Fantastic Book Reviews

Obesity Free Forever

Plateaus and Setbacks

The best plans will meet resistance at some point in the weight loss

process. Changes to your body, such as fluid retention; indulging on

special occasions; and plateaus are examples of obstacles that will

challenge your plan at some point. You can stay true to your plan and

continue to lose weight in spite of these challenges. From personal

experience, my plan was challenged by many things along the weight

loss and maintenance journey. While they frustrated me at the time, these

challenges allowed me to problem solve and test my commitment to

losing weight once and for all. With each challenge I overcame, I learned

a new technique to share with you.

PLATEAUS

A weight loss plateau is when you stop losing weight for a time

period, usually at least two weeks, without any change in your plan.

Plateaus happen and they can really test your character. Plateaus are a

natural way for your body to adjust to your new size. Although you can

understand why they happen, plateaus can be difficult to deal with unless

you have a plan.

During my weight loss program, I hit a serious plateau in May of

2005, approximately nine months after I began my program. I was very discouraged.

To determine how to handle the plateau, I decided to collect some

data. The first thing I did was keep a food journal for one week.

It became obvious that the plateau developed due to the weight loss.

In other words, I had less body mass to burn calories with. Less body

mass meant I needed to recalculate my calories to make sure I was not

overeating. Because my calories were calculated on a heavier weight, in

order to start reducing again I needed to either reduce my calories or

increase the intensity of my exercise to burn more calories.

Because I wanted to remain healthy and provide my body with the

proper nutrition, I decided cutting calories was not the answer. Instead, I

decided to increase the intensity of my running at that point. The change

in my exercise intensity broke the plateau.

If you hit a plateau, return to your Daily Food Intake Journal and

track your intake for one week. Analyze your results to see if you may be

eating extra calories that you were unaware of. If you notice your calorie

intake remains the same, try changing your exercise routine by

increasing the intensity. You may need to adjust your calorie intake if

you had a substantial weight loss and your body mass changed.

However, remember to maintain at least twelve hundred calories per day

unless otherwise directed by your doctor. If you are like me and prefer to

eat a little more, try changing the intensity of your exercise routine to

continue with your weight loss. For example, use an incline on a

treadmill, increase your pace, increase the resistance, or try a different

type of exercise.

You can also increase the intensity of your exercise by increasing

your pace, whether you use a piece of equipment or not. If you use a

piece of equipment such as a treadmill, elliptical machine, or stationary

bike, you can easily monitor your pace by the digital readout on the

equipment. If you use an alternate exercise without equipment, here are

some tips. If your preferred exercise is walking or running outdoors, use

your pedometer to increase your pace.

You can also increase the intensity of your exercise by increasing the

resistance. This can be done both manually and with the use of

equipment. To increase the resistance of your exercise manually, try

running up and down stairs. You can use the bleachers of your local

school for stair climbing. Remember to maintain your safety and walk

during daylight hours, in a well-lit environment or with a buddy. You can

even use your own house stairs for convenience. You can also purchase a

step from your local sporting goods store or fitness retailer. I’ve used this

piece of equipment in the past, and it gave me quite a workout! Wearing

ankle or wrist weights will help increase resistance as well. Another way

to increase the resistance of your workout is by using a bicycle. Both

stationary and nonstationary bicycles have the capacity to increase the

resistance through adjusting the gears. The resistance increases as more

friction is applied to the wheel. Remember to maintain your safety by

increasing the resistance slowly and checking your level of muscle

soreness the following day. As with all exercising, you will want to work

out within your estimated maximum heart rate range and the exertion

level that is right for you.

There are many ways to restart your weight loss should you hit a

plateau. While plateaus are frustrating, they come with the weight loss

process. You can move quickly through a plateau by using your food

journal to evaluate your calorie intake, making necessary changes to your

calorie level and adjusting your exercise to burn more calories.

Remember to record in your reflective journal which items you change.

This will help you identify actions that work for you should you face a

plateau in the future.

SETBACKS

Setbacks happen when our lives seem to get out of control. There are

two types of setbacks. One is when we fall back into our old habits of

using food for comfort. The other is when life throws us challenges that

may interrupt our routines and tempt us to quit. Examples of life’s

challenges include accidents, job loss, and illness or injury.

