The fallacy of false causation...

I see this on here a lot.  Have probably committed it myself a million times in the last year.  But I don't think we recognize enough how this thinking works and how destructive it can be.

Ok so what is it?

I have seen lots of posts that say "Wow!  I started drinking protein shakes two days ago and my stall finally broke!!!"  or "I gave up X and the scale moved!!!"  Ok that's great. And in the full realm of life possibilities it MAY be why you saw movement on the scale.  It is fully possible.  

However, it may also be the process.  You might have been in a stall period for your body and that week may have been the week you were due, through no effort of your own, to lose some weight because that's your body's rhythm.

Now outwardly one may think there's nothing wrong with attributing a stall break to some little action you took, but consider this.  The further out you get the more you can stall (notice I say can and not will...not everyone is the same).  By attributing stall breaking to giving up something or adding something when you don't know that's the case...it's sort of setting yourself up.  Because if you find yourself in a situation where the scale just won't budge you begin to give up more and more, trying to coax it into moving again.  In the midst of all this several things happen:

a) you kinda lose sight of the basics of your plan
b) you start to feel deprived and resentful
c) you allow all sorts of stress (and the accompanying biochemical changes that come along with stress) affect your life

So you do that and the scale still does not budge.  I've seen it many times in my support group.  So what do you do?  You say to yourself "I've given up so much and the damn scale won't move...screw it, if I'm not gonna lose weight anyway, I'm going to have what I like!"  Now while cutting out things may or may not cause weight loss, putting unhealthy food and habits back in has a great likelihood of causing regain. 

So what do you do?

When a stall breaks, yes it may be because of something you added or took out of your diet or exercise plan or you it could be your rhythm.  The only way to have some clue is to pay attention to that sort of stuff.  OH provides a weight tracker and there are plenty of online food journals out there.  There are ways to connect the dots.  If you don't want to do that (as it can be labor intensive), I'd say just embrace the fact that stalls happen...weight loss happens...and (here's the important part)...stick to your plan!  Concentrate on making changes you can live with and working toward the harder stuff.

There is no magic wand with this surgery.  Weight loss is achieved through reduction of calories and increase of activity.  Metabolism, stalls, BMI, everything else follows those two basic principles.

This post isn't to burst anybody's bubble but to get you thinking about your thought processes in hopes of being able to deal with stalls and plateaus without having mental breakdowns and regression.

I am, as always, open to all opinions--both in agreement and disagreement.

thanks--i needed that info.....all the learnin' I can get will help me along the way...

Awesome information!
Thanks

Nik.......thanks for the insight. You seem to be a voice of reason when I need to hear it.

The hardest thing for me is to realize that after the stomach heals, the huge window for weight loss is closing and you are left with the same old problems. I did know this.  i reasearched RNY extensively, read every book, many articles, interviewed people and went to support group 6 months before surgery.  But now finding i can eat almost anything, I am back to where i was fighting the same food demons.  It is still a daily struggle.  For all of us I guess. I really would like to go to counseling but just no more hours in the day.  I go to support group monthy and that helps.

I don't even worry about the scale. I'm just living life...no need to worry about the scale when that if I know I'm personally doing things the right way - then I don't need any other reassurance - now I mean of course every once in awhile I check it - but...just a number if a lose a lb - and still just a number if I don't - I know I'm healthier and will continue to be. When you become obsessed with the scale all your going to do is lose a few pounds and have all this motivation and start running 7 days a week - then the next week you jump on and you don't lose anything - then you just sit there for that 7 days for that week...just keep with your schedule, stay motivated - and don't consider the number on the scale your reflection in the mirror...

Nik, your postings are always informative and helpful.  I am one who is constantly learning from this website.  And I suffer from the same ups and downs as everyone.  And sometimes I just need to believe that i found a magic trick to help.  I used to freak over the stalls.  But now, I take them as another learning experience.  I work them out.   I have also found that I can read everything on here and try them all, and they just don't work for me.  Sometimes it is just wait and whine .    And sometimes I feel like, WOW - I upped my protein, increased my liquids and walked more and I broke through the stall. Yeah me!  And yeah, it probably was going to happen anyway, even if I am "perfect" to a point.  That to me is part of the process. 
Those of you who are "oldies or seasoned" really help us newbies and middle of the roadies!

Thank you for your great posts.