Friggin Plateaus

bbrecruiter2000 · 02-26-2004, 12:16 PM

Hi Everyone,

I think they should offer post op classes on 'How to deal with plateaus". Now I know no one is feeling sorry for me because my weight loss has been great, but I have been such a good girl making good food choices and I still on a plateau for 10 days in a row every month. I will go up and down 2 pounds from my lowest weight and have to struggle to get back to it and then drop some more. But overall, if I look at averages, I have consistently lost between 8-10 lbs a month in the last 5 months and an overall average of 11 1/2 pounds per month since being banded. So even though I consider myself somewhat intelligent, I still want to scream and jump up and down like a baby when I get on the scale and experience this. FOr a week now, I have bounce around from an alltime low of 241 back up to 242.5 and then have struggled all week to get back to 241. Now I know based on history to date that in the next few days I will see a 3-4 pound drop, but sometimes I get scared that I will be stuck here and never see anything below 200.

Now the logical thing would be to throw out the scale, but for me this would not work. The daily accountability I feel to myself is important and I know that if I don't do this, I will be more unfocused and think that maybe a couple of tortilla chips or a piece of bread will be OK today because what I don;t know won't hurt me. So I guess everyone is different in this way.

SO does anyone have any advice other than throwing my scale off a tall building?

Babs in TX
334/241/180
-93

donali · 02-26-2004, 01:14 PM

Hi Babs -

Well, you've already said that not weighing regularly is NOT an option for you, so I can't tell you to throw your scale off a tall building. ;) And as "anti-scale" as I am, I still weigh regularly myself for the same reasons you state - some sort of accountability.

You already know that the plateaus are regular, short lasting, and have no effect on your average weightloss per month, but you freak out on plateaus in spite of your own well documented trends that it is indeed only temporary.

The trick for me (undoubtedly you've read my very detailed post about my plateau's, their length, and my monthly weightloss average - lol) was to change my attitude about the plateau itself.

Since everyone has them, they're obviously "needed" by the body. So I freak out less over plateaus because I tell myself:

1. My body is resting and compacting, doing all the secret body stuff it needs to do to adjust to its new size before it gets smaller.
2. I have an opportunity for my mind to adjust to my body at this size.
3. However long my body needs to readjust itself before it can release more weight is the right amount of time.

If my plateaus seem ridiculously long, I evaluate my lifestyle and reaffirm some truths (for me):

1. My journey is about health, not weightloss. If I continue to do healthy things, my body will achieve a normal weight.
2. Am I doing what I need to do to achieve health? Am I drinking enough water, eating enough protein, exercising enough? Is there room for improvement? Am I willing to make some small changes that may aid/speed my health? If I am not emotionally ready to make more positive changes, then I don't, and I accept that emotionally I am not ready to be more healthy, but I also make a mental note of what steps I could take, once I AM ready to make more changes.
3. Above all, I am gentle, loving, and accepting of myself and where I am. I have abused myself physically and emotionally all my life, and I am no longer going to treat myself that way. I am willing to look at myself honestly, accept where I may be lacking in effort, and congratulate myself for how far I've come and validate my journey. I remind myself that there is no "deadline", and that this is for life.

This things do not keep me from stepping on the scale and hoping that the number drops, but it does keep me from freaking out when it doesn't, week, after week.

Hope something in this helps! You're doing great! Don't let those negative tapes about fear of failure kick in and sabotage your good feelings about yourself!
:D

leo · 02-26-2004, 02:03 PM

I don't have any advice but I just wanted to say that I don't mind the plateau's at all. As long as by the end of the month I show a loss :P

I look at other things to make myself happy, looser fitting clothes, tightning up the belt one more notch, looking better on camera... etc etc....