Ironically, yesterday's WW meeting happened to be on stress and what we could do (besides) eat when we stress. I think I figured out that walking really helps. But that brought me to think about another stress starter for people that are trying to lose weight and get in shape. The dreaded plateau or gain.
Yes we all know at some time during our weight loss journey we will hit a plateau. The reasoning behind plateaus are not really known, it just is something that frustrates the hell out of people. Or we have the week of gain, or even the week where we worked our butts off, but we only lost two tenths of a pound. And yes, I've now had that week. I did lose two tenths of a pound last week. I worked out 5 days last week and I stayed within my point values.
But let's look closer at my week. I did work out Monday through Friday for at least 10 minutes each day. Actually on every day except Thursday I did 32 - 38 minutes of exercise. That doesn't include all the walking I did over the weekend. And I did eat within my point values. I didn't touch my 49 extra points or the 50 points that I tracked from working out Monday through Friday. So why the tiny loss? Well there are plenty of explanations. Let's first think that I had lost 23.8 pounds in 4 weeks. Which was an average of 5.95 pounds each week. That's a lot of weight, and the last week was over 3 pounds. This could be my body's way of leveling out. But, let's look at what I ate. Did I eat my full point value every day? No, I was short every day. And not just by a point or two, but looking at the days I tracked (which brings up another point), I was short by 15 points or more a day quite a few days. Here's the thing...with WW you need to eat your point values every day. By not, you can actually gain weight because your body is in starvation mode. Plus, I wasn't eating my healthy oil, or enough fruit or veggies last week. So that could be a reason for such a small loss.
Plus, I didn't track my food so well every day. Tracking can make a big difference. It will show you what you ate, where your points are and how many you have left. I know you are busy but it makes that much of a difference. If you don't write down you had 2 servings of cookies, are you going to count it in your head later that night when thinking of your counts? No, probably not. I didn't track on Friday...my reasoning being that I know that even with my salad, burger and 3 bites of cake I didn't go over my points. But if I would have thought it through I might have added a few points for the peanuts I ate, and a point for the large bite of yeast bread I took from my mom. Those little things add up.
If I can't be honest with myself in what I am eating and track it on my phone, or on a piece of paper until I get home, I won't be honest with myself in the results. That also means I would start to make excuses for how "bad" I am doing.
So, I've decided that fessing up to what I did wrong is the first step. Telling someone is the second (sorry, but I think you readers out there might hold me accountable). Third is finding ways to fix it. So, I've started pre-tracking items I know I am going to eat. I make sure my phone is by me at all meal times. I also am trying to make sure my dinner is at a reasonable hour. No more 8:30 dinners unless I know for certain I am staying up until after 1:30. I need at least 5 hours between meals and bed. Well at least I think I do. (I eat at 5-5:30 and go to bed after 10).
So, I ask, please keep the nice comments coming. Know people read and that you think I speak truthfully for myself (and sometimes for other big gals out there) is an inspriation. And, if you don't like what I am saying tell me. There is a comment section for that reason. Most of you are friends with me on Facebook, so you can put a message there. I am doing this for myself, but knowing I have a group of people out there that are holding me accountable to my goals and dreams really is a bigger inspiration to me than I ever though. Thanks!
Love, Peace, and Still Fat
S
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