[lack o willpower]

I have been on SBD for 8 weeks now and my weight has been stuck at 130 for about 4 weeks. My resolve completely faded this week after seeing no changes and I cheated 3 times. Moes burrito one night, McDonalds another night, then Mexican and Margaritas last night and low and behold Ive lost 2 more pounds this week. Anyone have any ideas about what is going on here, Im so confused?

[Lexxiss]

Hi

Thanks for posting. I have been following SB for 5 months now. I have had many occasions when the scale didn't budge although I was eating OP, once I remember very distinctly being at 6 weeks. My most recent is the 3 weeks it took to go from 200 to 199.

I can say that I am going to not use the word "plateau" anymore and instead call that time "internal reorganization". I tried on some clothes this morning and I have had a major body shift in those 3 weeks although I only lost the 1 pound. I'm really thinking that maybe the scale doesn't go down while the reorganization is taking place. I'm wearing special clothes right now that haven't fit in 10 years.

For me, I trust SB and eat OP no matter what the scale is telling me. The weight will come off in its time and right now I'm much healthier than I was 5 months ago. My suggestion would be to get right back OP and minimize the effects of off plan eating ASAP.

Best wishes! Come join us on the daily thread. You're always welcome!

[lack o willpower]

Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. I do realize that the SBD is more about a healthy lifestyle than it is about weight loss, but when the scale is not budging it so hard not to get discouraged. I really have seen a big change in the way my clothes fit as well, so there is progress. I am going to reinvest myself and get back on track. Thanks again for the reply.

[cottagebythesea]

to our forum, lack o willpower! And congratulations on your weight loss so far!

You don't state what your height is, but one of the reasons why you're not losing may be that you've reached the proper weight for your height. The less weight you have to lose, the slower and harder it is for it to come off.

I actually got rid of my scale and just rely on how my clothes fit to let me know how I'm doing. Scales lie and are not reliable, but my body will let me know whether I've lost or gained.

[murphmitch]

Welcome to the SB forum! Wishing you success, but I'm thinking you're going to have to change your user name eventually!

[lack o willpower]

Thanks for all the warm welcomes! The tone of this forum is great and everyone seems so friendly and supportive. I will be leaning on you guys for support.

No cheating today! Yippee !!

[beachgal]

LOW! (you might want to consider a name change that's more positive...if so, just PM any of the mods for SBD and we'd be glad to fix it for you)

Here's the thing: if you take in less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. Sometimes other things get in the way and complicate this, but overall, it's true. SBD isn't something magical--it simply helps those of us who find that we overeat due to blood sugar dips by keeping our blood sugar steady. Thus, when we're OP, we don't overeat and we lose weight. It's possible that you were eating too much on plan food, but when you had stuff off plan, you ate less (perhaps because you felt guilty or more satisfied after?) and then you lost. There could be a million reasons.

What you do need to figure out is this: does SBD work for you. If you don't find yourself overeating when you have sugar and simple starches, but you do find that you feel deprived when you don't get them (and thus, overeat), you might be a better fit for a program like Weight Watchers, where you can pick a program that lets you eat from a wide variety of sources as long as you limit portion size.

However, if you think that eating sugars and simple starches leads you to craving and eating more than you should, then you may find SBD is right for you. If so, then you need to do Phase 1 again to get the sugar out of your system and start over again. When you get stuck, come see us and we'll try to figure it out. Getting stuck is part of the journey.

[lack o willpower]

Beachgal,

Thanks for the response, your advise was appreciated. Ill post a normal day of eating for me so maybe you can review and give feedback.
Brkfst:
2 eggs fried in butter flavored cooking spray
2 pieces turkey bacon
1.5 cups of skim milk
Snack:
I snack pack of dry roasted almonds ( I dont count them, usally about 23 in a pack.
Lunch:
1 cup navy bean or lentil soup
side salad sometimes
( Im a home health nurse so many days I dont have time for lunch at all, so I skip it and eat my next meal at dinner)
Dinner:
Lean protein, chicken ( sauted in olive oil ), pork, or flank steak
Steamed broccoli or roasted asparagus

I may snack on string cheese before bed if I get hungry.

[murphmitch]

Originally Posted by lack o willpower

( Im a home health nurse so many days I dont have time for lunch at all, so I skip it and eat my next meal at dinner)

Lack o willpower, I'm a nurse too, so I know how busy you can be, but it's vital on this way of eating, to eat something every 3-4 hours and not go for long stretches without eating something. You need to eat veggies more often (4 1/2 cups a day). I suggest you buy individual cans/bottles of V8, take little bags of grape tomatoes (great with hummus) or other veggies that you like. The key to success is planning ahead and packing the food for easy accessibility even though you are busy. I snack on deli turkey, string cheese, FF yogurt, SF pudding (Phase II), hard boiled eggs and lots of veggies.

[KDHW]

Originally Posted by lack o willpower

Thanks for all the warm welcomes! The tone of this forum is great and everyone seems so friendly and supportive. I will be leaning on you guys for support.

No cheating today! Yippee !!

thats great one day at a time

where in Florida are you?

[lack o willpower]

I live in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. In the panhandle.

[beachgal]

LOW, Anne's advice is spot-on.

You definitely need more food! Though you didn't post it, I'd assume that it'd be very easy, if I were eating as you are, to give in to temptation and eat a lot when I got home. If that happens, even if all the food is on plan, you'll have trouble losing. As Dr. A says in the book, it's SOOOOO much easier to stave off an episode of low blood sugar than it is to deal with it when it happens. When you don't eat every 3-4 hours, according to the book, you end up with low blood sugar and get really hungry, followed by a large binge in an attempt to bring up your blood sugar. While the food in Phase 1 will eventually work to bring your blood sugar level up, it works MUCH more slowly than sugar and simple carbs do, so you'll feel bad much longer and end up eating a lot more. Therefore, as Anne suggested, you need to plan ahead, bring food with you (if you can bring a cooler with you, do it!), and make sure you're eating in between clients. Here are some things you might try bringing with you:

• cheese sticks (or 2% cheese singles)
• cherry or grape tomatoes
• bell pepper strips and hummus or SBD-safe dressing
• portioned-out servings of nuts
• roasted chickpeas
• containers of 3-bean salad (SF homemade)
• cut up jicama with salsa (SF)
• celery sticks with laughing cow lite cheese
• sun-dried tomatoes
• homemade smoothies (keep in a cooler and drink with a straw while driving)

Of course, when you get to Phase 2, the list expands exponentially. But the idea stays the same. You need to figure out how to get healthy food into your day, even if you end up with three snacks instead of a snack and a lunch.

Otherwise, you're doing great! Hope you're starting to see some results.

[sarahyu]

Also you may need to re-evaluate your weight loss goals depending on your body type and age. I'm 5' tall and my doctor thinks I'll be excellent at 135-140 but will be happy with me at 150 because of the amount of muscle I have.
Good luck
Sarah