set points and losing
I saw my surgeon in Sept and was doing great according to him. I am supposed to go back and see him in Nov to schedule a hernia repair for late Dec or early Jan.(my hernia is about the size of a very large grapefruit and I look like I am about 7 months pregnant on one side!!! )He wanted me to lose this next 11 lbs before we do the surgery. I didn't think it would be too hard BUT I have not lost a single pound in the month of October. I am 7 months out and am wondering if this is just a very long plateau or what. I honestly do not know how to get this to budge. I have heard a lot about setpoints and am wondering if its because I haven't been under 200 lbs in 30 years and my body is being stubborn. I would love any suggestions you have. I plan on increasing my exercise to start burning more but other than that I am stuck as to what to do.
Thanks
Sharon
Your DS sounds as stubborn as mine. My weight loss slowed way down after 5 months.
There is something to be said for set points and how our bodies do not want to go past them. Every major plateau I have hit has been the major weight stops of my previous dieting days. I do get past them, but it takes work.
If you have gone for a long while and can’t lose the weight, you might think of doing a zig – zag on low carbing. Do a complete low carb diet (as close to no carbs as you can) for 2 weeks. Remember to eat at least 1000 calories of protein a day so you don’t go into starvation mode. After 2 weeks, do 2 or 3 days of total carbs (as many carbs as you want to eat). Then go back to extreme low carbing. See if you start losing again – although the carbs makes your body store water again, and low carbing dumps the water – but you should see a downward movement after the initial increase.
And I hate to say this, but exercising never did anything for my weight loss. I am getting toned, I have more endurance, and my body looks better the more muscles I bring back – but it’s never done anything for the scale. My body does not want to let go of the weight, and cutting calories and exercising more just made it more difficult to get the weight off. In hindsight, I realize I did exactly the worst thing I could do.
If the zig-zag doesn’t work, I would mathematically calculate how much protein you really need to eat (your body weight multiplied by .4 as a minimum). When I eat more protein that I need for my weight/activity level, I don’t lose weight. Our bodies get used to burning protein/fat for fuel and will convert extra protein (above what your body needs for fuel and muscle maintenance) into sugar – and store it if you are metabolically resistant. So you won’t lose weight because the body keeps burning through the sugar (converted from protein) first before it starts burning fat. If you do this, I would keep an eye on your labs for protein levels and watch for the signs of not getting enough – tired, feeling cold all the time, feeling weak, losing muscle mass, injuries not healing as fast, etc.
