Lexington1020

Why do plateaus happen even when we’re doing all the right things? The human body wants to preserve itself. It fights weight loss by adapting the metabolism to accommodate decreased calorie intake and/or increased calorie output. The body's new plan of attack is multi-pronged: increase calorie intake by making you hungrier (so you eat more), use less energy to accomplish physical activity (so you burn fewer calories) and hold on to stored fat (so it can use it for energy).
I think plateaus often happen because we're in a rut. So even if you believe you're doing all the right things in terms of diet, exercise, and mental or emotional effort - try changing them. If nothing else, it will prevent boredom and help you feel that you're taking positive action instead of being a victim of fate.
Here are some things you can try to shake up your routine.

Change the intensity, duration, frequency and type of exercise you're doing, so your body doesn't become too efficient at burning calories when you work out.
Don't neglect strength training - muscle burns far more calories than fat does.
Don't over-train - take one day off exercise a week.
Plan all your meals (the "how much" as well as the "what").
Weigh and measure your food before you put it on your plate.
Log your food intake - you might be surprised to see what and how much you're really eating.
Try calorie shifting: vary your calories - eat 1200 one day, 900 the next, and so on, to keep your body guessing.
Eat 3 small meals and 3 healthy snacks a day instead of 3 meals a day.
Increase your water intake.
Decrease your sodium intake.
Don't weigh yourself every day - switch to once a week.
Don't skip breakfast.

By the way, if you weigh yourself every day and think that no weight loss for three days running is a plateau, you're going to have a long journey ahead of you. Get off that scale, now!
I have one more suggestion that you probably won't want to hear: CULTIVATE PATIENCE. No, it's not one of my virtues, either. Give it a try anyway.

Let me speak to the shock part first. Yes, I drank - a lot – in college. So did everyone else I knew. So did everyone in my family. In fact, most of the people in my family drank a whole lot more than I ever did! After I got married, I quit drinking on a regular basis. When I did drink after that, I usually drank to get drunk – true. It’s also true that I drank less after I got married because I started taking codeine – very rarely, at first – for bad migraine headaches. Over time, however, I took it daily because codeine helped me to not feel. Anything. At most, I took maybe three in a day. I thought addicts took lots and lots of pills!
So when I was given the alcohol and drug addiction screening, I was certain I wouldn’t meet any criteria for alcoholic, and most definitely not for drug addict. Well, I got one heck of a case of the “Yeah buts…” in a hurry when the therapist said, after scoring my test, “Connie – you’re an alcoholic and a drug addict.” As she talked to me about the items that indicated addiction on the test, every one of my responses to her started with, “Yeah, but…” For example, “Yeah, but I could have answered that question either way.” “Yeah, but I don’t drink nearly as much as most of the people I know, especially the people in my family.” “Yeah, but, drug addicts take a lot of pills throughout the day.” “Yeah, but I was able to take care of my kids and work and go to school.” “Yeah, but I’ve never been in trouble with the law.”
When I had exhausted all the “Yeah, buts” I could think of, imagine or create, I got quiet and let it sink in. I am an addict. And then I felt it. Relief. It made sense.
What made sense to me about my being an addict is understanding, for the first time, the reasons I continued to do things that went against my own values. I started to understand the reasons I did things I said I would never do. It began to make sense that things I promised I would stop doing seemed impossible to stop doing.
I am an addict. I have a disease that “hijacks” the brain. When I am in active addiction of any kind: the disease of addiction that affects my brain doesn’t allow me to listen to reason but stays locked in denial mode the disease of addiction that affects my emotions keeps me in a protective mode so I defend myself by blaming other people and things for my behavior the disease of addiction that affects my spiritual self says, “do what feels good in the moment” and hides the part of me that says, “what I value is good and decent” the disease of addiction that affects my social self, brings out the loud, obnoxious, hurtful voice I am capable of using the disease of obesity that affects my physical being takes dangerous risks, eats poorly, doesn’t exercise and doesn’t care Accepting the truth that I am an addict was a relief. NOT AN EXCUSE. I understood my poor choices better. It made sense that it was so difficult for me to follow through with the convictions I made to myself and the promises I made to others. I began to understand why my behaviors went against the person I wanted to be. Addiction is a brain sickness and a soul sickness. And a protector. All at the same time.
Food, alcohol, shopping, pain medication, and other things I engaged in addictively protected me from my feelings. That is what I wanted most of all. To not feel. I didn’t want to feel the reality of my sadness, my anger, my pain and my shame. The trade-off for not feeling was to use addictive substances/behaviors and betray myself by doing things I was embarrassed about, ashamed of, and seemingly unable to control.
Being an addict was in no way an excuse for the behaviors I engaged in. It’s very uncool to use being an addict as a way to avoid taking responsibility. “I danced with the boss’s husband at the holiday party. What can say – I was drunk.” NOT COOL. “I told her off but she had it coming and besides – I was drunk and couldn’t keep my mouth shut.” NOT COOL.
For food addicts, it is similarly bogus to make excuses for overeating because the kids were acting up, you were late for work and got yelled at, your mother was sick, or your spouse ticked you off.
Each one of us is 100% responsible for our behavior – even if we have addictions. If we have an addiction, once we realize that truth, we are responsible for getting help and learning healthy ways to deal whatever life brings us. We are responsible for learning to deal with our feelings in appropriate ways. We are responsible for learning to work through losses, past abuse or neglect, present hardships, frustrations with family and friends, and all of life’s realities. Without the use of addictive chemicals or actions.
The addictive substance or behavior, whatever it is, isn’t the problem. Sure, alcohol is a problem for alcoholics. Certain foods are problems for food addicts. Shopping is a problem for shopaholics. But those are only the surface problems. Addictive substances and behaviors are symptoms of the real problems, which are almost always rooted in shame: “I’m not good enough.” That shame stems from many possible places.
To treat addictions, we must first remove the substance or behavior. No, one cannot eliminate food from their life. But they can eliminate the food(s) that cause them problems. Once we are free of chemicals or the addictive behaviors, we can work on the real problems and choose who we want to be. When we don’t “use,” our actions can reflect our values.
“Connie – you’re an addict.” WHAT A RELIEF! I understood why I couldn’t STOP doing things I didn’t really want to do. I finally knew there was hope. I knew I could learn to live life in healthy ways and according to my values. But I first had to be willing to live without the addictive chemicals and behaviors.
So I needed help. I couldn’t do it alone. And I didn’t have to. Together, we can support one another into a life of RECOVERY.
What a relief!

