Plateaus, platitudes and persistence

Yes I've reached that point, where I have to question why? why do we "bother" - the tape measure, whilst a better measure than the bathroom scale does not accurately reflect the actual changes that are going on in our bodies. Last Friday evening (a week ago) I asked one of the trainers to "do me a favour" and to take a couple of skin fold measurements - to see if the caliper was more accurate than the tape. But I found out even that is subjective - dependent on the operator. There had been significant changes to the start measures - but was warned that they might not be "correct" as she may have squeezed either too hard or not hard enough...needing to pinch the fat not the muscle.

So how can you measure progress if all the measures aren't accurate? My scales indicate "weight" - muscle weighs heavier than fat, but you can look slimmer. The tape measure checks size - but if you are retaining fluid then you will be "bigger" and the skin fold tests - well even that isn't  entirely accurate as just mentioned.

People advise to "throw the bathroom scales away" and to go by the clothes you wear - but like the tape measure, can be difficult to judge.

Never rely on a single measure to "measure" your progress. It can be hard to keep going when all the figures say "no change" "no change" "no change" - but now is the time to do things just a little differently. We all experience plateaus in our lives, when we decide we really didn't want to get to the top of the mountain after all. you know the view is pretty good where you are, so you sit down and wait a while. The trouble is - once you have decided that you are not going to put on your walking shoes and start moving again, it's quite easy to slide a little bit further down the mountainside without really noticing the changes - at least in the beginning. And then what happens - by the time you have noticed the view has changed, you are stuck into a whole new regime of bad habits.

So is the answer to grit it out and keep on doing the same thing? Well if you are climbing a mountain - then it is a good idea - after all you do need to put one foot in front of the other. But you don't have to stay on the same route you were on of course. So change your view, get a different perspective, change the routine, eat breakfast at tea time, cycle instead of run, write a book backwards chapter by chapter.

Because the old adage is true - if you do what you've always done, then you'll keep on getting the same results.