The Plateau

Three weeks now with no weight loss.  The dreaded plateau.  It would have been more convenient to have the plateau come when I was in a definite size.  But I’m between sizes right now, belting one and squeezing in the other.  Of course it would have been even more convenient to plateau at maintenance! But since these things never seem to care much about convenience, I’m just continuing to do what I do and wait it out.

In the absence of any exciting weight loss to report, other than the 54 pounds to date (not that that's not exciting in and of itself), I’ve decided to focus on inches lost in this post.  I measured at the beginning of all this, last November, but only once or twice since then.  I must admit, I’m more focused on the number on the scale, even though everything I read tells me not to be.  But the inches lost are adding up and I was quite surprised by how much less of me there is.

There are seven areas I measure (chest, waist, hips, thigh, stomach, buttocks, and arm).  In total from those seven areas, I’ve lost 38 inches!  That’s over a YARD of me GONE!  And if you count the size I can squeeze into (which, of course, I am), I’m down 8 jean sizes.

So if you are on a weight loss journey, here is my tip for the day:  measure yourself at the beginning and then don’t do it again until you hit your plateau (and you will hit a plateau).  It gives you something to get excited and motivated about, even though the scale refuses to budge. Because right now, I gotta admit, I'm pretty motivated and excited!  

My other random tip for those taking up running or cardio that you otherwise don’t care for: audiobooks.  I started downloading books on my itunes and only listen to them when I run.  I cannot believe what a difference it has made.  I get so lost in the story, it takes my mind off the run (or cardio machine) and makes the time fly by.  Sometimes when I should be done with the workout, but the chapter isn’t finished, I keep going to get to a good stopping point.  And because I won’t let myself listen to it unless I’m working out, there are some days I can’t wait to get to the gym, or start the run, so I can find out what happens next! Books that leave you hanging at the end of chapters are especially effective in this regard.

And speaking of running, I ran my second 5K on the 4^th of July.  I beat my time goal, which was to finish in 33 minutes, by two minutes, finishing in 31 minutes.  That’s five minutes faster than the first 5K in March.  VERY happy about that!  =D  Below is my wonderful husband, Ron, who also ran the race, but finished considerably before me.   

Bottom line, plateau notwithstanding, I’m still committed and on track.  Other than a couple day splurge with some girlfriends on a recent getaway, I’ve been keeping to my calorie and percentage goals.  I’m obviously looking forward to the scale moving again, but the way I eat is pretty much the way I plan to eat long term anyway, so I don’t feel like I’m spinning my wheels for nothing.  I may not make my final goal in the one year time frame I was hoping for, but, Lord willing, I’ll hit it eventually.  And in the meantime, I feel better than I’ve felt in years!