Diet Day 116

[darkemeralds]

I guess it's fair to say that at about 35% of the way into my planned weight loss, I'm in the middle phase. The thrill of starting is over. The excitement of conquering initial obstacles (like hunger) is over. I'm not yet to another major milestone in clothing size or number on the scale.

Right now, it's just the long, long slog. And on top of that, I've been stuck on an annoying plateau for almost two weeks. All the science and logic says that I'm still burning fat at at least a pound a week, but the scale isn't yet concurring. Bloat, water, inadequate "throughput"--these are the likely explanation.

Tonight, for the first time in the nearly four months since I started this project, I've had the following Bad Thoughts:

• Maybe this isn't worth it
• Maybe it's stopped working
• Maybe I'm secretly cheating, or eating in my sleep, or lying to myself about my food (Note: I'm not.)
• Maybe my body defies the laws of physics or has a special kind of metabolism that prevents any further fat loss no matter how carefully I stay under my calorie limit
• Maybe there's some "catch," some trick I haven't learned yet, in the absence of which I will never get off this plateau
• ...and so on

Well, it is worth it--and it's not as if this diet is any trouble or causing me any discomfort. I'm in the groove, and it's easy. I don't feel deprived--just a little disgruntled that the same efforts which were burning off fat at a nice steady rate throughout late December and January should suddenly seem to stop working.

I need some perspective. This is a very large project. It's an organic, biological process. It doesn't proceed in straight lines. I don't yet know all there is to know about it, and there's a long journey ahead. If I leave the chosen path after so small a test, I just return to the wilderness.

I like the path. It's way too soon to think of quitting.

Comments

[communicator]

Having thoughts is I suppose a normal part of the process. It's going brilliantly for you. It's such a great example of taking charge of your life. I really admire it.

[darkemeralds]

Thank you. Coming from someone whose thoughts I admire a great deal, this means a lot to me!

[verilyvexed]

The last time I was doing The Hacker's Diet, I lost about 15 pounds in something like a couple of weeks, then abruptly the scale refused to move. My brother suggested what he says the Army used when he was in basic training in instances when someone hit a plateau losing weight: increase your calories significantly for just a few days, then cut back. I did 500 extra for two or three days. It worked, and I've researched it online and found evidence to support it, though I still don't understand the phenomenon. Something like your body readjusts your metabolism to your current intake, so shifting things about confuses it. I've read varying your daily intake but keeping the weekly deficit the same is helpful in the same way (i.e., doing 1000, then 1400, then 1000 for a 1200 daily allowance).

It isn't in The Hacker' Diet, but if you get desperate you may want to try it. I would warn that I dropped my diet about a week after that, but I wasn't even trying to be healthy then - I was eating too little, exercising too much, losing too fast, and eating mostly junk food, so our situations were entirely different. After a few days of normal calorie intake, I wasn't so keen to go back to constantly being hungry and exercising excessively just so I might look good in skinny jeans months down the line!

(Happy to report this time my experience is similar to yours, though I've only been at it about a month. It's just a habit rather than a hindrance.)

[darkemeralds]

Your comment has got me looking over my charts (yay data!), and three things are clear:

• my average caloric intake since I started has been steadily declining (on purpose--I'm lowering the bar gradually as I lose weight so that I keep the same deficit for as long as I can)
• I've had no over-the-bar calorie spikes since mid-January
• my weight loss has effectively stalled in the same period

Interesting!

I'm scared of calorie spiking for exactly the reason you mention--it actually takes more discipline than just keeping low. I've never stuck slavishly to my limit--it's too unnatural--but I have adhered very closely to a 14-day average, and the simple fact is that a 2000 calorie day has to be balanced by an 800 calorie day (or several 1000 calorie days), which can be tough.

Still, with all that in mind, if this plateau continues, I may try it. I appreciate the perspective!

[verilyvexed]

the simple fact is that a 2000 calorie day has to be balanced by an 800 calorie day (or several 1000 calorie days), which can be tough.

I was unclear on part of that, apologies -- this is what happens when you go back and randomly rearrange sentences without paying attention.

The 500 increase for a few days is to be done on its own to help break the plateau. The other variation I mentioned is what I do daily, and generally no more than a 200 or 300 calorie difference. This is silly, but on the Lose It app there's a weekly bar graph and I treat it as a sort of game. My bars need to adhere to a certain pattern each week. Probably my body will eventually get wise and I'll plateau anyway, but it doesn't require much effort and I get some warped sort of enjoyment out of it. XD

Completely agreed it's more difficult to indulge or increase sensibly than to limit oneself!

[darkemeralds]

I understand. I do the same thing with the bar graph on Livestrong. I keep so many records, and look at them from so many different angles that it's just nuts--but I feel I have a very clear handle on what I'm doing that way.

