That Super Long Plateau Buster Thread! (edited and new stuff added for your even longer reading pleasure! I'm the only person to "edit" something and make it even longer! It is meaner, too. Thanks to Lisa on the ww board for the new name)
First off, How long has your plateau lasted? I often “plateaued” for 10 days and then I would lose 1-2 lbs. This was my weight loss pattern. That is “normal”. If you haven't lost in one, or two, or three weeks - just be patient. I think that you have to be stuck for a full MONTH before WW considers it a “real” plateau.
If your plateau has lasted a month or longer - read on!
Also, losing an average of .4 lbs a week is NOT a plateau. Losing weight is losing weight, even if it is not as fast or as much as you wish.
Warning- ALL of this is BLUNT and BRUTIALLY HONEST (and long) OK - It is downright HARSH and MEAN! On the other hand… I had to get honest with myself… I’ve made most of these mistakes myself…
And the info is all conflicting…
It is possible to plateau by eating too much… and it is possible to plateau by eating too little.
It is possible to plateau by being too loose and eating too many BLT’s and it is possible to plateau by being too rigid and strict and restrictive.
Fiber is Good. High fiber foods are lower in points and will keep you full. If you eat a LOT of low point, high fiber foods that are relatively high in calories (0 point wraps, WW yogurts and smoothies, etc) you can be eating very few points, but lots and lots of calories.
Every time I see or read something about plateaus or metabolism… I copy it into this word file. That makes the list obnoxiously long… and the information does conflict… so you just have to wade thru and decided, “Yes, this part is me” or “Nope. Not me”.
AND sometimes plateaus happen and it is your body adjusting… and you are doing EVERYTHING right… and there is just no real “good” reason for your plateau… and nobody knows why this happens and you just have to wait it out. It is frustrating. But it happens.
A. Denial - “I only eat out once a week, well, except this week I did eat out twice… and I did go to Starbucks… but just once.” Or the person who posts that they have “slipped up - but just a little” six days in a row and then complains about their “plateau” on the seventh day. Or “I know I could be doing more…” “I have a Free Day once a week… and I’ve been losing fine until now.” Are you in denial about how much you are off plan?
B. Memory lapses - Not remembering that I ate half my son's leftover lunch when I log my points. Research shows that people REMEMBER eating a bowl of healthy oatmeal for breakfast - and FORGET that they ate 6 Hershey Kisses while standing at Carol CoWorker’s desk…
C. Portion errors - Studies show that human beings consistently underestimate the number of calories that the eat and also underestimate their portion sizes by approximately 1/3. People also consistently over estimate the number of calories they have burned exercising.
D. Magical Thinking - some people believe that the laws of physics don’t apply to them. Some people actually believe that is possible to eat less than they burn and gain weight. We all lose weight one way. We lose when we have a calorie deficit and are eating less than we are burning. The laws of physics do apply to you.
D. Vanity - Some people are a healthy weight - but have set a goal to get to the very bottom of the weight chart. How tall are you? Are you a healthy weight? Is your body trying to tell you something? WHY do you want to lose 5-10 more pounds? How would your life be different? What would you be able to do, that you can't do now.
(See the WW Healthy Weight Ranges) http-//www.weightwatchers.com/health/asm/calc_healthyweight.aspx
If you are obsessed with the last 5 lbs or fitting into a size 4 or 2 (or the male equivalent), you may want to check out-
1. Keep a food diary. Log both the food and the amount. Studies show that people that keep a food log lose more weight. (See page 114 of the book "Eating Thin For Life" by Anne Fletcher, M.S., R.D.) I lost a bunch right when I hit goal - even though I started adding points. The added points did NOT make me lose. I know that I lost because I was nervous about adding the points and started being extra careful about journaling when I started the six weeks of maintenance!
A) OR keep a different food diary. Draw a pyramid and keep track of your food group servings. Print out the food log at www.MyPyramid.gov (FYI - MyPyramid gives calories for maintaining). I keep a log of the food groups on the fridge door and if I eat half a serving of dairy I put an / and I put a X for a whole serving. I usually end up with a log that looks like: Grains - XXXXX / Vegs - XXXX Fruits - XXXX Nonfat dairy - XX / Meats, poultry, fish - X Oils - XX
C) Go low tech and go back to the basic note pad. Turn your food journal into a coloring book. Use colored pencils for different food groups. Use green markers for the 8 health guidelines. Draw a pair of scissors next to foods you are trying to cut down on. Make a column and write “Worth the points!” or “NOT worth the points!”
E) Take pictures of your food. One guy did this and actually had it published into a book: “Everything I Ate: A Year in the Life of My Mouth”. I took pictures of my food a few days and posted it on-line (THAT is some serious accountably and it is really kind of fun…). http://tinyurl.com/cft6m
Be creative!!! I’ve got about 9 different ways I journal. I change when I get bored or it stops working.
2. Pull out the measuring cups. Do you have a food scale? Do you measure food or eyeball it? Do you use “just a drizzle of olive oil”? I was bummed to put my sour dough roll on the food scale and find that it weighed 6 oz. It was a 12 point piece of bread (more than half my target points!). I’d guessed/hoped/wished it was 2 oz and was counting it as 4 pts.
