Tuesday 26 February 2013

plateau time?

Well apparently it takes woman on average six weeks to break, stop or fail at a 'diet' Maybe the body reaches a plateau? Maybe you get complacent with the diet rules? Maybe your body gets used to the food change? Who knows but for what ever reason I have only lost half a pound in two weeks. Now this news this morning is a huge test for me not to go back to old habits (in a weird way I'm glad its happened so I can test myself!) I have not broken the diet in the last two weeks but I may not have been as strict as before, the honeymoon period has passed? Now I know my focus was more healthy than weight loss but it is still my goal to reach my target weight by my birthday in a healthy sustainable way. *WITHOUT* going back to those old habits.

It could be to do with that certain time of the month, I am very bloated right now... or is that an excuse? Trying to be mindful about it but not obsess will be my goal today. I did loose its not a disaster, I ate until I was full and I didn't put any weight on *smashed old rule* I have been eating more in volume so maybe my eat until full gauge is still of and swung the other way a bit. Time to be portion size conscious for a while. But I must not restrict now, I must NOT cut right back. My consultant recommended I use the express menu sample to give my body a kick start this week. Hmm another bad habit of mine would be to panic and jump on that 'I MUST follow that diet plan rigidly for a week' Hang on I have just planned this weeks food! I'm not doing that again!! Maybe I can get some lunch or breakfast ideas from there?

So a week of being mindful and aware and not over reacting and over compensating *sigh* this is gonna be a tough few days I think.

6 comments:

  1. It's not just women, I've hit 6 week plateaus before when dieting, and not just at the start, I've had them after a few weeks good losses too.
    A few things to realise, first you're right, the reason is your body gets used to your new diet after about six weeks, so the losses slow down as it adjusts to your new diet.
    Second, often a low weight loss is combined with a body shape change, I had one period where I lost about 2 lbs over a month but nearly 4 inches off my waist, I know lots of other people who've had similar, once the re-arrangement has finished the weight starts coming off again.
    I would be wary of Success Express, our consultant only recommends it if you've been stuck for months, as you really need to have full control of your food for the full week and it's hard to stick to (especially if cooking for others as well or eating out of the house) and so it's easy to mess up, not get the weight loss you hoped and end up even more fed up.
    What's worked for me when I had plateaus was to just shake things up a bit, it's easy to find recipes that you like and end up having the same few meals over and over, buy a different vegetable when shopping and find a new recipe to use it, flick through the magazines or books and try out a new recipe you've been meaning to try, do a different bit of exercise that works a different set of muscles, anything that jolts your body out of it's rut and gets it working again.

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    1. All good points there. Thank you. Not expressing it is def the best option for me. My counsellor will be so proud when I tell them :-)

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  2. Much love and hugs to you hon. The things that you are telling yourself in the writing above are really sensible and thought provoked. You can do this and have many reasons to do so. Stick with the ideas of mindfulness and I know you will do brilliantly. If this feels like hard work that is because it is. Change is something we only do when we have to and it takes courage and effort to rewrite old patterns. Penguino's experiences sound like something you can definitely borrow from and keep to your determinations of rewriting your old script.

    Hang in there and keep on your path, you are doing brilliantly.

    Moar love and hugs to you!

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    1. Script beign rewritten daily, its really hard to keep going but I am stubborn and have come to far to wuss out now! :-)
      Thank you for your support x

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  3. It's often the way that 1-2 months into a new thing it gets really tough to keep it going, and I think it's during this phase that you learn that you're reprogramming your long term habits, rather than having been on a habit holiday up 'til then. (Does that make sense?)

    Keep it going, battle through this week, and reassess when you're not feeling bloated. I'm sure that sticking with it will show results on the scale again.

    I like the idea that Penguino mentioned about mixing up the food again - it's really easy to get into a habit before you know it. (I know - I've had your oaty/yoghurt pancakes 3 times over the past week, and not for a healthy breakfast!)

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    1. There is a lot of reprogramming going on now I think, certainly a good reason as to why its getting harder. So glad you like the pancakes, I'm having them on Saturday I think :-)

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