Coping with the dreaded "P" word

So, I haven't written in a while, and you're probably wondering...how much has she lost?

Well,

here it is...

wait for it...

drum roll please...

in the month of February, I've lost...

...


...


...


2.4 POUNDS!!!

(can you sense my sarcasm?)

Oh yes, that's right...I've been dealing with the dreaded 6 month

P-L-A-T-E-A-U!!!!

Okay, enough with the dramatics. :) This month, my weight loss has really slowed down. After adding up the totals I've lost over the past 6 months, here's where things lie:

August 12-31: 17.8 lbs.
September: 16 lbs.
October: 14.8
November: 13.2
December: 10.4
January: 8.2
February: 2.6

So, on this past Monday, I met with Dr. Sudan for my 6th month visit. Before my visit, here were my notes in my journal:

Is this typical?

I've noticed I need to be:
-focusing more on protein being the main part of my meal
-I've worked on being better with no grazing in between meals
-replace sweets with fruit
-exercise needs to be consistent
-chart my eating in 'lose it', to look for patterns and discourage grazing

So, I talked with Dr. Sudan about all of these things. He said that yes, it is typical for people to hit a plateau at the 6 month point. In November, at the 3 month mark, I'd lost about 35% of my excess weight. At this visit, I've lost 55% of my excess weight. They say at a year, typically people lose 70% of their excess weight, so I'm right on track with that. (but of course, I'd like to be able to lose more than the 70% if I can) At my November appt. I was at 44% body fat, and now I'm at 36% body fat, which is also very good. He said that I may not be noticing the weight coming down on the scale, but if my body fat is going down, that's the most important thing.

Why do I put so much importance on the numbers on the scale? I've heard through weight watchers, nutri-system, etc...all of the many programs that I've done, that the pounds are only one way to measure weight loss success. There is also- measurements, clothes fitting better, more energy, body fat percentage, gaining muscle, how you feel about yourself, exercise being easier, etc. that are important in a weight loss journey. Yet, I've found myself so worried that I haven't lost a half a pound a day like I've done the past few months, and I'm beating myself up over it.

Part of this 'self-monitoring' I've been doing is good. The notes I wrote before my appt. with Dr. Sudan are true. I've noticed that I've been eating more and more what I call, "combination meals". Things that have a high amount of protein, but also have carbs in them as well. Chimichangas, pasta dishes, sandwiches, etc. have protein as the base, but also have the tortillas, pasta, and bread as well, and then I can't eat the protein first, which would fill me up. The other night I made some pork roast and mixed vegetables. I ate one piece of the pork roast, and felt full. I really don't ever feel full with the other dishes I mentioned, and I just stop eating when I feel I've eaten a small portion. Eating that pork/vegetable meal reminded me that those meals are what I should be eating more of, and not these combination meals. However, before the surgery, my habits for 30+ years have been to keep my food seperate, but to eat a bite of meat, a bite of carb, and then a bite of veggies. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself to think that in 6 months I can change a behavior that I've currently been used to for 30 years.

They say that tastes can change after surgery, and I've found that to be true. Before surgery, I used to crave salty things--chips, pretzels, fries, pizza, etc. Now, for the first time ever, I crave sweets. Yup--peanut butter M&Ms, Reese's, now and laters, and ice cream--all sweets that I've like before, but didn't really need a bunch of. Of course, I'm not eating a lot of those foods--maybe 10 M&Ms, versus a handfull, 2-3 Now and laters instead of a whole pack, etc. but I know that overall they are still pure sugar and not "needed" in my diet. So, I'm going to try to replace those sweets with fruit more often. Now is not really the season for fruit, but I've gotten some strawberries, and my new favorite-pears. That has definitely helped curve some of those cravings, and of course even though they have more calories, they're giving me vitamins and nutrients as well.

For Lent, one of the things I wanted to work on was committing to 4 days of exercise a week. The couch to 5K program has still been going well, but for the first week of my track out, we didn't do hardly any of the routine. Things kept "getting in the way" and I didn't make it a priority. Since then, I've committeed myself back to doing it routinely, and I'm proud to say that even though Chris can't exercise right now due to his septoplasty and bi-terbinate reduction surgery, I still went on my own yesterday, and even started the next 'week's schedule without him. I ran for 16 minutes total!!! After I came back in the house, I shouted, "I am awesome!" and he was so proud of me. I'm going to take Spencer for a walk today, and continue with the program, even though Chris can't go. Being tracked out has made things easier, but I've realized that when I go back, if I can't go on the day I'm "supposed" to go, then I just go the next day. I need to be more flexible with the schedule, to just make sure that I do 4 days in the week and no less.

So, with charting my food, watching the sweets, eating protein first, and exercising, I'm slowly starting to see the scale move a little in the right direction. After my post surgery group appt. on Tuesday, I wrote these notes as a reminder:

-compare yourself to yourself--this means I can't compare myself and my weight loss to other people who have had the surgery, since everyone is so different.
-if I'm seeing a plateau, which can be typical at 6 months, I probably need to change some behaviors to get things on the right track.
-don't weigh every day--it's important to weigh a few times a week to make sure I'm on track, but weighing daily is probably going to make me crazy. This one is really hard, since I've written down my weight every day for the past 3 years, but I'm going to try to go to every other day.
-once a day make eating the main focus--sit at a table, and really focus on chewing slowly, and not get distracted by the TV, computer, etc.
-don't skip meals--if I'm tempted to graze two hours after I've last eaten, wait an hour instead and have another small meal instead.

So...armed with all of these tools I'm going to:
1) stay positive
2) realize that this is typical, but I can do things to change it
3) committ to eating protein first, eating more fruit, and exercising regularly
4) stop "worrying" about everything and focus more on making the positive changes

Wish me luck... :)