Top 10 Reasons Why You May Hit Plateau

You've been following a strict diet and workout plan for quite a while now, but you are not seen the results pair your effort, or simply have not seen change at all. Well, it may be time for you to check if there is any medical condition that is making your progress difficult or if you are simply sabotaging your efforts.
Let's verify the following list of things that I've found to be the most common causes for me or people close to me who have stopped progressing towards their fitness/weight-loss goals.

Reason #1: You are not sleeping enough

Sometimes we think that depriving ourselves from some of our sleep hours in order to squeeze in a workout is beneficial to our health and to stay on track for being fit. We are so busy with work, responsibilities, taking care of our home and family, that finding time to workout may seem impossible. When this happens, our first option is just to go to bed later or get up extremely early, because we take for granted that getting enough rest (7-8 hours) is extremely important when you start a weight-loss plan.
Not sleeping enough will minimize the benefits of exercising and results will lead to weight gain. Loosing sleep hours not only affects your physical development, but will slow your metabolism, affecting the quality of your workout. Also, sleep depravation  results in an increased hunger and stress level which will make you more susceptible to temptation and create specialized cravings for unhealthy choices which will definitely end in weight gain.

Reason #2: You are going overboard with rewards

Even though there is nothing wrong with rewarding yourself with a cheat meal (some experts even recommend it) every now and then, it's pretty common to get into unhealthy habits when practicing it. Evaluate what are you doing when rewarding yourself with a cheat meal.
First, let me explain what a cheat meal is. A cheat meal is something you've been depriving yourself in order to move towards your fitness/weight loss goal. A cheat meal is NOT a cheat day (cheat breakfast, cheat lunch, cheat dinner, cheat snacks) nor an entire meal course (appetizer, drink, entree and dessert). What I mean with this is that a cheat meal does not stand for eating unhealthy food for an entire day, neither to go to your favorite restaurant and cheat on every single course. Taking the restaurant as an example, a cheat meal can be just having one glass of your favorite drink, or just eat those chips/fries you've been wanting so much, or just that chocolate piece of cake. It does not mean go and have those loaded nachos, then follow with a hamburger and fries and ask for a soda and end with a strawberry cheesecake. Do you get my point? That is way too much food and too many unhealthy choices in just one serving.
Be careful with the habits you're creating, they can easily derail you from your goals and your progress. Watch out for getting into the habit of rewarding yourself or eating out every single weekend, for the entire weekend. Also, be conscious on how you eat when attending an event, do you go overboard with the appetizers? Do you purposely starve yourself during the day so you can go overboard on the event? Remember, no one is judging you and your accountable for your decisions and actions.

Reason #3: You are not calculating what you eat

If you are on a low fat diet, eating clean and you are not loosing weight, you may need to pay attention to portion size. Keep a meal journal, register everything you eat, and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. For some of us this could be really boring and tedious, but it will help you visualize either where are you lacking or where are you over indulging. This is one of the reasons why it is recommended to plan your weekly meals in advance and take a day to prep those meals. This will help you not only to keep your daily meals as clean as possible, but will also help you keep your portions under control. In order to keep your calories under control and register what you eat, there are some really effective and user friendly smart phones applications that will make it easier for you. The most commonly used are MyFitnessPal and MyNetDiary.

Reason #4: Drinking too many sugary drinks

Drinking water MUST be part of your weight loss plan. So, if you haven't implemented in your plan that you will ONLY drink water, this may be your problem. Eliminate from your daily intake drinks that state zero calories on their labels, sodas, juices and all fluids that are not water.
Alcohol, shakes, sodas and some hot drinks, like coffee and chocolate, must be avoided (if not eliminated) from a weight loss plan. Every calorie count, so when keeping track of your calories, consider liquid calories as well.

Reason #5: You are not eating enough
While over eating will get you to gain weight, the same will result when you don't eat enough calories daily.
Your body has a natural mechanism to protect itself, so when you do not eat enough calories, your body your body automatically enter into a starvation mode, slowly stopping your metabolism and causing you to stop burning calories as well. This auto defense from your body will make your weight loss even more difficult.

Reason #6: You've been doing the same training for a long time now

If you've been doing the same exercise routine for more than 3 months you could get stock in your results. It is not only boring (which will lead you to avoid working out) but it makes you feel less motivated and your body used to or adapted thus not producing the expected results. You need to vary the muscle groups you work because they will not only adapt to the routine, but you will also fatigue them and be more prone to injuries. Don't get me wrong, this does not mean to go and change your gym or buy new at home exercise programs every 3 months. What I mean is that you need to vary your routine enough to avoid hitting a plateau. As I said, your body will adapt to a routine as you become more efficient in your workouts which will allow your body to burn less calories because your effort became less. Alternatives you can incorporate in your actual routine are: incrementing the weight when lifting or incrementing the number of repetitions, target different muscle groups, look for other moves for the same muscle group, increment the degree of difficulty (get out of your comfort zone). In my personal opinion a heart rate monitor with caloric burn is a great resource to help you visualize the effectiveness of a workout and control the efficiency of the workout execution.