To miscount calories/points is human nature.
From the University of Maryland Medical Center:
“Be honest about how much you eat and track calories [or points] carefully. Studies on weight control that depend on self-reporting of food intake frequently reveal that subjects badly misjudge how much they eat (typically underestimating high-calories foods and over-estimating low-calorie foods). In one study, even dietitians underreported their calorie intake by 10%! People who do not carefully note everything they eat tend to take in excessive calories when they believe they are dieting.”
Dieticians underreport by 10% and I’ve read that the average person underreports by as much as 30-40%.
3. Have you had a ww leader (or somebody) look at your food journal and see if you are counting points correctly. I remember this woman who was putting two TABLESPOONS of oil on her salad every night and counting it as two points for 2 teaspoons. I know another woman who didn't count her before dinner cocktail (or two). That came out as she was speaking with her leader.
4. Would you eat differently if your food journal was open for public scrutiny? (Thanks TriGirl for this one!) A friend of mine went to a meeting that had a “community journal”. One member (usually somebody who had plateau-ed) would take the journal home for a week and record their food/points. The journal was open for the community to see at the next meeting. This journal was a serious plateau buster!
You can always post each day on line and ask if it looks like you counted your points correctly. (People do this on the Core board all the time.) Post your food on the Maint board and ask for feedback. Post both the food and the amount. Post the times you are eating. Post a WEEKS worth of journal. Don’t post one day and say, “This is how I usually eat” - because that probably isn’t accurate. When dieticians look at a food log, they look at two weekdays and one weekend day. As you get closer to goal, small errors count more. Ask for feedback. Others WILL see changes that you can make, which you might be missing.
5. How clean is your pantry? Do you keep chips and cookies “for the kids”? Do you eat them “once in a while”? Are you a stay at home mom or dad? Over the course of a day, do you finish off ¼ of a toaster waffle, 2 bites of p&j sandwich, one animal cracker, ¼ c. of mac and cheese and 3 spoonfuls of peas? And the end of the day - You’ve eaten an entire extra meal!
6. How often do you “treat” yourself? When you are stressed? Over worked? Under appreciated? Sad? Happy? On Hump Day? On Friday? When it is Winter time? Do you work in an office with donuts in the break room and a candy jar on the receptionist’s desk? How often do you have your hands in the candy jar?
7. Do you have a “Toddler Within”? Do you have a younger, brattier version of yourself throwing major tantrums in the grocery store and screaming, “I want candy!!!! Buy me candy now!!!! Yummy candy!! Going to eat all the candy in the car really fast so I don’t have to share!!!!”
Do you have somebody living inside of you who says, “Yay!!!! Weekend!!! Par-tay!!! Eat, Drink and Be Merry!!! (And only a party pooper would journal or count points on the weekend)”?
I have a “toddler within”. OMG! What a brat. She wants what she wants when she wants it. And giving in to toddler tantrums has gotten me into weight trouble. :~)
This food log… with “Brat Flack” notes is LOL funny. I personally thought her plan of no bread, wine, potatoes, butter, chocolate, etc, etc, was awfully restrictive… but the log is really interesting. I actually found it really helpful.
You have to get buy-in from your toddler. Why does your toddler want to lose weight? To wear pretty clothes? To learn to surf at the age of 50? I have the most bratty reason for losing/maintaining… My toddler loves to say, “Neener, Neener, Neener!!! I didn’t gain over the Winter Holidays! (or vacation, or when I dislocated my knee cap)!” My toddler LOVES being “results not typical”!
Think Super Nanny. Do you really want to live in a house where the toddler rules? At the risk of sounding like some “child within” head case from the 80’s, sometimes we need to parent ourselves the way we parent our real life toddlers. And sometimes when you’ve got a voice inside your head screaming, “CANDY!!!! GIMMEE!!!!” Sometimes, you just have to say, “No honey. Not today. Here is an apple.”
8. How often do you eat out? You WILL eat more calories eating out. It is really hard to know what is in restaurant food. (I KNOW, I’ve worked in restaurant kitchens. I KNOW how much oil they use… and mayo… and cheese) A garden burger is a healthy choice, right? Well, a garden burger at Ruby Tuesdays will set you back 800 calories… and that’s without fries. I’ve had deep fat fried veggie burgers with huge buns and avocado and mayo and cheese… that I KNOW were 1,000 calories. How many people go home and journal 21 points for a veggie burger. Not many.
Eat a garden burger on 100% whole wheat bread at home… and it is 300 calories and 3 points.
See The Nutrition Action Health Newsletter article, “Restaurant Roulette” for a review of the “diet” menus at various chain restaurants. PS do you ALWAYS eat off the “diet” menu… no soda… no beer… no bites, licks or tastes from your partner’s/child’s plate?
9. Are you an emotional eater or a stress eater? Emotional eating can really hinder your weight loss efforts. If this is an issue for you… you really need to address it.
I’ve got a huge list of things that helped ME with emotional eating posted at: http://tinyurl.com/2fr7z3
Is it possible that you are depressed? I found it IMPOSSIBLE to stay on plan when I was depressed. My whole life got out of control… and my food life went right along with it. And depression REALLY brought out the “all or nothing” in me… which really makes weight loss hard.