The number one reason behind a setback is thinking that it will never

happen to you. Setbacks are the reality of any goal, and they happen to

everyone. While you may not be able to control everything that happens

to you in life, you can learn to deal with setbacks effectively, without

sabotaging your entire plan.

Handling setbacks is an important part of the plan. The key to

effectively dealing with setbacks is to forgive yourself quickly and return

back to your normal routine. Accept responsibility for the setback,

journal the reason behind it, and then revise your plan to deal with the

immediate setback as well as how to prevent or deal with future setbacks.

You can learn more about my setbacks through my journal entries in

Appendix B. I noticed I had more setbacks where I turned to food during

the first few months of my weight loss adventure than as I progressed.

This may be due to the newness of the plan and the slower weight loss in

the beginning. However, as I continued to lose ten pounds per month,

and I began to see results, the setbacks stopped easily.

I experienced setbacks due to my health several times while losing

weight. These setbacks challenged me because I was unable to exercise.

Here is a setback that startled me:

I took my seventy-pound shepherd, Rex, to the vet for his annual

vaccinations. Rex loves car rides, but he hates the vet. While holding

Rex during his first shot, he head butted me very hard in the chest. So

hard, in fact, that I saw stars and felt severe pain in the left side of my

chest. The next day I felt pain as I ran, as well as a little shortness of

breath. I continued through the day and the pain intensified. During the

night, I was unable to sleep on my left side due to pain. When I began

running the next morning, I became very short of breath and experienced

intense pain—I had to see my doctor. An x-ray revealed a possible

fractured rib. My doctor approved exercise; however, running was out of

the question. I later learned that the rib was not fractured, but the impact

caused a soft tissue injury. I was instructed to not exercise vigorously for

one week. I was told to walk without swinging my arms. I had to solve

my dilemma and find an exercise that met the doctor’s orders. I logged

on to a Web site to determine an equivalent walking to running calorie

conversion in order to make adjustments to my plan. Because my doctor

approved walking, I was able to find the amount of time I needed to walk

in order to achieve the same amount of calories I burned while running. I

learned that walking is less efficient than running, and I needed to allow

fifty minutes to achieve the same results as running thirty-five minutes. I

was able to convert without any problem, and I actually enjoyed the

walking time and pace. I walked for one week at four miles per hour and

10 percent incline.

The message is that it is important to anticipate setbacks and remain

flexible and prepared to alter your plan. Knowing that setbacks are a

normal part of the weight loss adventure and quickly returning to your

plan when they occur will allow you to continue achieving your desired

results. Anticipating that setbacks are a normal part of any change

process, especially weight loss, will keep you aware of when you

experience one. You can better prepare by developing a plan around

some hypothetical setbacks. For example, if you normally exercise first

thing in the morning and you oversleep one day, how will you ensure

you exercise for the day? Part of your plan may include walking during

lunchtime or as soon as you come home from work. Another scenario

that actually happened to me was when I was without electricity for half

a month one summer due to heavy storms. Because I was unable to use

my treadmill, I needed to find an alternate way of exercising. I walked at

the track at the local high school using my pedometer to track my

progress. Later I learned I could have purchased a temporary pass at a

local gym as an option as well.

You can also anticipate setbacks to your eating plan. Examples

include miscalculating your calories during a special event causing you

to overeat, recovering from an illness or surgery requiring special foods,

or pregnancy. You can easily plan for these events by preparing a plan

ahead of time.

If your setback involves feeling guilty, begin by forgiving yourself.

This is the first step to letting go of a setback and getting back on track

with your plan. You could also increase your exercise throughout the

week to burn some of the extra calories you consumed, or you could

reduce your calories over the next week. Finally, you can let the situation

go, reflect on your reasons in your journal, and go back to your plan

immediately, preferably the same day. This is important to establish trust

with yourself that you can alter your plan and go back to it without

difficulty.

For medical situations such as recovering from surgery, an injury, or

experiencing pregnancy, it is important to discuss your options with your

health-care provider. Setbacks due to health changes may require placing

your plan on hold until you are cleared by your doctor. You can maintain

your confidence knowing you have recorded your progress thus far in

your journals. You can access your journals and return to your plan as

soon as you are cleared by your doctor to begin losing weight again.

Anticipating and planning for setbacks are the best way to handle

challenges. Preparing ahead of time will help ensure your weight loss success.

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