As much as everyone would love it, weight loss is NEVER a straight line. You have periods of losing, maintaining and even gaining. We rejoice while we are losing, get frustrated when we maintain and often times, give up when we start gaining. That’s why we’ve failed in weight loss every time in the past, we simply gave up. Below are five things to try when your weight loss stalls.
Look at that data
Data is one of your greatest assets during your weight loss journey. Our minds love to think we are doing ALL the things ALL the time. But in reality our memories are flawed. Habit trackers are a great way to track the habits that lead to weight loss. They can show you what you are consistently doing and what might need a little extra attention.
If you haven’t been using a habit tracker on your journey, print one out and use it for the next week. A simple Google search of “habit tracker” will come up with hundreds of free, printable PDFs. Then decide which actions are the most important to your weight loss. For me, I track making a plan each day, getting 7 hours of sleep, journaling, adhering to my plan and honoring my body’s hunger/satiation cues. Once you collect your data, you should have a pretty good idea of where you may need to tighten up and take more consistent action.
Look at the quality of your food
Sometimes when weight loss stalls, it’s because you have become routine in the types of foods you eat. You can easily fall into a rut of convenience or packaged foods. Look for ways to level up the foods that you enjoy. It can be as easy as eating more nutrient dense meals at home rather than eating out that can get the scale moving again. Also switching to foods that are more fiber rich or focusing on more fresh fruits and vegetables is an excellent way to level up your food game. Even something as simple as using half the amount of condiments can make a difference on the scale.
Get moving
Yup. Calories in versus calories out equals weight loss. If the scale isn’t moving, then maybe YOU should start moving. Exercise is a great way to get the scale moving in the right direction again. On my 100-pound weight loss journey, I lost the first 60-ish pounds without any real exercise other than striving for a certain amount of steps per day. I added in exercise as a fun way to enjoy my new body and get some extra endorphins BUT it also helped the scale start moving in the right direction too.
Exercise can be a tool you choose to use if weight loss is stalling but be careful that you don’t tell yourself it’s something you HAVE to do. Feeling stressed about having to work out and to find a time it fits into your schedule will not be helpful. In fact, it will have the opposite effect as cortisol (the stress hormone) causes the body to hold onto weight. So relax and move your body a little more in a fun, enjoyable way. Even five minutes a day can be enough.
Look for ways to destress
That’s right, instead of things to add into your weight loss routine, look for ways to do less and destress. If you are obsessing about your weight loss, it’s time to take a chill pill. Plan for a rest day. Please understand that a rest day is different than a splurge day or F*** it day. A rest day should be one that you take a deep breath and focus on caring for yourself and your mental health. Think about what taking really good care of yourself looks like and then do it. For me, it’s a ton of hugs from my family. It’s eating warm, cozy foods. It’s snuggling in bed watching a funny movie. It’s a hike outside on a sunny day. It’s a fresh manicure. Whatever it is, find a way to put the focus on you, relaxing and filling your cup. As we mentioned before, stress releases cortisol which makes weight loss harder. Giving yourself the gift of rest and relaxation could be exactly what you need to get the scale moving once again.
Just keep going!
Let’s be real. A weight loss journey is made up of losing, maintaining and gaining. Sometimes when weight loss stalls, all we really need is the belief that weight loss is coming and just stick to what we are doing. The body doesn’t listen to what we want it to do. If it did, we would all be walking around looking like models. Instead, the body operates on its own timeframe. The actions we take this week don’t always show up on the scale at the same time.
The author of Atomic Habits by James Clear uses the analogy of an ice cube melting to illustrate this point. An ice cube sitting outside in 28 degree weather remains frozen. Even as the temperature rises from 28 degrees to 32 degrees the ice cube remains frozen although the necessary work of raising the temperature is occurring. Finally, once the temperature rises above 32 degrees, the ice finally begins to melt. This very same concept can be applied to your weight loss.
You are putting in the work but sometimes you won’t see the evidence of that work on the scale immediately. It may take a few weeks to see the manifestation of those efforts. Just remind yourself that you are doing what it takes to lose weight and weight loss is coming.
Your Coach,
Andrea