June 3, 2012

my stomach thinks my throats been cut

Seriously folks! The problem with being overweight is it didn't take long before I've reached my first brick wall. I am eating healthy as I've talked about in previous blog posts. I have been a busy bee keeping active in the garden my ass is no longer plastered to the couch as much as it used to be.

But.....the scale has not moved in two whole weeks. [btw....my doctor is thrilled with my progress, when he saw me last week.] So back to the scale, not up and not down, not by one tenth of a pound! My mother has one of those fancy digital scales I want to throw it out the window.

I'm sticking to it. I'm eliminating flour or sugar and butter. I'm enjoying veggies, fruit, fish and lean meats, oatmeal, organic yogurt and good olive oil and some eggs and cheese once and a while.

So my dilemma, how do I get over this stuckness? If that isn't a word it is now!

So I did some research and my body has hit its first plateau. Great! And rather quickly I might add. Basically what I've learned is that my body is reacting to the changes in eating habits and lower caloric intake. It's basically thinks it's being starved so it's shut down.

My weight loss has stopped.

Notice how I've used the term eating habits? Diet seems so temporary I'm feeling like this is a life change that I could actually live with.

I found this article which i thought was pretty interesting. And although I don't count calories I am just eating healthy to shed the pounds I think I can use these  principals and apply them to move past this plateau.


Tip#1: Calorie Cycling
In order to lose weight, you need to cut back on your calorie intake. But if you do that for a sustained period of time, your body may play a nasty trick on you: It may start conserving energy by lowering your metabolic rate. The result? You don't burn as many calories and your weight loss slows -- or stops altogether. Although this feels like the worst kind of sabotage, your body is actually trying to look out for you. Your lizard brain has noticed that food supplies seem to have been scarce for an extended period of time. It's trying to increase your chances of survival in case the famine continues. Of course, when you're trying to lose weight, this is not very helpful.
You're stuck between a rock and a hard place: You could try eating even less in order to nudge off more weight, but that just confirms your lizard brain's suspicions about the dwindling food supply. Or, you could eat more in an effort to restore a more robust metabolic rate -- but that's hardly going to help with weight loss. There's a way to outsmart old lizard brain: It's called intermittent fasting, or calorie cycling.
What is Calorie Cycling?
Let's say you've been eating about 1800 calories a day and steadily losing weight. Now suddenly, it's not working anymore. Rather than trying to eat even less every day, try alternating high and low calorie days. For example, you could alternate between 2000-calorie days and 1200-calorie days. Over the course of a week, you'd trim an extra 1400 calories but the higher calorie days should help keep your lizard brain from panicking -- and your willpower from flagging.....

You can read the rest of this Huffington Post article here.
Regardless of the scale not moving I feel great and I notice the clothes are looser. I put on a pair of shorts the other day that were to tight last summer, so that makes me happy. I'd like to see the scale move but I'm not going to let it get me down, or have it throw me off my promise to myself to get healthy. 


I'll let you know how it goes....

And don't forget to visit me over on A-Z where I did a guest post... maybe you missed it!
You can read it  here.

My next post will be a thanks to my friends Jolie over at Precious Monsters and Angela over at Whole Foods Living who were very sweet and each gave me a blog award. I'll be answering some questions and giving you some facts about myself. I thought I'd give them an early shout out now. They are such nice women and they have great blogs. If you haven't done so please go visit them, you won't regret it!




14 comments:

  1. HI Jen! I'm sorry hear about your plateau. Just keep in mind why you want to lose weight -- for you, your health, your appearance, your comfort. Stop looking at the numbers. I gained 2 lbs the other day, but I still fit into my "skinny jeans", so there! If I get too hung up on the numbers I get frustrated. Instead, enjoy those loose summer shorts. *THAT* is what you're working for!! Keep up the great work! And, thanks for the shout out! ~Angela

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    1. I agree Angela. I feel SO much better. And although the scale didn't move for a time my clothes feel looser so my body is changing all the same. And no migraine since mid March which is a miracle in itself!

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  2. I like the concept of calorie cycling. Sounds about right and its all about tricking the body. Hang in there. The scale will move again soon. Plus, you've probably reshaped your body so with your clothes fitting better, that's great incentive. Love the updates and your determination and persistence.

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  3. Good luck Jen~ it can take some work figuring out your body. And remember it will only plateau for so long. I reached many in my journey, and I actually starting weighing in LESS because it was stressing me out. Did you take measurements? Those change all the time too, even if weight doesn't move. SO proud of you and the changes you're making!!!

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  4. I go to the gym 5 days a week, but I don't say no to ice cream or bread or butter or all the other things that contribute to the muffin top that refuses to go away since the birth of my kids. I've accepted that I'll never lose the 8 pounds I've wanted to lose, but on the plus side, I am a lot stronger and in much better health from exercising.

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  5. Keep at it Jen! Even if the scale doesn't budge for a bit, the shrinking waistline should be enough of motivation to keep on it!

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  6. When I lived in NY I went to the gym all the time to and I was so slim, but then I was 27 years younger too.

    Unfortunatly the closest gym to my house is a 60+ mile drive round trip, so I have to do any exercising here at the house. I think once I loose some more weight exercising will feel more comfortable for me.

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  7. I hope the cycling works for you!

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  8. Great idea Jen, calorie cycling works great! It goes the same for activity levels. It's keeping our metabolism mixed up that keeps things moving! I'm so glad and proud of you for sticking with your new healthy habits! :)

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  9. Hi Jen,

    I'm behind on my blog and on my reading. (Preparing to leave the country soon for Scotland and England.) Trying to catch up.

    As far as losing weight, I'm with you on that. I'm running 3 miles a day, doing Pilates, lifting weights on the weekends and trying to eat healthy - ONLY. My biggest problem is since I'm always so busy, I work late into the night. I get stressed and then I eat. Even if I'm only eating healthy, I don't want to eat after 8:00 p.m. Otherwise, I feel like the food just sits there.

    As far as the scale, I'm going to stop looking at them. If I look at myself and I see that I'm toning up, that's what I'll go by - not the scale.

    Unlike Deathwriter, I do say no to icecream and most stuff I know is fattening. I can't afford to eat that stuff anymore. Just because I'm 50 doesn't mean I HAVE to have a muffin top. That muffin top I have now is reducing, and it's reducing because I'm exercising and eating right.

    I wore bikinis on the beach when I was in my early 40s. I'm going to get back to that. There's no reason I can't.

    Jolie

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  10. I'm kinda envy your trip to Ireland and Scotland, Bill and I have always wanted to go, but like I've said the lure of the beach gets me every time and I end up never going. I actually have a ton of family in Cork I really should go some day. I hope you have a wonderful time.

    And I love the fact that you were rocking a two piece in your 40's, my sister in law Denise is the same way, that's great! I put fruit- organic yogurt and ice in the blender with a little low fat milk if I have to eat late, that's really helped me since I too tend to be a late eater as well.

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  11. You're doing great. Even if you are stuck that means you're not moving up so that 's a good thing.
    So proud ofyou!!

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  12. Don't get discouraged, Jen. Keep going!

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  13. I've been struggling with changing my eating habits for about two years. My main problem is self control. Put some goodies or salty snacks in front of me and I'm a goner.
    Calorie cycling is a new concept for me, but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing the information.
    I think starting to change how you eat is the hardest step. Sticking to it is the next hardest step, but look, you've already accomplished the hardest step so I know you can stay with it through this stage too.

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