Happy Mother's Day!
We have some good food planned for today...brownies being the one thing I am looking forward to, definitely! I will still be tracking calories today, but I can't guarantee how accurate it will be. I don't care if I go over my calorie goal for today, but I still like to get an accurate idea of what I ate. I'm going to do the best I can with that.
I have been fighting a 15-day weight loss stall and I just saw the scale begin moving downward yesterday and today. It looks like those changes I made last week actually worked.
April 26th - May 8th Plateau Busting Plan - Dietary Changes
The most important changes I think were the last two. I haven't made a post outlining how I count calories, so I will just give a basic explanation for those two steps.
- Drink more water - at least 6 water bottles a day. (I have been slacking on that recently!)
- No processed dinners for a week.
- Keep sodium at the recommended level.
- Change my macronutrient ratio.
- Eat more.
- Change my regular bedtime snack.
Basically, my exercise routine in the past few weeks has increased. I found myself exercising harder and more often. The problem (I think) occurred when I ended up adding all that extra exercise, but never increased my calorie intake to properly cover it. I think I was actually under-nourishing myself.
I suddenly saw my weight stall. 15 days at nearly the same weight. So I decided that increasing my calories might be a positive change to make.
The other big change was my bedtime snack.
My bedtime snack is almost always the same (Skim cottage cheese, a pear, 1 piece of dark chocolate and 1% cheddar cheese), nearly always the same amount of calories (250) and nearly always at the same time (9:00-9:30PM).
So, I changed my snack. I made it 100 fewer calories and now I eat it a hour sooner.I can't be sure if one change or a bunch of changes made a difference, but I believe my weight loss stall/plateau is over. I finally dropped a pound after 15 days of waiting.
This coming week, I will stick to the same plan and I will reassess by the end of the week. If the progress is not what I am expecting, I will start with exercise changes. I figured I would try dietary changes first and save the exercise changes for last.
Sometimes the body just doesn't want to keep losing weight. I've been restricting calories since January 27th and I think it feels that enough is enough! I still have quite a few tricks up my sleeve, so I'm not too concerned. I can wait. I'm patient. If I am at a calorie deficit and if I am nourishing my body and not pushing it into the legendary "starvation mode" then weight loss will occur! It just gets slower sometimes and needs a little push. Which is what I am doing.
In any case, I am on the right track. A lot of weight (35 pounds!) has been lost and I am feeling good so I must be doing something right!
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!
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