Reason #7: You are not consistent
For your metabolism and for us ladies who want a slimmer mid section, going from over eating to starving or eating less, or vice versa, can sabotage your results. If you start a diet or cleaning your food intake and suddenly abandon it, or if you were used to starving yourself (skipping meals, fasting, etc.) or eating low calories and all of a sudden start over eating (excessively incrementing your caloric intake), it will affect your metabolism and start to accumulate more fat. Eating few calories will slow your metabolism, and if you get into the habit of excessively incrementing your caloric intake you'll gain weight really fast.

Reason # 8: Your weight is not reflecting your body fat

A lot of people pay a lot of attention to weight and the number on the scale, and it becomes the only way to monitor their progress. WRONG! Truth is, this number does not actually reflects your body fat nor your body shape. There are trusted ways to verify your ideal weight, but none of them will tell you the excess body fat, water or muscle, thus not been a real representation of your body fat.
For example, you can gain muscles and be leaner. These muscles incrementation will replace fat and you will look leaner and toned, but guess what, the number on the scale will go up because muscles weigh more. A better way to monitor your progress is measurements, how many inches have you lost around your body, how clothes fit, if you've dropped pant/dress sizes, a before and after picture, how is your performance, endurance and ability to do some exercise moves, etc.

Reason #9: No need to loose weight
Due to the huge increment of obesity cases worldwide, it looks like everyone wants to loose weight. Even though the fact that obesity is a real problem and a reality for a lot of people, it may be possible that this is not your case. Instead of trying to reach a "certain body figure" that may be unreal, you should honestly ask yourself, and your physician, if you have any medical reason to loose weight. If the answer is NO, then it is a great moment to abandon the diet, fill yourself with a high self-esteem and start to exercise.
It is probable that you'll only need to redistribute your weight and lower your body fat percent. Remember that the lighter you are, the more difficult it is going to be to loose weight. In this case, your focus will not be on the pounds, but in inches.

Reason #10: There is a medical problem
Thyroid problems, hormonal decompensation or any other medical pathology may cause you to gain weight or to complicate weight loss. Also, there are food allergies and/or intolerances that could cause the number on the scale not dropping. There are some cases where the side effects of some medications can make you gain weight, so make sure to talk to your doctor about this.

Now you now 10 probable causes for not loosing weight, check which one applies to your particular case and take action. Of course these recommendations will not do anything for you, if you are not clear on the main reason why you want to loose weight. It is really important that you know and understand why you'd decided to improve your lifestyle; the more you learn about your body and about food, the more focused and committed you'll keep.

Dating my kids

I have three very active kids at home, ages 11, 9 and 5; two boys and a girl. Finding the time to be with them, really be with them, was very difficult a few years ago. We all live in such a hurry, always juggling our lives between work, duties and responsibilities, that it becomes really easy to forget the essence of living a fulfilling life. In my case, a fulfilling life is strongly tied to my family; my kids and my husband. Once I recognized this, for me, it was a no brainer that I needed to quit my job if I wanted to be able to be present in my kids' lives. Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you go ahead, run and quit your job, it was really something I needed to do for me and for them.

Since I quit my engineering job, I'm more involved in my kids' lives and extracurricular activities. I discover how amazing their personalities are, and how stubborn they can be when they argue. I know what they like and dislike, I can even buy them shoes and clothing without needing their presence, since I know exactly their sizes and their fashion tastes (and believe me this is a major accomplishment). But even though I'm spending more time with them, and am more involved in their activities, most of  our time together are basically complying with their duties and responsibilities, and some times the week pass us by and we haven't been able to have a family time, or a couple's time or even a special time with each of the kids individually. I realized that even though I'm a full time mom, I wasn't enjoying or giving them their own personal time with me, and neither was daddy.

I needed to do something, we as parents needed to do something, they grow up so fast and we were feeling that we were missing something. We sat together and define a plan. Our first step was to make a list of each of our kids extracurricular activities and the things they enjoy to do the most.

We are a really organized couple (if this is not your strength, then this should be your first step) so every month we put on our visible calendar everything the kids got scheduled for that month. We just look into their weekly schedules and check on their school and activities calendars, so we can plan ahead adjust our agendas and squeeze a "date" with each individually. My husband has his own "dates" with each of the kids, and I have my own "dates" with them too. When you have more than 2 kids at home and a busy work schedule, it is really difficult to have all the dates within the same week, so the best option, which worked for us, was to have one date weekly every other month (we alternate months, one month is daddy's weekly dates and the other is mommy's). And of course, we have family dates every month and couple dates every other month too ;).