If you suspect that you are depressed, please seek professional treatment. Partly for your weight control life… but also for the rest of your life, too!
10. Stop making weight and scale and size goals. Make BEHAVIOR goals.
I stopped making scale/size number goals in 2004 and had my BEST weight loss year. I stopped saying, "I will lose ten pounds this month" or "I will weigh 150 by June" or "I will wear a size 10 next Christmas".
If I "only" lost 3 lbs in a month, did that mean I had failed? Plus, I NEVER met my weight goals and was miserable.
I started making behavior goals. "I will eat at home 5 days this week and only have McDonalds on Saturday for breakfast" or "I will exercise before typing on the computer 4 days this week" or “This weekend I will eat one REAL dessert and that is it.”
You can't control the scale. You can only control your own behavior.
11. The quantity of food counts. The quality of food counts.
I lose weight better when I eat 2 pts of fruit instead of 2 pts of Skinny Cow ice cream. This is my experience… and science doesn't back me up… I know, “a calorie is a calorie” (and the laws of physics and all that) but I just can't believe that 100 calories of Oreo Crisps is the same as an 100 calorie apple.
I am convinced that people who are well nourished have an easier time and struggle less. I personally think that people who eat a diet of 2 point bars and snacks made with sf/ff Jello-O and Cool Whip and other DIET food struggle more.
Plus, 7 of the 8 guidelines help insure that you are less hungry and hydrated. It is easier to stay on track when you are not hungry or thirsty and are eating well.
12. Do you eat 5 OR MORE servings of fruit/vegetables a day. Five is the MINUMUM recommended amount. Much research indicates that 7+ servings is actually much healthier.
* * * * I warned you that this is long… and harsh… It gets more brutal before it gets better! LOL! * * *
13. I am seriously convinced of the power of fiber. Higher fiber foods are lower in points and keep you full. Do you get 25-30 grams of fiber a day? See this Mayo Clinic website for ideas to increase your fiber-
If you don't know how many grams of fiber you eat every day… Try logging your food on www.fitday.com for a couple of weeks. It can be a little tedious but I think that it is very helpful and I learned a lot. It is like a visit to a computerized dietician.
14. It IS possible to eat too many calories on WW… even eating your target points… IF you are always in search of the lowest possible point foods. An extreme and ridiculous example would be someone who ate 20 slices of 100% whole wheat bread a day. Some bread is 1 point and 110 calories a slice. If someone ate 20 points worth of that bread a day, they would be eating 2,200 calories a day.
Some people do eat a LOT of point bargains… ww yogurts are only 6 oz (not even a full 8 oz dairy serving!) and 100 calories and 1 point. Ditto WW smoothies. Blue Bunny ice cream bars, 3 g. fiber, 1 point and 110 calories. Zero point wraps.
If you are getting your dairy with 2 WW smoothies and a WW yogurt, which adds up to 320 calories and 3 points. And I’m having 2.5 glasses of skim milk and a ½ cup of ff plain yogurt and 2 tsp of sugar and am eating 317 calories and 7 points… We are eating the SAME number of calories.
It isn’t just about points (because points don‘t make sense sometimes)… calories count, too. Try counting calories and points for a while.
15. An appointment with a live human Registered Dietician can be very helpful. I know that when I got burned out… an appointment with a registered dietician really gave me a boost to lose the last 5 lbs.
16. Are you burned out? Shoot! Check out my siggy. 40 sinkin’ months to lose 37 stupid lbs - Am I not the poster child for slow weight loss?!?! :~)
I didn’t lose .2 lbs every single week for 160 weeks. I lost a very respectable 1 lb a week. My “problem” is I’d burn out after about 8-12 weeks. Some people are GREAT losers and “love to see the scale go down” and hate maintaining. I’m the opposite.
I’m not alone. I’m actually very average.
Dr. James O. Hill (one of the founders of The National Weight Control registry and an author of "The Step Diet") has done many very good weight loss studies. He has found that people burn out on dieting* right around 12 weeks. He suggests dieting for 12 weeks and then taking a maintenance break of at least 4 weeks - and possibly longer. (*Yeah, I know… It’s not a diet… It’s a lifestyle… but who wants to live in losing mode as a permanent lifestyle?)
From the Step Diet Book (p. 78)
“When we reviewed dozens of weight-loss research studies, we found that most of the weight loss occurs in the first twelve weeks, which is why you will just get frustrated if you continue to try to lose weight after twelve weeks… Work hard for twelve weeks. Then stop dieting and learn to keep off the weight you lost. Then you can do another twelve week weight loss period when you are ready. It may take a little longer to lose a lot of weight, but what you lose will stay off.”
So burning out… and plateau-ing is VERY typical. What will make you “results not typical” is waiting it out and maintaining until you get another burst of losing enthusiasm again.
Tell your leader you want to take a break. Ask on the Maint. Board for tips. Keep going to meetings. Keep posting. And if you have been plateaued and are maintaining for a while… YAY!!! Because you WANT to be a good maintainer. Doesn’t always matter how fast or how much you lose. What matters is keeping it off.
