4 Months and Lessons Learned

I just realized today that I missed my 4 month anniversary yesterday. I have lost 52 pounds as of today and 7 pounds since the 3 month mark. Horray! This is certainly my slowest month so far especially since most of those 7 pounds were lost in the first two weeks. I saw 225 on the scale for 3 weeks in a row along and bounced between 224 and 230 for a couple! However, I think I have finally left 225 behind and pushed through this plateau with today’s weigh in of 223.

The last few weeks have been a learning experience to say the least. For others in this stage of the journey I thought I would log the three major things I learned.

1. Have a strategy to deal with plateaus before you hit one, but realize that it may take time to work.

According to everything I have read the sooner you figure out you are in a plateau the better your success will be so I create a two part “test” for myself. I saw the same number two weeks in a row on a consistent basis. My weight loss for two weeks was less than my average for 1 week).

Also I think it is really important to have a plan to deal with plateaus before you hit one. The stress associated with seeing the same number over and over again let alone bouncing up 5 pounds is enough to deal with without having figure out how to fix it. My plan was to a) start tracking calories eaten for several days b)increase or decrease calories depending on results and c)increase exercise.

I found that on several days my calorie consumption was actually too low. So I adjusted my calories to 1200-1400 and will continue to track them until my fill on Tuesday (my NP’s request). Also I found that my calorie burn was still close to my goal, but I figured it was lower than I needed at this point (more later)

Finally, having a plan is great. However, it does not ensure immediate success to my utter dismay. My weight loss is still half of what it used to be but I feel confident that with my plan I will start moving consistently again. If I don’t then another major change to the plan is needed along with a trip to the dietitian…

2. You need to appreciate the progress you have made so far.

On Tuesday I decided to take a picnic lunch to the beach and enjoy a nice walk on my lunch hour. Even though the lake still had ice on it, the sun was blazing down and it felt so great! As I was walking with the puppy I realized that I have not appreciated the MAJOR progress I have made so far. And by appreciate I don’t mean the quick thanks I give when I step on the scale or hit a major milestone. That is fleeting since the next thought is “ok now to see xxx.xx”. The kind of appreciation I mean is the daily reaffirmation that you have come so far, that you can do so much more, and that you have been successful.

Since Tuesday, there has been a change in my life. Not earth shattering or anything :) - but I started finding a piece of myself that I haven’t felt in a long time. It is really strange and hard to explain, but I love the feeling. It has also given me a better motivation to go forward and I really needed that right now.

3. Calorie Burn goes down as you lose weight

I “knew” this happened, but somehow I missed when it happened to me. I am not sure if it was because I couldn’t really come to terms with how much I lost or what, but it did come as a surprise this week.

Basically the more you weigh the more calories you burn doing the same activity. So even though I have hit my “activity goals” (which is based on minutes and intensity) I was coming just a little short of my calorie burn. Now each week this wasn’t significant. I would hit 2300 instead of 2400, but my high days were also much lower.

I had a eureka moment this week when I realized that I was 21 pounds lighter than when I first started tracking my burn so OF COURSE my calorie burn was down. I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it before. So I realize that to shake things up and really get out of my plateau I couldn’t just increase my activities slightly I really needed to bump them up.

I will have more to pass on in a later blog, but lets just say that I completed 15.12 miles this week – even with traveling to Cleveland on business. I am still working out a good plan to reach some new goals that I created, but as soon as I do I will pass it on.