Conference rocks::weight_control

    I know the feeling.  After a great loss of 12.5 in three weeks,
    I exercised myself silly and ate legal things, didn't cheat and
    had a real good attitude going into my weigh-in.  Then I was shown
    NO LOSS.  It is very depressing and I can't say that I'm really
    looking forward to weighing in tomorrow either.  I still haven't
    cheated, so I still have that going for me, but I feel fatter today
    than I did 4 weeks ago!  I, too, would like to know how to get through
    this VERY difficult time... my support network here at the office
    are either off on business trips or too busy to say much of anything
    to me, save Hello.  I need you guys more than ever now!!
    
    					*** Kristy ***

        When I was doing weight watcher's at the beginning of the year,
    I was having terrible troubles with plateaus. I lost 8 pounds in
    the first two weeks, then rapidly dropped down to 2 pounds every
    two or three weeks. And I was not cheating! What kept me going was
    knowing that I was doing the absolute best thing for myself and
    promising myself that good and healthy eating habits were something
    I wanted for the rest of my life. I lost about 18 pounds that way.

        Now, I've discovered that I have problems with my gall bladder
    and weight watchers isn't the best diet for me. So I haven't been
    following their diet so much but I still think about all the other
    stuff they teach , like 'I only want to pig out because I'm angry,
    wait a while before pigging out'. And to my surprise, when I got
    on the scale after a month I lost two pounds! I've never gone a
    month without watching precisely what I ate and LOST WEIGHT! I'm
    always either losing or gaining. So basically, I'm thrilled and
    fired up to lose more on my low-fat diet.

    One other tip: When I was in a weight-loss pool I needed to take
    off weight in a big hurry. (I'll never do that again). I was able
    to take off the weight by exercising TWICE a day. It made a big
    difference. I got up early in the morning, walked two or three miles.
    Walked again, either at lunch or in the evening.
        
        So I guess the morals are:
    1) Try not to be in a hurry. If you're behaving the weight will
    come off.
                                                    
    2) Try not to concentrate on the numbers - if your long-term goals
    are good health and good eating habits then the weight doesn't really
    matter- you'll get to your goal eventually.
    Hope this helps!
    

    It may help to know what is happening when you plateau.  Your body
    is basically taking a rest from change.  Just as you might need
    to take breaks while working out in order to finish your routine,
    it needs to "rest" when taking off weight.  Bodies don't like change.
    They are after what the bio textbooks call "homeostasis" - staying
    in balance, staying the same.  Before you start thinking of homeostasis
    as Your Enemy, think of the good things it does for you, such as
    keeping your temp at 98.6 and not letting you get dehydrated.
    
    For all you exercise nuts out there, what may also cause seeming
    "plateaus" is that while you are losing fat, you're building muscle.
    Muscle weighs more than fat, a lot more (but takes up less space).
    This could cause an apparent plateau.
    
    Hang in there, and be gentle with yourself while the plateau is
    happening.  It's an indication to treat yourself very well, because
    your bod is adjusting to its previous weight loss.
    
    Here is one way a friend of mine defeated the Plateau Phenomenon
    in his diet.
    
    When he first went to his doctor to be put on a diet, the doctor
    set out to prove he was overeating by putting him on a 3000 calorie
    a day eating regime.  In two weeks, he had lost 15 pounds and without
    feeling any deprivation!  The doc said, "see, you _were_ overeating"
    and put him on the reducing diet--1700 calories a day.  My friend
    could not stick to this restrictive a diet--his body plateaued almost
    immediately--and he promptly fell off it.  But he decided to try 
    something else:  he went back to eating 3000 calories a day, and 
    continued doing that until he stopped losing.  Then he dropped the 
    amount to 2700 a day.  When he stopped losing on that amount,
    he dropped it to 2400.  And so on.  He lost steadily throughout this
    version of his diet.
    
    I tried his method and had good results too.  Weight came off slowly
    (I was not that heavy, so it was about 1/2 pound a week) but I never
    got "stuck".  That type of steady progress felt a lot better than
    losing a bunch, then plateauing.
    
    Good luck,
    Marcia

    Hi - I'm a new reader to this file and love it!  I have about 15
    pounds that I gain and lose all the time and now its time to lose
    them again. 
    
