Ready for a Change

The " Temple of the Skirt " is in place. It's basically a Shrine to Future Self, hanging in a prominent position in my bedroom.

I've added a tiny bit more self awareness and understanding about myself in the past week.
The stressful month has passed and I'm happily exercising and tracking my food .
But here's the thing I learned.... During that very stressful time I was SO hungry..I'd finish my usual meal and be thinking about what else I could eat. For 3 weeks I enjoyed a late afternoon or nightly high carb, fat , sugar snack..sometimes is LARGE quantities. Logically I knew I couldn't be hungry, but I really felt the need to eat. I was telling a friend about it and trying to " willpower" my way back onto the sensible eating path again.
She said that severe stress cause cause cortisol levels to rise significantly and this can lead to cravings for sugar and carbs.
Ah , ok. That is really very interesting to me. Is that true ?
I guess that's the physiology behind emotional eating,? .
Now I'm aware of that , I've started to nourish my elevated stress levels with a walk, meditation tape, bath etc instead of feeding myself with sugar ..which was probably increasing my insulin and cortisol levels. What a vicious cycle !
Creating a low stress diversion has been a useful tool to keep in my healthy life repertoire.

Oh gee...yes, the fatigue has been significant and I guess that was another reason for wanting to hit the sugar. I'm happy to report that the universe has started to right itself again and stress has reduced significantly. And yep...I'm off the sugar, enjoying the walks in the evening, sleeping well and enjoying my usual routines. And now that I'm not having so much sugar bombarding my system I actually have more energy again .
Aren't we complex pieces of engineering.

I'm staying on course, tracking, weighing , exercising and I'm determined to be patient! It really is very frustrating and occasionally rather dispiriting to be stuck around the 6 kg weightloss level for so long.
I'm very committed to staying in track ..but it's hard to stay positive when the scales don't shift..or they tell me I've lost a bit and then bounce right back up and stay there.
Since April I've never weighed below 94 kgs.
After my initial weightloss I just stayed around the same weight.
I'm on the 1200 calories per day but wondered if my metabolism has stalled because of that. ? I have increased my vegetable intake to really bump up my fibre and that's possibly amount to an extra 100 or 200 calories some days.

Because of an issue with reflux which was becoming a real issue in the last few months, I've stopped eating bread and sugary treats . I always included those calories in my tracking but now that I'm not longer consuming those , I've incorporated lots of nutritious veges to keep my caloric intake from dropping TOO low.

On the positive side I'm feeling very healthy and well..but I'm not going to lie...being able to have more of a downward arc on my weightloss chart would be very rewarding. I'm exercising more , although I have had to become more mindful of nursing my joints a little. I'm getting back to reformer pilates to add resistance to my exercise routine. And I have 5 kg handweights which get regular use. I've been building up strength after a bad fall involving a sprained wrist and a fractured wrist. I'm also trying to incorporate my squats and load bearing activities..knees permitting...to build up muscle strength in my legs.

Has anyone experienced a plateau of MONTHS?. Any advice would be gratefully received. I REALLY want to report to you all one day that I've hit the 10 kg weight loss mark.

Thank you for your reply, it was very timely. I took a bit of time reflecting on all the wins I've had. Only a 6 kg loss since the start of the year but my diet is clean, nutritious and making me feel so much better. My fitness has improved significantly and no sugar means I'm sleeping well and have more energy.
After I posted my last message ( having a grumble and getting a bit fed up with my progress) , I went shopping and ran into someone I haven't seen for a few months. She commented on how healthy I looked. That was lovely to hear.
My negative voice inside told me that my weightloss was too slow, but Comparison really can be the Thief of Joy, as the saying goes.
Instead of comparing myself to everyone else's health journey , I should be comparing myself to ME ..or to put it more precisely.. .. thinking back to how I was feeling prior to starting my diet and exercise campaign .

Given that this approach will be the basis for the rest of my life ( nutritious food and activity everyday) , I'm just going to remain steadfast and determined.

Your suggestion about measurements is good one. Ditto photographs. I haven't done that and it's probably time I started .
MFP has been so important to me, lots of encouraging and supportive people like yourself. It's such an important part of keeping myself motivated and enthusiastic.

It's always good to hear from the long term members, like yourself . 6 years is a lot of knowledge, determination and self motivation and I applaud you.
I think to myself about the alternative...no way I'm throwing in the towel....zero chance there's anything appealing about having aching joints because of the sugar and lack of exercise that I had 8 months ago.
I already know I'm an MFP " lifer" .

Enjoy your trip.
p.s. I'm going to google Nugo bars.

I haven't posted for a while but I just wanted to report in and say hello to you good people in the community who have been so supportive , encouraging , informative and kind to me since I started on MFP.
I'm pleased to report that I'm happily still on track and persevered over the LONG period of no weight loss. I just kept going with my plan , with a few adjustments here and there. More gardening, more water, faster walks, more walks, more protein, consistency with wearing my pedometer, buying new sandshoes, updating my orthotics, less fruit, etc etc. So many tweaks and paying attention to what would happen ( body) and how I was feeling ( brain) when I made adjustments.

So far so good, my weight is SLOWLY trending down. Nothing exciting but it's shifted downwards and a big buzz to be out of the dreaded and very long weightloss stall.
I really REALLY like being in charge of ME.

Hey Everyone, just touching base and reporting in. I hope the lead up to the full on festive season is fun and rejuvenating for you all.
I've been terribly busy and out of my normal routine so I dropped off the radar for a while.
I'm still fighting the good fight. I'm feeling healthy and fitter than this time last year. . In 3 weeks it'll be 12 months since I did my first weigh in at the doctor's. I didn't break weight loss records in 2024 but I did lose 7 kgs and maintained the loss through some serious life " up and downs".
Now I'm setting a personal goal of another 7 kg loss for 2025. It's not earth shattering but it sounds really good to me.

I'm back recording my food, I've had a pretty good handle on my portions and exercise commitments but I think the habit of the diary and keeping in touch with the MFP community is a really positive and motivating factor , and I've really been neglecting it for a couple of months.

Merry Christmas to you all. Eat the ham, enjoy some dessert and have a great time with your loved ones.