17. Speaking of the Step Book. Wear a pedometer. How many steps a day do you take each day? Most people greatly overestimate how active they are. In my own family, I guessed that I walked 10,000 steps a day… but was only walking 6,000. My husband only walked 275 steps a day when he worked in our home office - the length of our house and back. (Yes, he really was THAT inactive!) Don't guess. Wear a pedometer.
I really recommend The Step Diet Book. It comes with a simple step-counter. (The authors recommend 10,000 steps a day.)
18. Have you lost your motivation? ME TOO!!!! To a certain extent, motivation is sort of overrated. I don’t feel excited about doing laundry, flossing my teeth or scooping the cat litter every day… but I do it. We do what we need to do, all day long without a whole lot of excitement, enthusiasm or motivation.
And hey! I like Pop Tarts and donuts better than oatmeal, too. It is some cruel joke by Mother Nature that oatmeal is more nutritious than white granulated sugar, white flour and transfats. Because transfat, and white flour and sugar is one winning taste bud combination. Oatmeal is tasty, too… but not like Pop Tarts.
I’m not always MOTIVATED to make and eat oatmeal most mornings… but I do it anyway.
Sometimes you got to do what you got to do and not wait for the motivation fairy to sprinkle you with rolled oats. If I knew how to keep everybody motivated and at their goal weight… I wouldn’t post this for free. I’d charge for it and have more $$$$$ than Oprah.
Sometimes, we gotta do what we gotta do.
19. OK… the BIGGIE!!! “Your metabolism has slowed down… you have gone into Starvation Mode”.
The jury is still out on if Starvation Mode even exists.
Brian Wansink, the author of the book, “Mindless Eating” says that SOME people create “Starvation Mode” when they lose more than one half lb a week. (Not EVERYBODY, but some people do.) (Mindless Eating is another GREAT book! And go to www.msnbc.com and search Wansink. A bunch of great articles come up.
Kathleen M. Zelman is the registered dietician at WebMd, and I reference many of her articles… and she believes that Starvation Mode is real.
However, the WW Science Center has a GREAT article on the Starvation Myth.
At any rate… both camps agree that excessively restricting calories and deprivation is BAD for losing weight. Personally, I tend to believe the WW article and that Starvation Mode is a myth. However, ALL myths have some truth to them. And it doesn’t really matter if eating too little makes your metabolism slow down… or if eating too little makes you overeat later. Starvation is a krappy diet strategy and eating too little simply doesn’t work.
20. Eat your Flex points (WPS’s) and AP’s. Even though, in the Eating Wisely Booklet… on page 21... It says that you do not HAVE to eat all of your WPA’s (or AP‘s.) However you may burn out and HATE dieting if you don‘t eat your WPA’s or AP‘s. To do this for a lifetime, you need to be able to eat and live during the holidays, weekends, vacations, family emergencies, job layoffs, injuries, Super Bowl Sunday, Summer Bar-b-q season, weddings, birthdays, etc, etc, etc… And most people need their AP’s and Flex points to do this. Losing is the dress rehearsal for Lifetime and to do this for a LT you need your flex points and AP’s.
I’m not sure if it boosts your metabolism to eat more… maybe some… but not much. But mostly, eating 18 or 20 points is kind of a miserable experience. And being miserable is going to make you go off plan. And being off plan creates plateaus.
AND OMG! DON’T GO BELOW 18 POINTS A DAY… EAT YOUR TARGET POINTS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!! (Yelling to make a point.)
21. The bad and scary stuff about metabolism…
From the Canadian Dept of Health:
“Restrictive eaters suffer from low self-esteem, depression, anxiety and preoccupation with food. They often have feelings of deprivation, which can create periods of binging or even a full-blown eating disorder. Chronic dieting, which may lead to a depression in the basic metabolic rate and lean body mass, may also lead to increased body fat and weight gain.”
In other words… A) You lose bone and muscle when you under-eat. Losing muscle slows down your metabolism. B) Your body will not let you starve it to death (unless you are an anorexic…) Survival mechanisms will drive you to EAT… and possibly binge. And you may end up eating MORE calories and plateau-ing and stalling your weight loss.
It is far better to eat healthfully and to FUEL your body and not to get into some deprivation/binge cycle. You also want to preserve your muscle and bones (or even build more…) Many people say that maintaining is harder than losing. Well, maintaining is going to be even that much harder for you if you have lost muscle and have damaged your metabolism and have to eat 700 calories less a week for a LIFETIME! Think BIG picture. AND eat all your points and WPA and AP’s!
From a WW article on Flexible Restraint (Flexible Restraint might also be known as moderation)
“Let's define one aspect of willpower as the ability to hold yourself back from eating or overeating, particularly when you're around food. Weight-loss scientists call this "dietary restraint." Dietary restraint describes how tightly a person regulates her or his food intake. For example, highly restrained dieters are very precise about how much they eat.
