Enter, The Plateau

Image by M W from Pixabay

 I've been Nooming along, minding my own business and then it hit me this week like the realization that I may never win the lottery; a weight loss plateau. How dare it show up and stall my progress! While I'm happy and am feeling great with the 22 pounds (10 kg) lost, I was hoping things would keep going merrily along until I hit my end goal. As usual, things aren't going to be so straightforward.

Now in the interest of full disclosure, this wasn't the best week as far as "the plan" goes. The week started off a little rough with some extra stress and neglect in the planning due to what I'll just call "career related activities" (i.e. an exciting opportunity that I'll write about later if things come to fruition). This had me putting in time on some Power Point slides and such during my usual mean planning and gathering time on Sunday. Additionally, there were a couple more restaurant-based meals this week; including a Taco Bell splurge on Monday that was caloric overkill. On a positive note, I was able to pre-emptively box up most of my dinner yesterday to take home before devouring it all at once.

Despite that challenge, I was able to pull things together by Tuesday/Wednesday and start getting caught up in the diet area. However, due to other scheduling issues and some crap-tastic weather my step counts were also less consistent this week. 

Perhaps this is less of a plateau and more of an off week? Regardless, the week is now largely behind me and I have a chance to get back on track. Still, there are some things to glean from the week:

• I still suck at things like dining out. Especially when I'm stressed or already hangry (hungry-angry). I tend to over-indulge when engaging socially with food present. It is important to develop better planning and strategies for those times. I'm good with ordering salads, but one I got this week was a cobb salad that must have had 1,000 calories worth of stuff on it! Perhaps the side salad and a soup option is the better way to go.
• It might be time to start heading back to the gym, especially to get my steps/cardio when the weather sucks. Also, I maybe shouldn't rule out taking one from the older folks handbook and go get those steps at a shopping mall. After-all, I am only 10 minutes from the Mall of America. I'd like to think I can "buck-up" and be okay with foot-slog-slog-slog-sloggin' over Minnesota, but it just doesn't appeal at this point.
• Meal planning is a must. However, some adjustments may be needed. I'm finding myself quicker to feeling hungry than I was through the first month. One thing to note was that I was taking a multivitamin up until the middle of last week when I ran out. Perhaps this also helped with satiety?
• Lastly, it's more critical than ever to keep things in perspective and do my best to stay positive. I'm 40%-ish on the way to my ultimate goal. That's a lot in a fairly short time. I need to work hard at making the next steps count and not get stuck dwelling and downtrodden when life throws a little adversity. It's just another metaphorical hill to climb. Once at the summit I'm sure the view will be worth it!