    I do have a solution to the problem of the "PLATEAU."  I went to
    the Diet Center a couple of years ago and they have two plateau
    breakers
    
    	1.  GRAPEFRUIT DAY:
    		4-6 eggs
    		2 whole grapefruit
    		8 glasses (8 oz.) water
    		Coffee, diet drinks and lemon juice allowed (nothing
    		else)
    		THIS IS FOR ONE DAY ONLY!
    
    	2.  PROTEIN DAY:
    		Breakfast:  2 eggs
    		Lunch:      7 oz. chicken
    		Dinner:     9 oz. fish
    		Drinks, same as above (nothing else)
    		THIS IS FOR ONE DAY ONLY!
    
    The protein day is much easier for me to deal with and the results
    should show up the next day.  It takes 48 hours for the grapefruit
    day results to show.
    
    Good luck!
    
    Sandi
    

    Seven ounces of chicken and nine ounces of fish?  That's alot of
    food.
    
    Anyway, plateaus.  I've been told by a Weight Watcher's group leader
    that your weight loss usually plateaus when you reach a weight that
    your body has weighed before for a (relatively) long period of time.
    For example, if you weighed 200 pounds for a long time and then
    gained weight, on the way down it will take longer to get below
    200.
    
    Even if this isn't the case don't get discouraged.  What I've
    discovered is that my body has its own cycle.  For several weeks
    I loose 1/2 a pound or nothing, and then I drop between 2 and 5
    pounds.  Even the 1/2 pounds add up.  
    
    And people do loose at different weights.  I"ve talked to two different
    people who had the same amount of weight to loose.  It took one
    9 months.  It took the other 2 years.  
    
    It is true that your body is trying to adjust to the weight loss.
    When you decrease your intake your body tries to make up for it by
    using calories more efficiently.  
    
    Don't worry -- you'll start loosing again.  It's hard to wait, but
    be patient.  and good luck!

    Oh booy!!  Do I know about plateaus!!  I have been at one for at
    least two months now, and it is depressing!
    
    I have tried to take this minor negative aspect and look at it in
    a different light.  First, I am maintaining and haven't gained any
    weight back, that is one key!  I am still exercising and watching
    what I eat and taking my vitamins and still feeling good.
    
    well, gotta go for now!!
    
    Leigh

I was at a plateau for about 2 months....but I stayed no track and the pounds
are coming off again.  Just stay on track...remember to look to see if inches
are lost during those weight plateau times...this means that fat is being
turned into muscle....that is what happened to me. 
Loretta - mostly a reader :-)

    
    
    Have you ever heard of setpoints?   It's when your body slows your
    matabolism down in order to stop losing fat cells.  Your body will
    even turn towards muscle tissue before its fat reserves.
     
    You know how when you first start a diet and you lose all kinds
    of weight?  Well you've fooled your body.  Once it realizes what
    calories it will get, it will slow everything down to reserve your
    fat.  
    
    According to the Neurological Way to Diet by 4 doctors from Brigham
    Young University, you have to vary your caloric intake and exercise
    schedule from day to day in order to fool your body.  As a matter
    of fact, your body will even use your heart tissue for energy. 
    (which is why fasting is so bad for you) 
    
    I also have an article "HOW THE BODY OUTWITS THE DIETER" by Dr.
    William Bennett and Joel Gurin that goes into detail on plateaus
    and set points.  Your body will go so far as to force cravings and
    dizziness and headaches on you to get your to increase your fat
    intake.  (remember all those...."I needed to eat that"...you probably
    did to your body).
    
    This may sound crazy but it works.  You should vary your calories
    by 300 every other day (up or down) and drink plenty of water.  
    You will no longer have pleateaus.  Do not go below 900 calories; 
    you cannot be getting enough nutrition.
    
    If you eat 1000 calories one day along with running and then eat
    1300 calories the next day and relax, you will not gain weight.
    (Unless you ate sugar, fat, etc. to increase your calories).
    
    Just try it.  Use your common sense and be good to your body, it's
    the only one you have!     
    
    Hope this helps!