I'm not defeated yet by this plateau, but I pumped up the protein and the calories a bit yesterday and a bit more today, and changed my exercise routine from biking to walking (sore feet!) and if I don't see a change in the next day or two, I'll consider something further.

One interesting outcome of this is that it has given me a view on what I used to eat daily. Well, I ate more than this daily, but today has reminded me of what it feels like to be over-sated. I'm happy to report that I didn't enjoy it very much and am actually looking forward to cutting back again. But if I don't cut back again right away, I can see where this would become a habit again very quickly.

[alex_beecroft]

I'm on a plateau as well at the moment and having similar thoughts. (I say a plateau, but I mysteriously put on 0.5lb last week, despite sticking to the diet.) However, I feel like I don't have any other option but to continue. Stopping is not an option - I'll just pile the weight back on and be unhappy again. And many people have told me that this does happen - that they too have had fortnights or longer of nothing shifting, and the key is persistence. So I'm going to believe them and persist :)

[darkemeralds]

Oh, I can't tell you how much it helps to know that I'm not experiencing a unique phenomenon! I knew that, but I didn't know it. I really appreciate your comment. This plateau of mine has, indeed, included an apparent gain (two whole pounds--I nearly cried!). It forced me to go back to the book and read about plateaus. The advice is the same: persistence, patience, faith in the laws of physics and physiology.

So I woke up this morning prepared to persevere, and one of those pounds was gone again--I'm back to where I was on January 29th. In the long view of a diet lasting probably well over 52 weeks, this two-week delay is not that great a thing. As you say, stopping is not an option.

Thank you for your helpful point of view!

[alex_beecroft]

Yes, I think that's one of the good things about these slimming clubs - lots of other peoples' experience to draw on, so you don't feel "oh, well, if it's stopped working I should stop doing it."

I think I read somewhere that you should take note of the places where you plateau as natural points where your weight will be easy to maintain. That's information which will come in useful once you're on the "keeping it this way for the rest of your life" stage. This one will be a good fallback if anything disastrous happens on the way further down.

Congratulations on already shifting half of it :) It does sound as if things could be moving again already.

[darkemeralds]

I've encountered that same notion in several places as well. It was wonderfully enlightening to read about it and imagine that it wouldn't happen until I'd actually reached something like my goal weight or maybe ten pounds above it.

In reality, it's kind of depressing. I've got proof that I'm pretty stable at 65 pounds overweight while I'm eating for a weight approximately 75 lbs below this one. There's no doubt in my mind that I would quickly start ballooning upward again if I began to add calories.

But yes, there's a definite ditch across the smooth road at this point, and my little cart seems to have come to rest in it for the time being. Sigh.

[alex_beecroft]

I seem (touch wood) to have broken my plateau now. As verilyvexed says, I was given the advice to eat more, because my diet consultant is positive that you can sabotage your diet by eating too little. The goal is to eat enough to keep your body out of "emergency stop yourself starving to death" mode. (Because it's not really a matter of simple physics - your body will compensate for the physics in an attempt to survive.)

So I went out last week and had a meal at a restaurant, along with what must have been an incredibly fattening dessert. As it was at a restaurant, it was easy to go back to the diet as normal when I was at home - a special meal out gives you your spike without risk that you'll go back to overeating at home. Then I got weighed yesterday and found that I'd lost 2.5lb in the week.

I hope I've convinced my body that the good times are here again and it doesn't need to hoard that fat for self preservation. But I guess I'll have to wait to see if I carry on going down from here. It may be too early to celebrate yet.

[darkemeralds]

So many people and sources have suggested the "big splurge" concept that I went ahead and tried it on Sunday. I'm still standing pat at the same damn pound I first delightedly saw on my scale on January 30, but I'm hopeful.

Your idea to do the splurge at a restaurant is excellent. I stumbled inadvertently into it myself--went out for a big proteiny breakfast, eating foods that I'm really better off not keeping around the house (like bacon--dear God, bacon is problematic!)

So...has your body budged off the flat place yet? *crosses fingers* The "simple physics" vs physiology conundrum is frustrating!

[alex_beecroft]

This week I was certainly down 2.5lbs. I won't be completely confident that I'm back on track of losing weight until I find I've lost again next week, but at least this still finds me lower than I've ever been since I started, which is reassuring.

I also drank lots more water, stopped eating sugar and salt (except in the restaurant) and started taking Starflower oil again to regulate my hormones. So I can't be entirely sure which one of those did the trick - I'll just keep them all up and hope :)

[darkemeralds]

I had to look up starflower oil, and now I'm really interested in it as a remedy and tonic.

That fact that you were down 2.5 lbs seems like a very positive sign of getting off the plateau! I was down nearly 2 pounds today, which took me to the lowest point so far in my diet--like you!

Until I have one of those body-composition scales that measure fat and lean body mass through electrical impedance, I'm going to be happy with any and every downward movement of the scale, and as sanguine as I can be with plateaus. But I'm glad that this one seems to be over!

