277.6 plateau - this means war.

My little rock climber

You know, if I'm going to plateau, I'd really prefer to plateau after a little more than 13 lbs of weight loss. But since it is what it is, I have a choice.

But first, an update on the last 7 days:
11/27 280.6
11/28 278.6 (This is when you last heard from me)
11/29 281.8 (Turkish Kitchen is Evil. I could not restrain myself from the gluttony)
11/30 278.2 (back on track, let's continue)
12/01 277.8 (WTF?)
12/02 277.8 (after a 1400-calorie day?)
12/03 277.6 (after a sub-1000 calorie day.)

So I've stopped losing weight. What does this mean?

1.) On one hand, it's worthy of being bummed about
2.) On the other hand, it's nothing to be alarmed about
3.) Plateaus are actually a normal and expected component of weight loss (gain, too)
4.) When I break through this plateau, I can expect to lose weight quickly again.

This happened to me before, at 301 lbs (which is a helluva time to hit a plateau) and it emotionally devastated me. I had been looking for years to get under 300 lbs, and for 11 days I was stuck right above the threshold. The devastation led to less discipline with my eating, which in retrospect makes me wonder if the plateau had to last 11 days.

I am taking a different attitude towards this plateau. True, it's a drag that it happened right above the 275 milestone, but that to me is not nearly as significant as 300, and thus never really looked forward to it (259, and 250 for that matter, are different stories).

This time I am rolling up my sleeves and getting even more aggressive with the calorie restriction. My old goal of 260 by next weekend is on the backburner - and it has been replaced by a new goal is 270 or bust, by any means necessary, as soon as possible, come hell or high water. I am not depressed but angry. not resigned but committed. not wishful but excited.

And I will take it one day at a time. Today, I am fasting. (I try to fast one day per week anyway.) I'll decide tomorrow's strategy when tomorrow comes. I am stronger than this plateau and I'm going to beat the thing.


I know you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat for the next update, so to pass the time, here is some reading on calorie restriction that I thought was interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction.