In which I mix it up to move the scale

The scale has been moving in the wrong direction, despite the fact I seem to be doing nothing "wrong."

What to do?

Well, I know what not to do - and that's sit back and whine. I've heard many a person complain, "I can't lose weight!" but in the same breath refuse to change anything they're doing (or not doing).

Two old chestnuts come to mind:

If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

I feel like I need to goose this thing a long a bit and switch it up if I want to see positive results. So, here's my plan:

Tweak my diet to incorporate different foods.

I fall into the same category as many: I eat the same thing over and over because it's easy and I like it. And while they're all "good" foods in correct portions in the weight-loss sense, sometimes your body needs a jolt to remember it needs to reward you for all this hard work.

I'm swapping out some current faves for old faves. Goodbye, for now, Trader Joe's Roasted Chicken Patties. We'll meet again.

I've been craving salads lately, so I'm going to work more in this week. I haven't had salads in months, so more raw veg will be a good addition. Plus, you know, bacon and feta cheese. Mmmmm.

I'm not going to go nuts and change everything and deny myself my very favorite things (Hello, LUNA bars). But I will switch up a few and that's a good thing.

Exercise less.

This sounds so counterintuitive, but I think I've been working out too much and not eating enough Activity Points. This is the hardest part of the program for me: Eat too many APs and you don't lose weight. Eat too few and you don't lose weight. I've yet to determine the magic formula for me.

The past two weeks I've had high-intensity workouts 6 of 7 days, and I think I did not eat enough APs to keep my metabolism rolling. Also, the frequency may have left inadequate time for muscle repair, leading to water retention and weight gain.

This week I'll dial down my workout days by 1, going from 6 to 5. Schedule-wise, the day I won't work out is Monday - the day before weigh-in and the one day I feel most compelled to burn, burn, burn. This is going to be a hard resolution to keep, but I will.

Start wearing a heart-rate monitor again.

I haven't worn my HRM in months because I stopped caring about exactly how many calories I burned. I just knew it was "a lot." But I decided to start wearing it again so I can compile the calories burned and intensity so if I need data for a second opinion on whether I'm eating enough, I will have hard numbers. I know a leader who's a runner, so I'm sure she could take a look at what I'm eating and what I'm burning and say, "You're not eating enough" or "It's not that." I highly doubt I am eating too much. Now, watch, that'll be it...

So, that's my plan. I don't want to change too much at once because if I have a big drop I won't know what may have been the difference.

Now, the funny thing is, I can do all that - or do nothing - and the scale may just drop on its own. I traditionally have big-loss weeks and maybe I'm due. My cycle is on the horizon, maybe it's that. But I have never had two gaining weeks in a row, so I think a few changes are wise to try.