Week Seven

Uggggh! I weigh 227 this morning. No need to rub your eyes, you are seeing it right. I weigh a pound more this week than last. Is this because I cheated, went on a binge, ate fast food, chocolate, or quit exercising? NO, I was perfect. I ate virtually the same amount of calories I have been eating and did the same amount of exercise. I was so depressed when the scale was not going down this week and instead went up. Why is this happening to me? What about the old edict: Calories in versus calories out? I had to be taking in less calories than I was expending, so why no weight loss? Well, that is the question I researched to figure out what was going on. Apparantly, it is not that easy. I researched plateaus, which we all know will happen, to figure out why they happen and how to get out of one. I learned that although we may be eating less calories and exercising, our bodies eventually will learn to adapt and live on what we are doing. Bingo! No more weight loss. There are other reasons too that can cause no loss and even gain, such as medical conditions, water retention, hormonal changes (such as menopause), etc. Whatever the reason, this is the point where people get frustrated and give up. I have to tell you that I have been very frustrated and deflated this week, after all my hard work. That was until my research last night when I learned that some people, who apparently work out a lot more than me, get stuck on a plateau for weeks or even months. I know, sounds like it should have put me in a deeper depression, right? It didn't because I realized that there was so much that I could do to get out of this rut that I haven't done yet, and it has only been one week.

There were many suggestions about how to get through and past a weight loss plateau. Most made sense once you read them. Some suggested just riding it out, that your body will eventually have to give. But, at the risk of waiting months I decided that this was the last resort. There were many suggestions but I am only listing the ones that sound best for me now. Zigzagging is the suggestion that was mentioned most. This requires cycling your calories every week or every day. For example, if are eating 1500 cal a day, then you would eat 1700 cal a day one week and 1300 cal a day the next week, which would average 1500 cal a day over the two weeks. Or you can cycle between 1700 cal a day and next day 1300 cals. This should shock your body out of its rut, or at least confuse it. The one I decided to do was mentioned by a couple of posters, it is to have one high calorie day followed by two low calorie days. Also, not eating carbs after 6 pm, is one that I can do with little adjustment.

Apparently, your body gets used to the exercises you are doing and they become less effective over time. Many people suggested changing your exercises by type and intensity every few weeks, to keep the body guessing. Since many of these people seemed to be doing so much exercise already I didn't understand how they could fit in any changes, I figure I have a lot of room for change in this category. I am going to keep going to the gym 3 days a week (I have to for the contest this month), but I am going to add 3 days of 30 min. cardio workouts by dvd at home. Hopefully, maybe some walking too during my lunch.

I am going to give these changes a try and see if things start moving again. Keep your fingers crossed for me. If not, then I will move on to more drastic measures. I don't want to go all out yet, then what will I do during my next plateau?