Finding unflavored protein in a single serve packet will allow you to sample a brand without having to buy the larger container first. Single serve packets of whey protein isolate are available online with Bariatric Fusion, Jay Robb and Unjury. Whey protein powder is also found in the bulk bins at Sprouts Farmers Market. You can buy a small amount to taste test. Our patients have also liked the larger containers of unflavored whey protein by brands like Inspire , Isopure (GNC, online) and online (online). Keep in mind, whey protein must be kept under 140 degrees, otherwise, it will curdle. Soy protein isolate is also available. Brands include GNC and brands like NOW Foods and Genisoy, which are available online and some natural foods stores. These will be in larger containers. Sprouts Farmers Market also has soy protein in their bulk bins, so that you can buy a small amount to taste test. Sometimes you can get a sample taste of unflavored protein in stores that sell natural foods, supplements and sports nutrition products. Ask about the return policy if you don’t like the product. There are many other brands of unflavored protein powders on the market. If you have a group of bariatric buddies, perhaps the buddies can buy different brands to try and share. This cuts the cost of taste testing. May your protein status be awesome!

Addiction gets such a bad rap societally. It is one of the most difficult things to recover from, yet it is so socially stigmatized that we don’t often talk about it freely.

Food addiction is the most difficult addiction, in my opinion. Think about it:
what other addiction do you have to wear on your sleeve?
Alcoholics can drink to excess without anyone being the wiser. Pain pill addictions go unnoticed for years. Even people with addictions to cocaine, methamphetamines, and other hard drugs can go unnoticed for years. Gambling and sex addicts also go freely into society everyday without anyone raising as much as an eyebrow.

In addition to having to “wear their addictions on their sleeves,” - food addicts can’t ever have the luxury of quitting “cold turkey.” We can’t quit food. In OA they say, with drug and alcohol addiction recovery- you slay the dragon, with food addiction recovery- you still have to take it for a walk three times a day.

This is why understanding why we eat vs. just focusing on what we eat is so paramount in re-establishing a healthy relationship with food. If you’d like to take my free online course that helps you with this very concept, click here.

Author Laura McKowen talks about the concept of the “pregnancy principle,” when people are recovering from alcohol addiction. She talks about the idea that when a woman is pregnant it is societally acceptable to say “no” at any time. A woman can go to a party for a mere 15 minutes and say “hey I’m really tired, I think I am going to go home now,” and everyone responds with “of course, you need the rest,” or “you are caring for two now- you have to listen to your body.”

So why can’t one treat themselves with the same courtesy when recovering from food addiction. If you are at a party that has a bunch of triggering foods, a co-worker’s birthday party, a potluck, a restaurant where everyone has decided to order dessert- why does it feel so unacceptable to say “hey guys thanks for the great time, but I’m going to head home now.”

This is much in part due to inherent shame surrounding addiction. One feels that they should just be able to be like everyone else. Yet study after study has shown there are key genetic factors that often play into overeating, food addiction, and obesity.


We shouldn’t have to have another person inside of us to give ourselves permission to take care of ourselves.
Aren’t you enough?
Whether you are in the beginning stages of your weight loss surgery, or 6 years post- this month, try to look at your recovery the same way a pregnant woman looks at taking care of herself. If you know something is going to be too triggering, not fun, exhausting, mentally draining- either bow out politely, or go for a short period of time and excuse yourself when you’re no longer feeling it.

If you are interested in receiving more free weight loss help with the psychological part of recovery, please check out my free course here.