Help Week 6 and losing motivation

jennyk82

I have been doing this for 6 weeks now and the first three weeks I lost 8 pounds, now the last three I have only lost 2 pounds. How do you keep yourself motivated to keep up the good work?

balfonso

Wow 8 pounds in 3 weeks! You gave your body a shock. Now that you've continued your healthy lifestyle, your body is adjusting to your new regime. Our body's are smart.

Perhaps change a few things up, examples, eating less but often or taking a particular food out of your diet for a few days/week (pasta/rice - just an example) or doing a different exercise. Vary it.

But well done on your loss so far! :happy:

Don't give up! I always keep imagining myself in a particular outfit I see myself in, that I would see in a clothes shop or those old pair of jeans I own that just don't fit anymore but want to be in them once again- that's my motivation... :laugh:

There is no rush to lose weight. It's healthier in the long run if you lose weight slowly than quickly. Losing big amounts in a short space of time will lead to weight bouncing straight back in a blink of an eye.

Good luck :flowerforyou:

patio1313

I just keep reminding myself why I am doing it. Everyone hits a plateau...Every time I do...I let myself be a little more "naughty" with a meal...So I will treat myself to something that I have been trying to cut out. It has always seemed like when I hit that mark where I just can't seem to keep losing...It is almost like my body has adjusted and is trying to HANG ONTO the weight that is left. So I "fool" it with treating myself to a favorite food (in moderation) and that seems to help. Also lots and lots of water...

meggonkgonk

Think of it like this: 1 lb a week right? You've lost 10 lbs in 6 weeks - that's 4 weeks ahead of a healthy schedule. Any time you hit a plateau (which EVERYONE does) just remember, you have those weeks of cushion where you can not lose anything and still be moving at a healthy pace.

Search around, everyone has their own plateau tricks- I like patio, like to toss in 1 or 2 high cal meals (to shock my system a bit), and 3-4 days of leeks as a side dish (cooked in an omlete, or soup etc) to get my digestive system going. Everyone has a thing, but I think at 2 lbs over 3 weeks you are just having normal, stable weight loss.

binocularfight

Patio1313's advice is something a growing number of nutritionists are subscribing to - bumping up your caloric intake severely, one meal per week or so, to fool your body into thinking it's not in diet mode. The science is out on whether or not it works, but it works for Patio1313, and it's worked for me in the past, too. Plus, it's also a great way to not have to be a food puritan 24/7 - it gives you some much-needed food catharsis! Eating is about a lot more than nutrition, after all.

I also want to echo balfonso's advice - I cut out all forms of grain for 3 months, and it helped me lose 17 pounds. I don't think doing this is necessarily the best idea for everyone, but the idea of cutting a food (or food group) out several days a week might really help. Pick the thing you're most terrified to give up - maybe it's bread, or pasta, or dessert, or sugar, or cheese/milk. Then try to live without that thing. Not only will it likely help you shed a few pounds, but it's a great boost to know you really do have the willpower to succeed. Our mental image of our will and our determination are strong indicators of our success.
And now, my own advice -

1. Make sure, when you go grocery shopping, you stick to the perimeter of the store. This is where the real food is (by real, I mean non-processed). Buy as few things as possible from the center aisles, and you'll get a lot more nutrition bang for you buck (both monetary and caloric) than if you buy processed foods.
2. When you go out to a restaurant, ask them to pre-box half your meal before they bring it to you. This helps you to consume less than you would otherwise (the average restaurant meal is over 1,000 calories, which is wholly unnecessary...unless it's that once per week treat meal we talked about earlier).
3. Exercise is so important - make sure you get good cardio exercise in as often as possible (shoot for 5 days/week, 30 minutes), and weight training is an essential component of fat loss. Cardio exercises done in intervals help fool your body into shedding more pounds (by intervals, I mean where you work as hard as you can for 2 minutes or so, and then slow way, way down to recover for about a minute, repeatedly), and muscle mass helps burn more calories (I heartily recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/New-Rules-Lifting-Maximum-Muscle/dp/1583332383 It's written for me (there's a women's version, too, but I found it to be too frilly), and the authors do a great job of explaining what works and why, and what doesn't, plus they arm you with lots of moves and routines - their philosophy is to trick the body into greater strength). If you've been exercising regularly and doing the same routines over and over again, chances are your body is used to it. Time for a switcheroo!
4. You have to accept that plateaus are natural - your body is designed to hold on to fat. This is an evolutionary survival mechanism, left over from when food (or, more appropriately, calories) wasn't as readily available as it is now. Plateaus happen. You have to come to terms with that.
5. Finally, you have to have realistic expectations. A realistic expectation is that your body is capable of losing 1 pound per week. Sometimes, you'll lose more (as you did in weeks 1-3), and sometimes you'll lose less. Losing more than 1 pound per week over an extended period of time is very unhealthy, for a number of reasons. It's also not sustainable - as a general rule of thumb, weight lost quickly is much more likely to be regained. The 2 pounds you lost in the last three weeks is a much better rate, and a much better regimen for your body, than the 8 pounds you lost the first 3 weeks. I know this seems counterintuitive, but it's the truth. Be reasonable, and you'll be a lot happier and have greater successes.

That said, stay positive, and make healthy choices! If you can do these things, you're going to do great.

jennyk82

Thanks for all your advice guys! Much appreciated!