You may be surprised to learn that a very high level of dietary restraint is associated with obesity, not with successful weight management, and also is linked to lack of success in weight-loss attempts. How can high levels of dietary restraint be connected with excess weight? While all of the specifics are an intense area of scientific investigation, the simple answer is that high restraint levels cannot be sustained for extended periods of time. Invariably, the restraint is abandoned and overeating occurs.”
It is a great article (and book)! I highly recommend it!!
Also, excessively restricting calories is very bad for our emotional and mental health. (Which is bad for weight loss…)
I found this article about studies done on binging rats fascinating. This sentence just popped out at me:
“…among healthy people without eating disorders, DIETING IS THE BIGGEST PREDICTOR OF STRESS-INDUCED OVEREATING.”
Basically, dieting can turn healthy people into bingers. My worst binging was at the end of a 3 year strict diet during the ultra low fat ‘90. I often felt deprived. And then I hit a period of stress and started eating and felt like I couldn’t start.
Quote: The researchers speculate that the deprived and stressed rats may have been in a "hedonic deprivation state," essentially craving something good and rewarding. The research underscores how what is viewed as an unhealthy behavior (indulging in palatable foods, which are cheap, convenient and often high in fat and sugar) may have its roots in the need to survive. It suggests that binge eating is an adaptive response to abnormal environmental conditions. Boggiano cites other scientists' findings that among healthy people without eating disorders, dieting is the biggest predictor of stress-induced overeating.
More thoughts on “Starvation mode” and slow metabolisms. Truthfully, I am skeptical of “starvation mode”. I think, “If everybody is ‘starving’ how come they are not losing weight? In the real world starving people go on to starve and actually go from thin to skinny to emaciated and die…” I kind of think that it is hyperbole on a lot of people’s part (and really might be on some people’s part).
Al (who is a WW leader on the GoaD board) said that he sees women in starvation mode all the time. Interestingly, he doesn’t see it with guys. He used the example that in WWII concentration camps, the women out lived the men because their bodies went into starvation mode. Females started with more body fat… and held on to what they had better than the guys. Although, of course they still lost weight… albeit, slower than the men. We can also see this on Survivor. The women tend to hold on to their fat deposits better than the guys.
So here in WW land, I think that maybe people create starvation mode in a couple of different ways. Somebody who is 275 lbs should be eating about 37+ points a day (including a couple APs and WPAs). Some people decide if 37 is good, then 20 is better. And just creates a BIG calorie deficit like 1500+ cals a day. And in theory, they *should* lose a pound every other day… but for *some* people the reality is that their bodies say, “Whoa krap!!!! FAMINE!!! Keep the fat!!!”
Some people go into Starvation Mode by overexerting. Are you an exerciser who creates a big calorie deficit and spends X hours a day doing cardio 6 or 7 days a week? It is one thing if you REALLY LOVE your exercise or if you are training for a marathon to raise money for a great cause that you REALLY believe in. Then do the research needed to figure out how to FUEL your body AND lose weight.
It is a whole other thing to spend 2 hours a day on a treadmill simply for the sake of burning calories. And all this excessive exercise may be working against you.
You look it up on the AP slider thing and say “Whoa 11 points!!! No WAY am I eating 11 extra points a day!!!” I’m generally an “eat all your points person” and even I can’t bring myself to myself to say, “Well to lose weight, your going to have to eat your 11 AP‘s.”
If you are creating some 1300+ calorie a day deficit. Maybe your body is saying "Whoa Krap!!! There is a famine going on! Hold onto the fat!!!"
Would it work for you to cut back your cardio to 30 mins a day? You can collect up a reasonable 4 points doing that and create a 500 calorie deficit… so that you lose 1 lb a week…
There is no health benefits to 40+ mins of intense cardio a day. And there are no benefits at all, that I know of to exercising 7 days a week. Over exercise puts you at risk for injury and burn out. Every health organization in the US recommends 30-60 mins of “activity”.
This hour plus of exercise a day may NOT helping your weight loss… and as counter intuitive as it sounds… it actually might be hurting your weight loss.
And I think that it is a whole lot easier to cut back to 30 mins of cardio a day rather than to convince yourself that you really should eat your 11 AP’s to lose.
There have been starvation experiments done during the World War II. They found an actual "starvation mode" where the body starts to conserve energy. The article noted that :
"At the end of semi-starvation, the men's BMRs had dropped by about 40% from normal levels."
Bottom line is you DO want to create a calorie deficit to lose slowly… but creating too large of a calorie deficit may very well back fire on you… and create “starvation mode”.
But be realistic about whether you are actually in starvation mode or not… but if you are an exercise over achiever and/or not eating all of your points… it is something to consider.
I‘ve also thought of the weight losses on “The Biggest Loser” and the losses the contestants have week after week after week… even the women. OK, they obviously had a team of doctors and had blood work, etc. And it is very likely that they monitored the contestants metabolism rates and coached them based on the numbers… since good scale numbers = good ratings. It is in the best interest of the TV network to keep the people healthy and losing.
If you have a team of doctors following you around all day doing blood draws and monitoring your health… I suppose you can go ahead and exercise 5 hours a day and eat 1,000 cals a day. The rest of us… I personally wouldn’t chance it.
