2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 9: Still at 211

Day 9 of my New Year's Resolution to shrink to 180 is still stalled at a Diet Plateau, albeit slightly shrunk from yesterday.

My goal of hitting 190 by the time of my February 6 Super Bowl Party appears in jeopardy.

I need to make an adjustment to the program to amp up the shrinkage.

Maybe I should join a Zumba Fitness Club. This seems to be the trendy thing to do. And it looks sort of fun.

This morning I did my regular weight/yoga routine followed by a shrunken breakfast of pineapple, a grapefruit, Gorgonzola, 3 cloves of garlic, stalk of celery and glass of skim milk.

I will be doing some hill hiking late this afternoon. At least that is my current plan. But, my plans seem to often get altered.

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 8: Down to 211 Again

Day 8 of my New Year's Resolution to get down to 180, which actually started a few days before the New Year.

I am still stuck in Diet Plateau mode, though this morning's weigh-in did show a slight, but insignificant drop from yesterday.

Not significant enough to indicate I have traveled past the current Plateau.

I am expecting the Diet Plateau to be circumvented by tomorrow, if past experience is any guide to the present.

This morning I did my regular pre-breakfast weight and yoga routine, followed by a grapefruit, glass of skim milk, slice of pineapple, slice of whole wheat folded over with Gorgonzola inside and a stalk of celery. Lunch will be chili today, followed later this afternoon by some hill hiking.

How To Break Free of the Dreaded Diet Plateau

I have reached that point everyone reaches when trying to lose weight.

The Dreaded Diet Plateau.

Weight reliably drops. And then suddenly stops dropping. Still eating less, exercising more. But the weight loss stops.

Temporarily.

The "Plateau Effect" is a big motivation killer for a lot of people. It really should not be. It is just part of the way dieting works, what with the human body being amazingly adaptive, working hard to keep some sort of balance, or equilibrium, not letting you waste away.

If you don't feel like waiting out the Diet Plateau, there are ways to get your body back in sync with what your mind wants it to do. As in shrink.

1) Add muscle. As in do strength training, building lean muscle mass, boosting your metabolic rate. (I already to the strength training thing, so this is not my plateau excuse)

2) Change when you eat. And the amount you eat. Try more of a foraging eating style, fooling your body into not thinking you are starving. (I already do this)

3) Change your nutrient intake. As in, switch it up. One day eat a lot of protein and few carbos. The next day reverse it. (I have not tried this)

4) Vary your calorie intake. One day take in 1,000 calories, then the next day 2,000. Don't stay to a rigid pattern of a certain amount of calories a day. If you do, your body will try to slow your metabolic rate to that caloric intake level. Mix it up. (I have also not tried this)

I think you can see the pattern here. To break out of, or never suffer a diet plateau, change up your routine, don't stay static and your weight won't stay static.

Now, I need to go take my own advice to break out of this 212 plateau I am stuck on.

2011 New Year's Weight Loss Resolution Day 7: Back up to 212

Well, I am now at the end of the first week of my program to shrink myself back to 180 pounds.

I must mention, I am on Day 7 of my New Year's Resolution to lose weight, even though it is only Day 3 of the New Year, because I got an early start on the shrinking.

And this morning the shrinking reversed slightly. Yesterday morning I was down to 211. This morning I'm back up to 212. Such is how it goes with the weight loss thing.

I suspect I may be at my first plateau. A plateau is a weight loss thing where shrunk fat cells are replaced with water, for who knows what reason. Something to do with the physiology of metabolism and fat storage. When you hit a diet plateau it can last a few days. Then there will be a sudden drop of several pounds via the purging of excess water.

It'll be clear by tomorrow morning if I am at a plateau, or not.