If the number on the scale is not changing or changing very slowly, it would be completely normal to say I feel like I’m stuck, right? When it comes to the number changing on the scale we need to look at what is really happening with our bodies. It is important to realize that fluctuations are an inevitable part of any weight-loss journey. They are a normal part of weight loss, because your body has to sort of pause in order to readapt in many ways as your weight changes.
Weight loss is very individual.
I might feel I’m stuck if I fail to lose the same amount of weight as quickly as I did in the beginning or don’t experience the same degree of weight loss as someone else. I will also probably get discouraged and frustrated with the process.
The problem isn’t that the program doesn’t work. It’s your body’s own timeframe needed to repair and adapt. We don’t have to like it, but it certainly helps us mentally to understand what is going on inside – that it’s just not a dead end.
When I feel like I’m stuck, does that mean I have hit a stall or plateau?
Sustained weight loss frequently occurs in a non-linear fashion. So, it’s perfectly normal to lose two pounds one week and then go one to several weeks without losing any weight before beginning to lose again. So, I may feel like I’m stuck, but it is really a normal weight loss pattern.
If this is what you’re experiencing, you may not need to make any changes, as long as you’re happy with your diet, energy levels, and health markers.
A weight loss plateau, or stall, is different. It is a period of at least two months without any weight loss while doing everything right.
Many factors affect a person’s ability to lose weight.
We are all individuals with individual responses to our changing physical environment. Sometimes our issue is that we have other outside factors that are affecting our ability to lose weight.
Here are a few things that will influence weight loss:
- Significant lifestyle changes.
- Stress.
- Illness.
- New medications.
- Old medications you have recently stopped taking.
- Fluid regulation process.
- Inflammation.
- Toxicity.
- Low metabolism.
- Insulin resistance, and on and on…
So, stay in your lane by giving yourself permission to run your own race, not the race of anyone else.
Ways to get weight moving in the right direction.
Keep a food journal.
- Most people don’t realize that every time you eat something between meals, even if it is something small, it provides your body with fuel so that it doesn’t have to go to your fat stores for energy.
- Another great aspect of a food journal or food log is that you can see patterns.
Eat the right nutrients from your GHS plan.
- Learn to get the proper nutrition from your Individual Meal Recommendation Sheet.
- Use your supplements regularly. They serve an important purpose.
Diet variation will help with weight loss.
- Try new foods. It will help wake your metabolism up.
- A varied diet is a balanced diet that supplies all the nutrients you need.
- Diet variation is associated with a lower risk of metabolic diseases like hypertension and diabetes, helps decrease waist circumference and yields greater weight loss.
Watch your sleep patterns.
- Sleep loss alters your body’s inflammatory markers.
- Losing sleep makes a person prone to making unwise food choices, fueling up on caffeine to make it through the day, and causing you to feel more stressed throughout the day.
- Missing out on sleep triggers inflammatory markers, and inflammation is probably the top reason why someone would encounter difficult weight loss.
In conclusion, there is no quick fix when I feel like I’m stuck.
In the same way it took years to develop, it will take time to heal. You can’t short circuit the issue. There is no quick fix. So, sometimes what we might perceive as a stall or fluctuation is the body healing at a new level before it can move forward again.
Your body may even be sculpting during this time (losing inches), as there is much more going on underneath your skin than fat burning… it is healing. Fat burning is often secondary. But don’t let that discourage you. Accept that it is where you are and keep moving forward.