In order to give you some ideas of the kind of activities we do with the kids on our "dates", here is a list of them in case you want to put them into action. Thing #1 (Edrick, the story teller) loves science, the beach, dinosaurs,  video games, drawing and reading. Our dates with him may consist but are not limited to: drawing workshops (may be paid, or just go to the park, the beach or anywhere else where he can put his drawing abilities into action), visiting museums, visiting arcade parlors, bookstores or iteractive libraries where we can read adventure books together. Thing #2 (Xaymara, the diva) is all about fashion, hair do's, makeovers, dancing and singing. Our dates with the princess may consist of: day spa's, fashion sprees, karaoke or dance nights, salon visiting, tanning at the beach, manicure and/or pedicure (yes, she will be such a diva and high maintenance). Thing #3 (Giancarlo, the troublemaker) is all about super heroes, role playing, yard games (everything that allows him to run freely), video games, cartoons, the beach and ice cream. So, our dates with the little man mostly consist of going to the park or the beach, visiting arcade and/or ice cream parlors, role playing games or any activity that involves the super hero of the day. Another thing we do, to keep these "dates" creative, different and surprising is that we every once in a while, check their schedules and pick the less busy day of the week at school. Then we surprise one of them by picking him/her early from school and get our own "secret escape" with mommy and daddy. For obvious reasons this can not be done frequently, but if you have not tried it, give it a shot, it will give you and your kids a thrilling, adventurous and satisfying feeling.

We are still a working progress on this and we know this may seem overwhelming right now, but once you put it into practice, it becomes really easy to do. The joy on your kids' faces, the satisfaction of you as a parent, making the time to spend fun time with each of your kids is priceless. So, my recommendation for you is: GET ORGANIZED, sit down (with your husband or special other) and write your kids hobbies and favorite things, look for a spot in their calendars, adjust yours to adapt to it and be prepared to enjoy the best feeling of satisfaction, joy and accomplishment a parent can ever have.

How I Deal With Every Day Stress

Optimal You Wellness and Fitness: How I Deal With Every Day Stress Be thankful for everything in your life and enjoy a stress free living!

Working Out Doesn't Suck!: Fire pit fun!

Working Out Doesn't Suck!: Fire pit fun! An amazing post on how you should sometimes take a break and enjoy a day with your loved ones.

So, I need to prepare my meals with anticipation?

Every time I started a healthy lifestyle journey, I struggled to keep myself eating healthy. Let's face it, having more than one small kid at home with lots of schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and demanding needs, you'll always try to look for the fastest, easiest way to do things so everything gets done. We tend to believe we are super moms who need to do everything, right away, because if not, we are crappy mommies who do not deserve been call as so. Most of us even struggle with the demanding duties of a job or the responsibilities of keeping an immaculate house (you know in case anyone dares to visit), others need to balance both. Sometimes is like we transform our self into octopuses, with 8 arms all around every unimaginable duty.

So, how am I supposed to plan a healthy meal and keep it up? The usual action is just stop by a fast food franchise or even order delivery food. Then it seems so easy for us to do this we easily fall into this trap and create a habit of it. What I find more effective to keep me on track of healthy eating habits is to plan ahead my meals and even separate them into the required portions. Of course it will take time, thinking and preparation, but you will schedule it and do it just one day, not every single day. You will need containers of all sizes to do this which you can find on supermarkets or department stores for a very reasonable price; and of course a variety of vegetables, healthy snacks, fruits, lean meats, whole grains and healthy fats so you can prepared a varied menu for the whole week.

My husband and I, pick every Sunday evening/night (something we need to start doing again) to look for healthy recipes (most came from our exercise programs nutritional guides or the Eat Clean Diet Facebook fan page). Then our culinary workshop begins. We mostly pick easy recipes which do not take a lot of time to prepare and have great cooking tools that helps us accelerate the preparation process. For example, we have a slow cook/steamer were we can prepare the brown rice and steam veggies at the same time; a flat grill and a pasta pan.

We both have different servings and portion sizes, so each one measure our own servings and put them into the containers, making sure we serve a balanced meal. For snacks, we do exactly the same. Most of the snacks we buy come in full packages, so we make sure to separate those on individual servings, and either put them in small bags or containers. Also, we make sure that our snacks contain a fruit or veggie base. With this exercise we make sure to have at least 2 meals daily for 5 days, the working/school days, which are the most difficult to keep with.

Try to put this into practice, equip yourself with great cooking tools, make your healthy shopping list, look for a partner or partners and enjoy the ride to healthy habits to avoid unwanted temptations.

Shakeology Parfaits

So, I stumbled into this amazing recipe and wanted to share with you. I'm trying it for dessert tomorrow, so I will keep you posted on how it went. Hope you enjoy this delicious and healthy meal.


Preparation Time: About 5 minutes


Calories: About 165 per serving


You'll need:
2 cups Fat Free Milk (you can use Almond milk too)
1 package of Jello Cheesecake sugar free and fat free pudding
1/4 cup of chopped cocoa covered almonds
8 tsp of 60% cocoa powder
1 scoop of Chocolate Shakeology
2 strawberries


How it's made:
1. Have prepare 4 glasses bottoms, each with 1/4 of the 1/4 cup of chopped cocoa covered almonds and 2 tsp of the 60% cocoa powder.
2. Mix the pudding and milk in a blender.
3. Pour half of the blended pudding and milk into the 4 glasses previously prepared.
4. Add 1 scoop of chocolate Shakeology to the remaining pudding/milk and mix again in the bender.
5. Pour this mixture over the pudding inside each glass.
6. Top every glass with half strawberry and the remaining chopped almonds



ENJOY!!