The last time I took 2 days completely off was May 2014.
I am not sure what that says about what I have been doing or what it implies about how much rest I probably need but it’s pretty amazing. It’s also pretty frustrating.
Does it point to my “coast” to the end of the year is going in a dangerous direction? If I add that to the 10lbs I have gained then maybe? Am I being too hard on myself? Should I be concerned that the first time I got to 216 I couldn’t maintain it? Or am I being paranoid and falling into the old trap of more is better not just more? I am not sure, what I do know is that I am cutting back on the calories a bit to stabilize my gains since the muscle I have gained is enough for now. I am fully aware that this coasting I am doing is a poor excuse for working without a plan and I should know from my past experience that working without a plan isn’t working at all and in fact is a recipe for failure. So what to do? I think the 2 days off was an OK thing since I squatted for the first time in a long time last week and I was really quite sore in multiple places. The extra calorie intake isn’t OK, but it’s only down to not paying attention to how much I am grazing on nuts and stuff. An easy fix but I was 216 in October and now it’s only 2 months later and it has gone in the blink of an eye. It’s amazing that it seemed to take forever to get the last few pounds off but feels like a few days and I am back up 10lbs. So sad that it works that way, but it just shows you can’t stop paying attention, not for a day not for a week and certainly not for a month if you want to stay where you are. That said, this coast was probably badly planned. I should have planned to take 2 weeks off with a concrete return to strict calorie counting and food awareness right after since the habit hadn’t quite formed fully yet.
So what now? I am 3 weeks out from year end, what do I need to do to ensure that I am not another 10 lbs heavier in that 3 weeks? Well, I think a return to my fitbit calorie mapping is a good idea, run at maintenance so I am not taxing myself but also not worrying myself. Keep lifting heavy at the gym and when I have to take a forced break for Christmas (where I will probably be doing some sprint / cardio work outside) I can use that time to take a break from the heavy stuff. Then when the new year comes, it will be time to get back into some compound lifting at home to add to the heavy lifts at the gym and to get my body back into the habit of full body workouts rather than the split days that I have been doing. It may be time for me to do another WOD30 or so to try to get back some of the functional fitness type of work and to prevent me from falling into the static gym work that I have been enjoying.