior posts, perhaps you’ll find information on areas that interest you. I am so excited to have made it out of the winter weighing less than I did going into it. Generally, in the past, I gained weight and lost motivation over the winter months, leaving me to have to start over. This year, I’m heading into the summer stronger than ever and looking forward to continued health improvements. I truly hope you will join me. I am available to discuss your current questions, ideas and needs. Feel free to reach out to me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or in the comment section below. Thanks for reading and have a great and healthy week.