Hello Everyone. This week I had a unusual experience. I have been losing weight consistently since May when I began my journey, in fact I am down almost 100 pounds which I am very pleased with. Last week was only the second time since I have started my weight loss that I hit a plateau were I did not lose a pound. This is not unusual as most people who have lost weight will go through plateaus. What is unusual about mine is that this past weekend I flew back to my hometown for the weekend. I was going to check out a business opportunity and to see family. I am in the restaurant business and I was up looking at a new restaurant to purchase. This meant sampling many different menu items as part of my research. As I am sure you can appreciate it is a very difficult thing to do when you are watching your calories. I was also home visiting my mom and sister who are both excellent cooks and even better bakers. I come from a family where all of us are large people and if you saw the spread of food you would know why we are all so big. To make a long story short it was probable my least discipline time I have had since I was banded. Instead of my normal 1000 calories a day consumption I got up to 1500 calories a day, but still managed to exercise two of the three days I was there. So this morning when I got on the scale I was dreading to see how bad my result was going to be. Imaging my surprise when not only did my plateau end but I lost 5 pounds! Crazy but true.

Congratulations on your amazing success!

It's crazy, but some people actually do need more calories to lose. When you have too little calories your metabolism gets sluggish but too many calories and you won't lose. It's a tricky thing to find that perfect middle ground.

I actually had to increase my calories from 900-1000 daily to 1000-1200 daily because I just wasn't losing. When I increased the calories, the weight came off a lot faster.

Perhaps your body needs a little more than your usual 1000 calories a day? Just a thought.

Best wishes!

NO NO NO It's not crazy at all!!!!

This is PRECISELY what you do when you are hit plateaus. It's an old body builder's trick. You are merely tricking the brain into thinking your status quo is not 1000 calories and it doesn't adjust it's metabolism for 1000 cals or hold weight if it fears you are going into starvation mode.

I do this time and time again. Sometimes I even deliberately have a "cheat" day each week to shock the system if you will.

Keep this ace card in your back pocket next time you hit a stall! Trust me, works every time