22. The Metabolism Info that nobody likes to hear… Most people have normal metabolisms.
From WebMD-
“Here's a fact that may surprise you- the more weight you carry, the faster your metabolism is likely running.
"The simple fact is that the extra weight causes your body to work harder just to sustain itself at rest, so in most instances, the metabolism is always running a bit faster," says Molly Kimball, RD, sports and lifestyle nutritionist at the Oscher's Clinic's Elmwood Fitness Center.
That's one reason it's almost always easiest to lose weight at the start of a diet, and harder later on, Kimball says- "When you are very overweight your metabolism is already running so high that any small cut in calories will result in an immediate loss."
Then, when you lose significant amounts of body fat and muscle, your body needs fewer calories to sustain itself, she says. That helps explain why it's so easy to regain weight after you've worked to lose it.
"If two people both weigh 250 pounds, and one got there by dieting down from 350 and the other one was always at 250, the one who got there by cutting calories is going to have a slower metabolism," says Yanagisawa. "That means they will require fewer calories to maintain their weight than the person who never went beyond 250 pounds."
So yeah, we ALL may have slowed down our metabolism a little, BUT 90% of plateaus are still caused by eating too much and moving too little.
Mayo Clinic on metabolism, “Yes, there is such a thing as slow metabolism. But it is uncommon. Most overweight individuals are not overweight because of a slower than average metabolism but because they eat too many calories and don't get enough exercise.”
A WW article on metabolism actually had me ROTFLOL -
“The Mayo Clinic study monitored the movements of 10 obese and 10 lean self-proclaimed "couch potatoes" for 10 days. It was determined that the obese individuals sat, on average, 150 minutes longer each day (and thus naturally burned 350 fewer calories) than their lean counterparts.
"Our patients have told us for years that they have low metabolism, and we have never quite understood what that means – until today," says James Levine, MD, the Mayo Clinic endocrinologist who led the study. "The answer is they - have a biological need to sit more."
OH YES!!!!!! How I love to sit on my a$$ at the computer reading about metabolism. Second only to lying on the couch reading about exercise and weight loss!
Weight watchers on increasing your activity/metabolism, see-
One final thought on metabolism. If you REALLY believe that your metabolism is abnormally slow or believe that it is possible that you are in Starvation Mode… Please see your doctor and/or a registered dietician.
You CAN have your metabolism tested. An RD is really the best person to help you if you really have depressed your metabolism with years of dieting and eating too little. The advice, just “Eat More” can be scary, because if your metabolism IS slow… you will gain weight… at least initially. It is very helpful to have a trained professional help you with this process.
(You want a REGISTERED DIETICIAN… not a nutritionist. The term “nutritionist” is not regulated and ANYBODY can call themselves a nutritionist and put an ad in the phone book (at least here in CA). Most RD’s have a master’s degree. )
Also, remember, 90% of people who believe that their metabolisms are slow, in fact have very normal metabolisms. Get it tested. It is an easy test to do… and then you will KNOW if there is truly a problem.
23. The Wendie Plan. If you ask about a plateau on most WW boards, you may get the suggestion to “shake up your metabolism” with the infamous “Wendie Plan”.
If metabolisms were in need of Wendie’s tweaking and shaking, WW would have worked it into the plan. Most Americans do eat different amounts every day without Wendie’s micromanaging it.
Do a WW search of PLATEAU or METABOLISM. Look in the WW science center or articles and you NEVER see the advice, “You must eat different amounts on different days”. WW has an excellent team of dieticians and weight loss researchers on staff. The Wendie plan is junk science, in my not so humble opinion.
Wendie works because it gets people counting points again. It is new and interesting and maybe a challenge - but mostly it makes people interested in journaling and counting again, that's all.
I am NOT Wendie’s biggest fan… and I am seriously conflicted and nearly loathe to include it and personally think it stupid, but if you want to try it… I don’t think that it is necessarily dangerous.
Wendie DOES have her WW devotees, who swear that it works… so I‘ll include it. You’ll have to Google it or something yourself.
24. Exercise for us non-gym-rats... Track your exercise for a MONTH. Do you REALLY exercise 4-5 times a week? I had a bad habit of INTENDING to exercise 5 times, but only doing it 3 and believing that I did exercise 4 times. My doctor once asked me how many times I exercise a week… I answered “Oh at least 4 - Sometimes 5.” My memory deceived me. I went home and looked at the calendar. I had exercised 5 times THAT week, but only exercised an average of 3 times a week the rest of the month… The calendar doesn't lie. PS Exercise doesn't burn all THAT many calories. Exercise alone is probably not enough to lose weight.
Plus a LOT of people REALLY overestimate their calories burned in exercise and overeat.
25. “Lift Weights and you will build muscle it will JUMP START your metabolism!!!!” Did you get all excited?!?! OK… it will take you time to build some muscle… How much time depends on a LOT of factors… I can‘t tell you how to do it… because I‘m not sure I‘ve every done it. And once you have built up one pound of muscle, you will burn 6 more calories more a day. Wooooo Hooooo!!! Another bite of… lettuce? sugar free gum?
