Change in weight (2/1/21 – 2/8/21): +1.6 LBS
I am a bit frustrated right now. I have been in denial about that fact that I’ve been stuck on a plateau for a while now. I have gone up and down and today weigh the same amount I did in mid October. I call it a lonely plateau, because despite the fact I know everybody goes through these, it feels like I’m alone while the rest of the world is moving forward.
I know all the common responses to hitting a wall. I am even getting fed up with myself for when I feed my own head the cheesy “break through” type of comments. In reality, I need to just own the situation, embrace it, diagnose some reasoning, and plan my next steps.
As I have started thinking about moving on from this plateau, I wanted to remind myself of some longterm goals. First, I have two weddings this coming fall and will need to purchase at least one new suit. I want to be closer to a goal weight/fitness by then so that I am not spending a lot on something that will not fit for long. Second, I want to run a couple 5Ks this year and a 10K in the fall. Third, I want to get stronger and also develop some more upper body muscle (I have huuuge legs, so they don’t need a lot of extra love right now).
Now that I have some good long term aspirations to keep my eyes on, I need to call out what has been causing more difficulty.
1-I have not cared as much about my portion sizes with dinner. I have been very good about breakfasts and lunches, but am blowing calorie counts in my dinner meal
2-I have been snacking more with little regard to consequences
3-My home situation is DIFFERENT. New baby, less time, less sleep. Work around this and make it work.
4-I have not been properly fueling myself leading to more fatigue and more empty calories.
I set a simple goal for my upcoming week. I need to track every bite. I say this all the time but I need to track even the random cracker, when I eat a leftover off my daughter’s plate, and so on and so forth. I also want to maximize the time I do have to work out. This means more targeted workouts and make sure to emphasize recovery on days where I have less time.
I do not like to set weight targets week after week, but I would like a good bounce-back week. A type of week to remind myself that I can accomplish this stuff when I put my mind to it and I am capable of overcoming the current frustrations.
Finally, I could use some encouragement. I feel selfish in asking for it, but hearing some feedback from some of you goes a long way. I, to a fault, am a personality that relies on hearing affirmation from others. So I am humbly asking for some. Let’s see what next week brings!
Leave a like or a comment. Is anybody else struggling? What are you doing to move beyond your plateau? Don’t forget about following my instagram @a_better_ben
Action Plan:
Every day goals:
1.Drink 10 cups of water
2.Track every bite
3.20 Body weight squats
Daily goals
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
| Walk | Walk | Walk | Walk | No Walk | Walk | Walk |
| Low impact Ride | Upper body Strength and stretch | Power zone, Wk3 Day 1 | Power zone, Wk3 Day 2 | Power zone, Wk3 Day 3 Strength | Power zone, Wk3 Day 4 | Stretch and recovery |
| Meal Plan | Meal plan | Meal Plan | Meal Plan | Meal Plan | Modest takeout | Meal Plan |
Please stay tuned for more updates. If you have been enjoying this, please become an email follower or a wordpress follower. Having this public audience has been a positive motivation for me to continue working towards my goals and so I really am thankful for all of you!
| Date | Change in Weight |
| 12/1* | – |
| 12/2* | -5.4 lbs |
| 12/9 | -5.4 lbs |
| 12/16 | -3.4 lbs |
| 12/23 | +2.8 lbs |
| 12/29 | -1.2 lbs |
| 1/6 | -1.4 lbs |
| 1/13 | -1.6 lbs |
| 1/20 | -1.4 lbs |
| 1/27 | +0.4 lbs |
| 2/3 | -1.2 lbs |
| 2/10 | -4.6 lbs |
| 2/17 | +0.4 lbs |
| 2/24 | -1.6 lbs |
| 3/2 | -3.2 lbs |
| 3/9 | +1.8 lbs |
| 3/16 | -3.2 lbs |
| 3/23 | -0.6 lbs |
| 3/30 | +0.4 lbs |
| 4/6 | -1.6 lbs |
| 4/13 | +0.8 lbs |
| 4/20 | -1.8 lbs |
| 4/27 | 0 lbs |
| 5/4 | +2.4 lbs |
| 5/11 | -5.2 lbs |
| 5/18 | 0 lbs |
| 5/25 | -1.0 lbs |
| 6/1 | -1.2 lbs |
| 6/8 | -0.4 lbs |
| 6/15 | -0.8 lbs |
| 6/22 | +0.8 lbs |
| 6/29 | -1.4 lbs |
| 7/6 | -2.4 lbs |
| 7/13 | +2.4 lbs |
| 7/20 | -1.6 lbs |
| 7/27 | -0.4 lbs |
| 8/3 | -1.2 lbs |
| 8/10 | +0.4 lbs |
| 8/17 | -1.4 lbs |
| 8/24 | -1.4 lbs |
| 8/31 | -0.2 lbs |
| 9/7 | -0.6 lbs |
| 9/14 | -1.4 lbs |
| 9/21 | +0.2 lbs |
| 9/28 | -1.8 lbs |
| 10/5 | -0.2 lbs |
| 10/12 | -1.0 lbs |
| 10/19 | -1.0 lbs |
| 10/26 | +0.8 lbs |
| 11/2 | -1.4 lbs |
| 11/9 | +2.0 lbs |
| 11/16 | -1.8 lbs |
| 11/23 | -0.4 lbs |
| 11/30 | +0.2 lbs |
| 12/7 | -0.2 lbs |
| 12/14 | -1.2 lbs |
| 12/21 | +1.8 lbs |
| 12/28 | +0.8 lbs |
| 1/4 | -1.2 lbs |
| 1/11 | -0.4 lbs |
| 1/18 | 0 lbs |
| 1/25 | N/A – no weigh-in |
| 2/1 | -0.6 lbs |
| 2/8 | +1.6 lbs |
* I first weighed myself on a Sunday night and began the regular weigh-ins the following morning
-Ben
I’m can sympathize with the plateau. I seem to float up and down between the same two pounds and just cannot budge. I started yet another month-long, online workout. In the past, I wasn’t committed to healthy eating as much. This go-around, I promised myself that I would eat as little processed food as I can. Hoping you can stick to the goals you mentioned above. Hopefully, you’ll get out of the plateau soon.
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Thanks! And it is true. I am trying to stick to a simple plan and get some small victories to remind myself I can achieve what I set out to do!
Good luck to you as well!
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