DAY 38: Tableland Troubles

Day 38 is on learning to deal with a plateau, those times when the scale just stalls and your weight doesn't go up or down.

In 1996, I got down to the 170s (the lowest weight I've ever been as an adult). But I couldn't break through to 169, got discouraged, stopped exercising, started eating badly again, and ballooned up to 250 in no time.

In 2003, I got all the way down to the 170s again, and again I couldn't break through to 169. And again, I got discouraged, stopped exercising, started eating badly again, and... I can't bear to type the rest.

In 2007, it's going to be different! I am less than 20 lbs. away from 169 and this time, I'm going to make it because I have the Beck Diet Solution to help me!

Dr. Beck offers 4 options for when you hit a long-term plateau:

1. Continue to do what you're doing and see if you start to lose weight.
   That's what I've done in the past, and it didn't work so well... Of course, now I have the skills to fight discouragement and wait out the plateau.
   
   
2. Reduce your daily intake by 200 calories, which should allow you to lose about a half pound per week.
   
This option sounds completely do-able, especially now that I've learned how to say no to food.


3. Increase your daily exercise by 15 to 20 minutes.
   It can be hard to make myself exercise more when I'm feeling as if the exercise I'm already doing isn't paying off. But an extra 15 or 20 minutes doesn't sound too bad.
   
   Another thing I've heard from trainers at the gym is that your body can "get used" to an exercise, making the exercise less effective. So changing the sort of exercise I'm doing could help too.
   
   
4. Call this your goal weight and move into maintenance.
   Absolutely not. At 170, I'd still be overweight and unhealthy. I would consider this option only if I plateau somewhere closer to 130 (the upper level of the recommended healthy weight range for a woman my height).

So, if I should hit another plateau this time around, I can use option 2, 3, or 1 (or a combination) to get me past it. I've also created these Response Cards for additional support:

Sabotaging Thought: It's terrible that I've hit a plateau.
Helpful Response: Reaching a plateau is a normal part of losing weight. I'm feeling discouraged now because I put in a lot of effort. But this is supposed to happen from time to time. It doesn't necessarily mean I'm doing anything wrong.

Sabotaging Thought: This just isn't fair. I've really worked hard. I should keep losing, like I have up until this point.
Helpful Response: I have a choice now. I can dwell on how unfair it seems that the scale didn't go lower. Or I can focus on how much weight I've lost up to this point and give myself credit for all of the changes I've made in my thinking and behavior so far.

Now I'm ready to face any weight-loss geography!