Weight lifting or strength training is a VERY healthy thing to do. Increases strength. Increases bone density. Increases your self esteem (which can help you stick to your plan when you feel better about yourself!). And strength training will help preserve the metabolism that you do have so that you don't lose muscle while losing fat. While a pound of muscle only burns 6 more calories a day… over time… that is 2,190 calories a year… And I REALLY enjoyed eating them.
However, cardio burns more calories per minute. Best to do some cardio and weight lifting… but don't believe all those magazines and web sites that promise to “Set your metabolism on FIRE with weights!!” See- http://kathleendaelemans.com/ask_weight_training.html
Also put STRENGTH into the Mayo Clinic search box and get a BUNCH of great articles- www.MayoClinic.com
“Strong Women Stay Slim” is an excellent book on why you should strength train for weight control.
26. Drop 100 calories from your diet. The difference between maintaining and losing is just 100 (or less) calories a day. Small mistakes or being off plan too often can be the difference between plateau-ing and losing. Eat 100 calories less each day and you will lose .2 lbs per week (or 10.4 lbs a year). Eat 100 calories more each day, and you will gain 10.4 lbs a year. Slash just 25 calories from every meal and snack. You won't even miss them. Put two bites of cereal back in the box, put the last two bites of sandwich in the trash, switch to lower calorie snacks - grapes instead of trail mix, feed two bites of rice to the dog. For better results, drop 100 calories a day AND add 100 calories of activity…
I lost the last 5 lbs looking at my food logs and realized that I was ready to give up my 2 oz of half and half in my coffee every day. Before that… I was NOT giving up my last vice.
27. Do you get enough sleep? Being overtired can lead to overeating. The body is craving energy and will send you looking for it in calories if it can't get enough zzzzz! Lack of sleep can also mess up your metabolism.
“New research is confirming what dieters and scientists have always suspected - sleep patterns affect body weight. University of Chicago researchers found that a sleep debt of just 3 - 4 hours a day over a few days was all it took for the metabolism of study participants to be affected - in some, the metabolic changes were so severe that they mimicked a prediabetic condition.” "This hormonal disruption can lead not only to weight gain…, but also to an increased risk of developing diabetes."
And the BEST!! Article I’ve ever read on Weight Loss and Sleep Loss at-
28. If you continue having problems losing weight, see your doctor. Are you on medications that could slow your weight loss? Could you have an undiagnosed condition that has slowed your metabolism. Thyroid problems and pre-diabetes may make it harder for you to lose weight. Both conditions are under diagnosed. These conditions may make it more difficult to lose weight - but it can be done. See-
The woman who wrote this essay had insulin resistance/pre-diabetes and still lost 100 lbs. These diseases make it harder to lose weight, not impossible.
29. CHANGE! Change is good. ANY change! Go to a different meeting. Change to Core. Change to Flex. Pretend you are a newbie. Wear a pedometer. Change your exercise. Change your journal. Count points. Count calories. The ever popular Wendi Plan doesn't boost your metabolism (millions [or billions?] of people around the world lose and maintain eating the same calories day in and day out)… It is about change… a different routine.
ANY change is good because it breaks the monotony and gets you thinking again! 90% OF WEIGHT LOSS HAPPENS IN OUR HEADS!!
30. Are you over thinking this???? (ROTFLOL… the thread is sooooo long with my over-thinking!!! You think?!?!?!)
But seriously. WW works. Nobody needs to tweak the program to death. Just do it the way it is written. Eat your target points. Follow the 8 health guidelines. Exercise moderately and earn your 2-4 APs a day and eat them. Eat your WPA’s every week. Just do WW the way it is laid out in the Week one book. Do the program like a newbie and it is your first week. It WORKS.
31. HANG IN THERE!! MAINTAIN the loss you have already worked so hard for. Don't quit and gain back all that you have lost because you are frustrated. Maintaining your loss is admirable. If you stick with it, you will eventually figure it out…
DEFINING "SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT LOSS MAINTENANCE Wing and Hill proposed that successful weight loss maintainers be defined as "individuals who have intentionally lost at least 10% of their body weight and kept it off at least one year."
Most of the American public would not consider this “success”, but weight loss researchers do…
A study referenced in the May/June 2007 Weight Watchers Magazine “A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), funded by Weight Watchers, found people who followed the Weight watchers Points program for two years lost an average of six pounds.”
If you are reading this because you have plateaued… You have probably already lost more than 6 pounds… You are already sooooo “RESULTS NOT TYPICAL!!!!!” You hang in there!!!!!
And just to say it again! AND sometimes plateaus happen and it is your body adjusting… and you are doing EVERYTHING right… and there is just no real “good” reason for your plateau… and nobody knows why this happens and you just have to wait it out. It is frustrating. But it happens.
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: I lose weight better when I eat 2 pts of fruit instead of 2 pts of Skinny Cow ice cream. This is my experience… and science doesn’t back me up… I know, “a calorie is a calorie” (and the laws of physics and all that) but I just can’t believe that 100 calories of Oreo Crisps is the same as an 100 calorie apple.