SSDEVO::HILLIGRASS                                   15 lines  18-SEP-1987 13:32
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    
    Help!  I am so bummed today!  I lost 30 pounds in six weeks
    no problem.  The bad part is that I have been stuck on a plateau
    for two weeks and I am just disgusted.  When I got on the 
    scale at the Diet Center today I could have just cried....
    
    Well I feel better now that I got that off my chest.  (Gee
    I wonder if I lost anything by getting my blood pressure up!)
    
    How do you all release the tension that a stuck diet can cause?
    
    AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
                     (wish I could do that for real)
    
                                       - Sue
================================================================================
Note 114.1                       Plateaus...ugh!                          1 of 1
CIRCUS::KOLLING                                      14 lines  18-SEP-1987 18:02
                                  -< mee too >-
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    I am new to this group.  After years of walking around saying "I
    really should lose ten or fifteen pounds", in the past year or so
    I have gained ten.  arghh.  I guess it's 40's metabolism change
    plus now having a Heath bar dispensing machine right outside my
    office door.  Anyway, I am making no progress getting the weight
    off, but I have found one thing that helps me feel better when I
    get down in the dumps about no progress -- last week I sunk big
    bucks into a rowing machine.  So, now when I grind my teeth about
    no progress, I go and row for awhile.  It releases tense muscles,
    makes me think I'm doing something constructive, and (maybe? please?)
    it will help with the weight.  The nice thing is that since it's
    easily accessible at home, I can use it instantly -- no it's too
    dark to go jogging excuses.
    

    Horray!  I'm finally off my plateau!  I have lost five pounds in
    the last four weeks, and I'm inspired again.
    
    A brief history:
    
    I lost 35 lbs. in six months last year (1987).  Then it took me
    another 3 months to lose 7 more lbs.  Then I started yo-yoing and
    ended up getting slack about my food plan and gaining 12 lbs. over
    the next 3 months!  The turning point was the week I gained 6 lbs.
    That day I got back on the program and started losing again.
    
    Moral:  Stick with it.  Yes, you CAN get off that plateau.
    
    If you need encouragement, just ask.  I'll be more than happy to
    help.  This notes file has kept me from completely giving up.
    
    Thank you all,
    
    Lynn

    **I** need encouragement!!  I have only five more pounds to lose
    to reach my goal, but I have been stuck here at 130 for 2 weeks!
    I am starting to lose my drive, because I am not seeing any more
    results...:-(   
    
    I AM going to stick with my new eating habits...I just need a boost!
    
    Thanks, 
        Dee Dee

    Okay, everybody, it's time to open up this discussion again. Does
    anybody have anything new and different to add? (or maybe just some
    more "success stories" would be helpful!) I have been stuck on this
    plateau for what seems like forever. Seiously, it has been many
    months. It is VERY discouraged when I seem to be doing everything
    right but am not getting the results I am hoping for. 
    
    Now, I am realistic enough to know that I am not going to lose 5
    pounds a week. I'd like to *consistently* lose 1-2 pounds a week.
    I don't think this is unreasonable.
    
    HELP!
    
     -Amy.
    

Amy, I could have written your note!!!!  I've been on (ahem...) pre-mature
maintenance for several weeks.  I THINK I've finally hit the point where
I'm getting over it.

What I did was ask the people in WW how to get reved up again.  I've already
lost 22 pounds and need to get about 15 more off.  Here were some of the
suggestions, and what I did:

1.  Remember past successes and replay them.
2.  Get  the scale and measuring utinsils back out and use them.
3.  The leader said "Write it all down and bring me the food diary
    next week"

I'm doing all that, but on top of it all, I took the time to get out all
the cookbooks and planned out 1 month of dinner menus and grocery lists.
I LOVE doing that but find it hard to make time for it.  I think what I
like about doing that is it is a physical way of showing I AM IN CONTROL.
I now have a list staring at me that says "Yes, you got organized, you
thought about what were good choices, and we're going to have a great
month of great eating!!!".  Something I did a bit differently this time
was to also go thru the side-dish sections, usually I just try a new
main dish.

Also, treat yourself with some food-rewards, that's right FOOD-REWARDS.
This translates to buying bonless chicken breast or already cut up
stew meat or already cut up vegetables, that veal or lamb you thought
you couldn't afford, etc..

Keep us posted!!!

Liz