[alex_beecroft]

I've used Starflower oil for a long time for PMT. My husband now recognizes the symptoms enough so that if I'm weepy/angry/irritable/anxious for no reason he knows to hand me the pills, and it really does change my mood within about 20 minutes of taking it.

So I knew it worked for that, but I noticed that on weeks where I took it, I lost dramatic amounts of weight - up to 4lb a go. On weeks that I didn't take it, I'd lose within a range of 0.5 to 1.5 pounds. If hormones affect the way our bodies process food - and I think that's a known fact - then it makes sense that something that can alter your hormones can alter your weight loss too.

Glad to hear that you're over it too! It really was very disheartening, but at least if there's a next time we'll be much more sanguine about what's going on, and be able to persevere without all the doubt :)

[ravurian]

Don't you dare quit, lady! Not when you've done so well, and found so much joy in taking control of yourself and your environment. The plateau thing is a recognised phenomenon, the equivalent of your body drawing a deep breath before plunging onwards. It's during the periods of plateau that your body normalises at the point where you are, sort of like autosave in MS Word; they become recognition points, I suppose, stable weights, that you may maintain reasonably.

You are doing so, so well. Keep your chin up and your powder dry, because you can do this.

[darkemeralds]

I LOVE the autosave analogy! That makes perfect sense to me and feels right. Thank you.

I'm really not in serious danger of quitting--when I actually thought about saying "fuck it" and just going back to the kind of eating I used to do, there was no pull or desire there: I feel too good doing what I'm doing, and there is no doubt in my mind that within weeks I would be back up to my top weight, and almost certainly climbing above that. No thank you.

I appreciate your cheerleading and solidarity. You've been a big help to me today.

cf Scotty

[karen_jk]

"You canna change the laws of physics."

*Hugs you*

Re: cf Scotty

[sporky_rat]

That's a lie, I tell you, because Scotty breaks at least one law of physics every time he gets bored just to keep in practice.

Re: cf Scotty

[darkemeralds]

Heh. Well, Scotty IS pretty awesome!

Re: cf Scotty

[darkemeralds]

Hee! Nae, I canna.

I know the laws of physics are continuing to operate. They're just obscured by the coarser laws of biology and anatomy and physiology.

So the law of belief is gonna have to do for me over the next few days. Keep on keeping on in the belief that things are working in there somewhere!

[emungere]

I don't know if this is actually helpful or not but I've had plateaus like that last for months. So, dark side: MONTHS. But! Bright side: eventually things started happening again. Just gotta keep on going, and you know that already. :)

[darkemeralds]

Thank you. That's actually very helpful. I'm beginning to see where the "diets don't work" belief comes from: it's not easy getting to this point, and I can imagine how one might just give up if the plateau persisted for very long.

I wish I had a better understanding of the mechanics of the plateau phenomenon--must do some reading--but in the meantime, it's good to know that you've experienced it too, and moved beyond it eventually. Thanks!

[scribblemoose]

It might help to focus on the way your program makes you feel day to day - you've said lots of times how you feel you're eating more healthily and enjoying being able to stretch yourself more in exercise than before - even if you never lost another pound and stayed on the plateau forever, you've still improved your health and can contine to enjoy that improvement.

[darkemeralds]

Very good perspective. Thank you!

I have no logical reason to suppose that I'm permanently stalled here, but yes, it will be very helpful to remember what getting this far has done for me, and if this point along the road wasn't the destination I was aiming for, it's still a damn sight better than the town I came from!

[constance_b]

Random things I remember reading:

1/ Your body has different kinds of fat, some containing more energy than others. You might now be using up your body's equivalent of watch batteries, now you've used up some of the coal.

2/ You burn more fat in colder weather. Going through a warmer snap in your part of the world?

3/ Muscle weighs more than fat (that part's definitely true) so exercising more can make you heavier even as your waist shrinks. Also extra protien in your diet can make it easier for your body to build muscle mass (not sure about the truth of that one).

4/ Basically what someone above says, your body makes more effort to be efficient the less you eat, things like maintaining a slightly lower core temperature.

5/ (my favourite diet thingy ever) disgesting food burns quite a few calories, so cutting out snacks means your body burns fewer calories overall. Grazing on things like lettice and celery, that use more calories to digest than they contain, can help you lose weight and thwart your body's attempts to become more efficient.

/end randomness

[darkemeralds]

I've run across some of those ideas, but 1 is news to me. Interesting! I can rule out 3 as part of the problem because it's not actually possible to increase muscle mass as fast as I'd have to be to account for this plateau--certainly not on the modest amount of exercise I'm doing.

I've stayed away from snacking for reasons of long-term maintenance (just don't want to have a snacking habit, even lettuce and celery), but I'm ready to try anything!

Thanks for the good review!