I hit the 50 pound mark in mid December. Since then, I’ve maintained my weight loss (yay) but I haven’t moved very much further than that (I’m at a little over 53). I hate plateaus but I seem to have them after every major milestone (that’s why it has taken me two years to lose 50 pounds). I think there are plenty of reasons why I hit plateaus. I sometimes get a little too comfortable and overconfident with my weight loss, which leads me to be more sloppy and not as vigilant about all the little components that go into losing weight (I think that’s a huge part of the reason why I’m stuck right now). Then there are times when it is even simpler than that - even though I’ve lost weight and improved my fitness/stamina, I haven’t changed my diet or exercise routines to adjust for the changes (also, another reason why I’m stuck). Lastly, external forces in my environment sometimes impact my eating and my exercise. Anything from stress, getting busy at work, travel, dinner outings with friends, or weekend guests can also throw me off course (other than travel, all of those have occurred in the past few weeks). I really don’t want this plateau to last any longer than it has (I want to get to sixty pounds already!) so I’ve been thinking about everything that I’ve been doing and haven’t been doing lately. Here are the areas where I need to do some tweaking:

  • Workout everyday - I’ve had a few weeks where I’ve skipped a workout here and there and I really can’t afford to do that.
  • Stepping up my cardio - I tend to run every other day and my running workouts are pretty intense for me. The problem comes in on those days when I don’t run. I’ve been getting lazy about going to the gym and instead just going for walks. Walking is great but it isn’t enough anymore. I have to make sure I’m doing an hour of cardio everyday that is actually bringing up my heart rate.
  • Resistance training - I’ve had a few weeks where I either only did one resistance training workout or none at all! I need to get back to doing resistance training 2 - 3 times a week.
  • Water - Water boosts your metabolism and I need to make sure that I drink 100 oz of water everyday (not 60, not 80).
  • Pay more attention to what I’m eating - this one is probably the hardest one for me. I really need to pay closer attention to my appetite. I think I’ve been mostly just eating the same portion sizes that I’ve been eating the past few months. I’m starting to think that I probably need to reduce my portion sizes. I’m going to start eating slowly again and pay closer attention to when I’m getting full.
  • Sleep - I don’t know if this is a myth but I thought I had heard at some point in the 25 years I’ve been trying to lose weight that not getting enough sleep can impact your weight loss. My sleeping habits have been terrible the past month and a half. I can do better.

So I think that’s everything I need to fine tune. For the most part, I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job with working out regularly and eating pretty healthy. I just need to make sure that I’m a lot more careful about the little stuff.

This is why losing weight naturally is so difficult - it requires time, commitment, perseverance, monitoring, and constant tweaking.