Fascinating Authors

Chapter 7
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.