UGH...it is so hard to stay motivated! I have actually gained .5 a pound in the last 9 days....

How do you stay motivated?

UPDATE:

OK, so now it is going on 2 weeks and I am up a full pound. I am just annoyed. I have not been workingout "as much" (with the holiday and all) but I have been stirict with my diet. Especially yesterday when I had salad with NO dessert, no jelly beans, no chocolate, nothing (I deserve to loose 5lbs just for that ).

So how long do these darn plateaus usually last?...I am seriously loosing motivation here. I was loosing so great for that first month and now nothing.

What has been your experiences?

Liane, I have a hard time sometimes...OK, alot of the time. I'm glad WW is closed tomorrow, because I'm sure I'm up. It's not good for me to be home all the time...I'm soo unorganized and I just seem to be always looking for something. It doesn't help that the hag is flying in on her broom. Hang in there!

Hi Liane,

Plateau's are frustrating. I find that what motivates me and keeps me sane during them, is to stay away from scale. I focus on making certain that my diet is sqeaky clean and my workouts grueling. Usually when I'm not looking all of a sudden my clothes feel a bit bigger.

Hang in there and keep at it! You'll bust that plateau!

I just tell myself that it'll end.

I tell myself that as long as I keep doing what I know I should be doing for healthy weight loss, I will get past it.

Looking at my weight loss chart for the past year helps too, since I see there are lots of ups, downs, and no-changes in there. But overall, the line is moving down....

Plateaus are so frustrating. Well look at your ticker...you've lost 10 lbs which is nothing to sneeze at. Go back through and look at old pictures of yourself at a weight you would like to be. Look at motivating stories of others who have great before and after photos. Those are things that help me be motivated. And writing down what I eat. I have to which I've slacked on the last week. I know I grab and pick at food when I don't write down what I'm eating.

The photo thing is a big help for me though. I got some frames for Christmas and I want to take some old pictures and put them in there. I looked back at myself and it inspired and frustrated me all at the same time. I didn't appreciate my body then and I was thinner. Now I'm heavier and wish I was at that weight I didn't appreciate then. I think the thing is once I reach that old weight this go around I will appreciate myself and that weight.

bump

You know, Liane, I was wondering the same thing. My eating hasn't been stellar, but I certainly have kept moving (I'm a server at a restaurant). I think my body is used to being at this weight. Does that sound weird? I guess I need to kick it into high gear to get it going down again!! It will pick back up again-you'll see!

Plateaus are actually probably GOOD for your body as it gives it a chance to 'rest' while heading down the scales. Sort of adapt to the new baseline before moving on. I seem to hit the same "I'm happy HERE" with my own body about every 7-10 lbs. I lose (I'm there right now) and I just hoover over the same 2 lb. range. Maybe give yourself permission to maintain for a couple weeks then hit it hard again? The challenge with that is that you can lose motivation to keep going.

Eh. I don't know. It's a battle most all of us fight though. Persistence is the only sure-fire fix.

You could try the zig-zag method though with your calories. Basically every 4th day you up your calories by 20% over your regular intake. They must still be healthy foods just more of them. That variance in the intake tricks your body and keeps you out of starvation mode- or at least that's what Tom Venuto says in my fav e-book "Burn the Fat, Keep the Muscle".

I feed the body the extra calories once a week. I have what I call my "bad day" once a week where I indulge in something I've been craving all week, be it a slice of cake or a bag of chips. I make sure whatever I have doesn't go way over the calories allowed.

Hang in there, this too shall pass

I also have found that zig zagging my calories can some times help. Seems like if I go for 12-14 days pretty consistent and then I will hit a plateau. If I up my intake (of good foods) for about 2-3 days and then back to plan I find that often can trigger a drop....

I have been on a three week plateau. I go up and down three pounds every few days. So annoying!!!!!

I just try to stay sane by keeping focused on the things I am doing more than the numbers on the scale. Whether it is being proud of my consitency working out or setting mini fitness goals that don't relate the scales like being able to hold the plank for X amount of seconds/minutes etc. Being able to walk/run a certain speed distance. That's what keeps me going even when I'm not losing weight. And I totally celebrate maintaining weight!

I searched "long plateaus" today because I've either been at the same or slightly up for the past couple months. I have also gone down, but then again will see an increase and stay there for a while then a drop.

It's super frustrating. I've searched out other comments and discussions on 3fc and caloriecount. There seems to be two minds: 1) either the plateau'er may not be doing as well on their plan as they think or 2) the plateau'er is consistent but not moving on the scale/measurements.

I'm in the second category. I've been really controlled, exercising a lot (I bike for all commuting), counting cals and eating healthy. The only thing I am concerned could be sabotaging my efforts is salt consumption. I'm a vegetarian and have discovered yummy "meatless" meats and faux-cheese. SOOOOO delicious but high in sodium. I also drink lots of diet soda (four cans of diet mt dew which is high in caffine. I read about caffeine and weight loss but the online comments seem to think caffeine increases appetites thus increase food consumption. As I am extremely confident in my portions, calories, whole foods (celery, apple, raisins, etc), I know that I'm not impacted in this way.

Another problem that I see is I have limitations on my various exercise options because of bad joints and exercise caused pain. I over did my exercise two years ago to lose weight (high intensity, repeated impacts, knee stress). Later I over did it with my shoulders (avoiding knee stress, I overdid the arms). So, I'm biking as my primary exercise.

Of the solutions I've seen online, there are a few methods:

1) calorie flexing with a variable amount of daily intake in a range (still below required amounts for maintenance),
2) fasting to shock the system,
3) high cal intake once a week,
4) moderating type of exercise (increase another day of exercise, add/increase weight training, up aerobic intensity),
5) playing with carbs or other nutritional modifications,
6) support patience and long-range view of overall change from beginning, and
7) take a break for a week or two (on a maintenance level of cals and exercise).

I wonder how much of the above list is like drinking water upside down to get rid of hiccups. I always think it's just something to do while the body resolves itself. Another one is the old thought of "bleeding out the evil humors" with leeches. Most people who survived this treatment and thus made it seem like the leeches worked usually had something else solve the problem or it just resolved itself on its own.

What do you do to end or survive a plateau?

I have a two week vacation back home in the Midwest--it's all about eating, eating and eating. Caution is required when I go home. So, I plan to switch back-and-forth with a day at a restaurant with a day eating at home. I'm looking to swim a bit to switch the types of exercise. As long as I don't go nuts, I hope this two-week break will count as "taking a break".

In general, I am staying "motivated" because I will have to stay at this way of life just to not gain. So, I can't give up or I'll just gain all the weight back. It's not really "motivation" but its "grinding, grim determination". Yeah, sounds fun.