Slow and Steady
Breaking through the doldrums of plateaus in a weight loss program is probably the most common cause of failure for most people. It certainly has been responsible for my own past history of falling off the wagon.
What happened to me in the past went something like this:
The program starts out and is really tough, because I miss those great-tasting sugary and fatty foods I've been addicted to all my life. But I'm motivated by really fast results at first, where I see the scale dropping pounds every single week.
After awhile, I sort of fall into the routine, and although I still might look longingly at that chocolate shake or brownie, it becomes less of an obsessive craving and a bit easier to resist. But hey, as long as the weight's still coming off, I can live with that.
But then the plateaus set in. First I don't lose anything for a couple of weeks. It makes me angry. It seems unfair - here I've been keeping the calories down faithfully, but for some reason I'm stuck. But I hang in there, and after awhile I drop a couple more pounds.
Then the major plateau arrives. That's where I sat through June - a whole month with nothing to show for my sacrifice. My body has held onto every calorie, become super-efficient and refusing to let a single pound fall off.
When you've gone a month staying faithful to a diet and get no love from the bathroom scale, it can make you crazy. It also can lead to a tumble off the wagon. I've done it before; I reach a point where I make some sort of decision that I've had enough of this sacrifice. It doesn't mean I immediately abandon the whole program and start binging. Instead, it's gradual; a piece of cake here, a candy bar there, an ice cream sundae on Sunday. Before I know it, I've forgotten all about the diet and stop getting on the scale at all. The realization I've fallen off the wagon doesn't hit until my clothes get too tight. By then, I'm demoralized and discouraged, so I just go ahead and buy bigger clothes and forget the whole thing. Until the next time.
This time I've decided to refocus and hang in there. After a month-long plateau, I suddenly dropped 5 pounds in a single week. It taught me that patience is a virtue. It reminded me that this is a marathon, not a sprint. That my ideal weight may be a destination, but the adventure only begins when I get there. And whether I get there in 3 months or 6 months or a year or even 2 years doesn't really matter as much as staying focused on getting there.
Another thing I've come to learn is related to exercise. Exercise as a weight loss tool really doesn't work, at least for me. Whether or not I exercise really doesn't impact the speed of weight loss at all for me, as far as I can tell. I've had stretches where I've exercised vigorously and faithfully 3 to 4 times a week for a few weeks. I've also had stretches (like right now) where I've been working 10 to 12 hour days and just don't want to take the time to exercise.
The only difference between exercise periods and non-exercise periods in terms of weight lost? If anything, I think I lose less weight when I'm exercising than when I'm not. For one thing, exercise gives me a ravenous appetite, which entices me to increase my volume of food at mealtime. Another effect of exercise may be that it builds muscle, which of course weighs more than fat, which I think may slow down the weight loss a bit.
Not that I don't think exercise is important - just the opposite. I think it's critical for toning and building strength and stamina and all that. It's also really important in helping me reach a major goal of this whole project for me - to be able to join an adult basketball league, hopefully this coming winter, and be able to hold my own on the court.
So I'm soldiering on. And I'll keep soldiering on indefinitely - no stopping even when I get to that magical ideal weight.
What happened to me in the past went something like this:
The program starts out and is really tough, because I miss those great-tasting sugary and fatty foods I've been addicted to all my life. But I'm motivated by really fast results at first, where I see the scale dropping pounds every single week.
After awhile, I sort of fall into the routine, and although I still might look longingly at that chocolate shake or brownie, it becomes less of an obsessive craving and a bit easier to resist. But hey, as long as the weight's still coming off, I can live with that.
But then the plateaus set in. First I don't lose anything for a couple of weeks. It makes me angry. It seems unfair - here I've been keeping the calories down faithfully, but for some reason I'm stuck. But I hang in there, and after awhile I drop a couple more pounds.
Then the major plateau arrives. That's where I sat through June - a whole month with nothing to show for my sacrifice. My body has held onto every calorie, become super-efficient and refusing to let a single pound fall off.
When you've gone a month staying faithful to a diet and get no love from the bathroom scale, it can make you crazy. It also can lead to a tumble off the wagon. I've done it before; I reach a point where I make some sort of decision that I've had enough of this sacrifice. It doesn't mean I immediately abandon the whole program and start binging. Instead, it's gradual; a piece of cake here, a candy bar there, an ice cream sundae on Sunday. Before I know it, I've forgotten all about the diet and stop getting on the scale at all. The realization I've fallen off the wagon doesn't hit until my clothes get too tight. By then, I'm demoralized and discouraged, so I just go ahead and buy bigger clothes and forget the whole thing. Until the next time.
This time I've decided to refocus and hang in there. After a month-long plateau, I suddenly dropped 5 pounds in a single week. It taught me that patience is a virtue. It reminded me that this is a marathon, not a sprint. That my ideal weight may be a destination, but the adventure only begins when I get there. And whether I get there in 3 months or 6 months or a year or even 2 years doesn't really matter as much as staying focused on getting there.
Another thing I've come to learn is related to exercise. Exercise as a weight loss tool really doesn't work, at least for me. Whether or not I exercise really doesn't impact the speed of weight loss at all for me, as far as I can tell. I've had stretches where I've exercised vigorously and faithfully 3 to 4 times a week for a few weeks. I've also had stretches (like right now) where I've been working 10 to 12 hour days and just don't want to take the time to exercise.
The only difference between exercise periods and non-exercise periods in terms of weight lost? If anything, I think I lose less weight when I'm exercising than when I'm not. For one thing, exercise gives me a ravenous appetite, which entices me to increase my volume of food at mealtime. Another effect of exercise may be that it builds muscle, which of course weighs more than fat, which I think may slow down the weight loss a bit.
Not that I don't think exercise is important - just the opposite. I think it's critical for toning and building strength and stamina and all that. It's also really important in helping me reach a major goal of this whole project for me - to be able to join an adult basketball league, hopefully this coming winter, and be able to hold my own on the court.
So I'm soldiering on. And I'll keep soldiering on indefinitely - no stopping even when I get to that magical ideal weight.
posted by Dan S. at 2:51 PM
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