I think you are correct. It is not the same. Yes, "a calorie is a calorie" in the labratory. However, our bodies use certain vitamins & other nutrients in the process of digesting the food we eat. The apple brings those necessary vitamins & other nutrients with it but the Oreo Crisps do not so in order to digest the Oreo Crisps the digestive system has to take those vitamins & other nutrients from what is stored in our body. If you eat that way often enough you can deplete your stored vitamins & nutrients.
Not to mention that an apple keeps me pretty full and satisfied thanks to the fiber but 100 calories of oreo crisps has me wanting MORE!
On the other hand, I did lose all my weight still having some totally nutritionally devoid dessert at the end of the day...
Out of our beliefs are born deeds; out of our deeds we form habits; out of our habits grows our character; and on our character we build our destiny.
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: I lose weight better when I eat 2 pts of fruit instead of 2 pts of Skinny Cow ice cream. This is my experience… and science doesn’t back me up… I know, “a calorie is a calorie” (and the laws of physics and all that) but I just can’t believe that 100 calories of Oreo Crisps is the same as an 100 calorie apple.
I think you are correct. It is not the same. Yes, "a calorie is a calorie" in the labratory. However, our bodies use certain vitamins & other nutrients in the process of digesting the food we eat. The apple brings those necessary vitamins & other nutrients with it but the Oreo Crisps do not so in order to digest the Oreo Crisps the digestive system has to take those vitamins & other nutrients from what is stored in our body. If you eat that way often enough you can deplete your stored vitamins & nutrients.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: BrenauMom,
1. do 4 laps on walking track without "resting" 2. do 1 mile (17laps) in 20 minutes (3miles per hour)
Posts: 3897 | Location: NE Atlanta (Chamblee, Doraville, Norcross, Duluth) | Registered: March 15, 2004
I went looking for this "tough love" post because I really, really needed to read it. And yes, I've let "just this once" become "every day this week" and conveniently forgotten everything I've learned about portion control. Couldn't understand why THAT would lead to a plateau, till I recognized myself in this blunt, brutally honest text. Thanks again, Denise!
Originally posted by GoingSkiing: Glad it helped. Always worried that somebody is going to post... "OMG... you are soooo mean". Well, I'm not all that worried... and I've been called mean before and survived.
Not mean at all Denise-it is the harsh reality of making changes and facing the truth. I have a problem with denying what I really need to do and this post really made me think...the old me probably would have been like, Yea Right, I don't need to do those things! But I know that change is necessary to become healthier because obviously the way I was doing things was not working. Jill
Summer Challenge Goals: 1) Walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week 2) Plan weekly menus
Glad it helped. Always worried that somebody is going to post... "OMG... you are soooo mean". Well, I'm not all that worried... and I've been called mean before and survived.
LOLOL Well, I think you have enough disclaimers, enough humor and enough "I only know because I did it too" stuff in here to soften the blow and you have never, ever directed this at anyone. Pretty tough to call you too many names. It's a great piece that I know you put a lot of effort into and I'm always glad to see it repeat.
Originally posted by jillybean: And, you are so right about not realizing how many "cheats" we really had in a week. Thinking back on it, I had dangerous pieces of cheesecake in my fridge since Friday night. I ate some Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!!!! Hello!!!
Yeah... really easy to forget about a bite of cheesecake while standing with your head in the fridge... Not that I actually have any real life experience with that or anything...
I gained 5 lbs when we put our house up for sale. That was REALLY shocking because I ate a LOT of really healthy meals and really didn't think I was off track all that much... very shocking how much damage being off track just a little can do.
Glad it helped. Always worried that somebody is going to post... "OMG... you are soooo mean". Well, I'm not all that worried... and I've been called mean before and survived.
Sounds like you've got some more good ideas Jill. This can sometimes seem like such a long process to figure out what does and I think more importantly what DOESN'T work. I think one of the major attractions of fad diets is the fact that you aren't supposed to have to figure out what doesn't work. "Follow these 'simple rules' and you'll lose weight." Yeah, right! Doesn't work that way and that's a tough pill to swallow some days. You're making so much progress in so many ways so don't get discouraged. The last thing in Denise's list is so important. Now is definitely not the time to consider giving up. You are just starting to mine out the gems of what is going to work for you.
This is such a great post that Denise has done. Comprehensive and oh, so brutally honest. Thanks for sharing again!
This post really has me thinking! I just ate lunch, had a Boca Burger and only used on slice of toast versus two. The bread I used is 70 cals/slice so I am almost at cutting out a 100 cals/today. I have also been thinking about getting a pedometer to track how many steps I take.
And, you are so right about not realizing how many "cheats" we really had in a week. Thinking back on it, I had dangerous pieces of cheesecake in my fridge since Friday night. I ate some Saturday, Sunday, and Monday!!!! Hello!!! I guess I figure oh, it's only a few bites but that adds up. I think one slice of the cheesecake I had was around 800 cals!! So just a few bites is quite a bit. I have been good about journaling what I eat and try to post on fitday when I remember. These hints really have me thinking, thanks again! Jill
Summer Challenge Goals: 1) Walk 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week 2) Plan weekly menus
Thanks to Lisa on the ww board for the new name) 
It's a great piece that I know you put a lot of effort into and I'm always glad to see it repeat.