Plateau Frustrations

A message that I read once and responded to. It was good advice then and still is so I'm reposting it here"

INITIAL POST:
"So. . . on the 18th it will be one year since my surgery and I am down 167 pounds!!! I have 53 left. I can't believe I am down to double digits! The only problem is that the scale is crazy!! I worked out for four hours a day four days in a row and gained three pounds!!! I am four pounds away from being under 200 pounds in as long as I can remember and I wanted to hit there by my anniversary. I have been so frustrated."

"The strangest thing is that I bought my first pair of Old Navy (well from any store) jeans in November. I put them on Saturday night for a date and they almost fell down!!! The inches are going, but the scale is just STAGNANT!! I entered an exercise competition at work and am working out double workouts (one at 3:30 am and the other at 3:30 pm for two hours each) so I can win. If I bulk up on too much muscle though, I won't ever get below 200 pounds!!"

"So. . . any advice?? I will be heartbroken if I can't make it down four pounds in 11 days!!"

MY RESPONSE:
You've been in this long enough that you should know that while goals are important, your weight is going to come off in its own time. Don't beat yourself up if you don't make a weight loss goal, especially when you are so close. Losing four lbs in eleven days is unrealistic at this point. Just be glad you're so close, focus on eating well, getting your water in, and doing what you can to be healthy.

As far as exercise, continue to work your long muscle groups and building your lean body mass. You're right, you don't need to bulk up in order to get stronger, more flexible. Let's put it this way, would you rather lose inches or weight? Me? Inches. Muscle weighs more than fat anyway.

Look. I've been stuck in the same 10 lbs range since October. But recently I've started sliding below 230 for the first time. Yay! Have I done anything different? Not really. Your body just does that as it gets lower in weight. My suggestion? Focus on your water, spacing your meals out (4-5 hours between meals) and don't eat simple carbs (or anything without protein really -- other than veggies and even then not too much). Do that and it will come off. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but eventually. After all, you're in this for life, not just for the next eleven days.

Sean