The Pain of Plateaus

Losing weight is hard.  A LOT harder than gaining it anyway!  Since July, I have been doing the Weight Watchers program and I have lost a total of 20.3 pounds.  I am extremely proud of this loss, but recently it has been really tough.

Over the past six weeks I hit a plateau.  I gained a little, I lost a little, but really I went no where at all.  This has been extremely frustrating.  Logically, I know that weight loss is an endurance activity.  I know that if I think of it in long term goals, that averaging a loss of a pound a week, in one year I will have lost 50 pounds.  To me, 50 pounds seems like a big loss over the course of a year.  In fact, I think 50 pounds would be exactly what I would like to lose in total.  But, I started out strong, and was loosing 1.5-2 pounds a week and then all of a sudden I stopped and went no where at all.  This has made it extremely difficult to stay motivated.

I know what happened.  The initial loss of 10% of my weight felt really good.  For awhile, I felt really thin.  (In reality, I still have a ways to go.)  But my comfort with this initial loss made me less careful, less attentive, and it resulted in, not surprisingly, a gain.  Not a large gain, certainly no where near what I lost.  But, I put on 4 pounds in two weeks.  It has taken me 4 weeks to take them back off!  To add insult to injury, the holiday season is upon us, which, as I am sure you are aware, is a very difficult time to practice moderation.

But finally, I have broken the plateau.  Finally, I have lost that inital gain.  I would love to say that it is because I showed execellent restraint over the holiday weekend, but I can't, because I did not.  Actually, this past week, I contracted an awful stomach virus and I shed about 4 pounds in as many days.  But I will take it!!!!  It is exactly what I needed (the weight loss, not a virus) to become motivated once again.  Also, this week, Weight Watchers has rolled out their new program.  It is similar to the old program, but very different as well.  But it is like being a new member.  The points values of virtually all foods have changed, so I am calculating and tracking everything.  I am determined to keep headed in the right direction.

Ultimately, I am most proud of the fact, that despite giving myself permission to quit several times over the past six weeks, I have stuck with it through this tough period.  I have never been a thin person.  Seriously, I went from a children's size 14 to a woman's size 14 overnight.  I have never been a size 6.  Although, its been really long time since I have thought of myself as a fat person.  And, it has been awhile since I have had my self esteme wrapped up in my weight.  These were both things that took significant time and work to overcome.  Factually, however, I am overweight, and for a number of very healthy reasons, I want to change this.  So, I push on.  I try to remember this is a marathon not a sprint and I hold on to the long term goal.  I am just happy to see the scale start moving in the downward direction once again!