3-Month Slump ...??

Ok... I think I am starting to understand exactly what the expression means.  Is anyone else either going through it - or went through it - and can offer any kind of helpful advice or suggestions on how to get through it?  For example, I am keeping to the calories per day I should be having and doing my exercises, but I find that I'm bored sometimes with what I'm doing, and frustrated that it's not coming off faster (I've already had a 1 week plateau and have only lost about 15 lbs in 2+ mos) and getting really bored with the same old-same old in regards to the food.  I want to have something that feels and tastes 'substantial' without it really being so - is that making sense?  In other words, I don't mind if it's "diet food" just as long as it's not tasting like it!!  As for the exercising, I'm trying to break the boredom by adding reps, and trying different machines and such.  Any other helpful suggestions would be great!

Thanks in advance!!   :D

After 5 months I hit a plateau and recovered from that.  3 months later, I hit another plateau and haven't recovered from that.  I think it's a bit of burnout and a bit of backsliding.  In any event, rather than beat myself up over it, I'm taking a break and maintaining for the rest of the year.  My weight is holding steady between 184 and 185.

What burned me out was counting.  I was counting every single bite and I'm tired of doing it.  I'm back to trying to change bad habits for good ones, which is how I lost the first 5 pounds before I came to CC.  I'll stick around and keep my journal, and log my food again when I feel it will help.

Thanks for introducing an interesting topic.

I had heard that if you eat the same thing all the time your body will get the message this is what food you are getting and nothing more and will learn to adjust its burn to the food you're feeding it - does that make sense? 

You don't have to eat "diet" food and if you want a treat go for it.  Try different things for your meals.  For along time I was having oatmeal for breakfast / Salad and Tuna sandwich for lunch dinner was usually chicken and only mixing up my veggies I'd have for dinner.  Now I have egg beaters with a low fat tortilla for breakfast and am managing to lose again after hitting a plateau.  I could probably lose more if I didn't binge on weekends, but sometimes if I eat extra on weekends I still show a loss.  Sometimes you got to eat a bit more.  Take a day a week and eat extra calories or have that treat/ dessert.  Just as an example this last weekend I had about 5000 calories each day - my burn is about 2000 and even though monday morning I weighed 169 today I am at 162 which is 2 lbs less than a week ago.  I don't recommend eating / drinking that much in 2 days but its an example how feeding your body more than its used to sometimes can help shake up the metabolism and give it that extra boost to lose again.

I've gone through the same frustration/boredom with slow weight loss - most of the weight I lost before starting C_C was from excercise and it was only about a pound a week. Having as much to lose as I do - that was seriously slow and I had to fight getting too frustrated. After C-c, with exercise merged with food monitoring it started coming off faster - but even that has slowed down periodically. What I am exploring lately is kind of a cycling calorie intake. I stay within my alotted calories but somedays I'm maxing them, other days staying close to the low end. It seems to be working, but it may be too early to tell whether it will be truely effective in the long term. One thing though - I don't necessarily eat 'diet' food. I try to make healthier choices, but if I want or desire something 'not so healthy', I will eat in moderation(that includes ice cream, candy, potato chips, etc...). I just make sure it's not all the time and that it fits within my daily calories.

I know this has gotten kind of rambling - hope you can glean something of use from it:)

For the excersice boredom you need to find something you enjoy.

It doesn't have to be go to the gym. It just needs to be something that gets you moving. The heart rate up.

Walk with a friend. Kick a ball around with the kids. Go dancing. Mow my lawn -) Just find something you look forward to doing instead of something you think you should do.

On food. If you stick to unprocessed food with plenty of veggies then no need for diet food. Small changes like leaving out the butter when you cook can lower calories. Easier for me since I've never been a fan of sauces etc.

Hey There! Taste is everything to me too. My food has to be good or else I'm looking for more. I make sure I eat good tasty food. To be honest I actually eat what I like I just watch the servings and the calories. When I've had enough. I've had enough. Stop thinking of your food as diet food and think of yourself eating the same foods you always enjoyed in moderation and not as much of it. I eat what I like but I measure everything and when I've had a sensible portion I stop. I walk away. If it's really good I'll say to myself I'm going to have that again tomorrow that was good and I do it again. And I drink lots of water. I'm very overweight but it's been working for me! You gotta do what works and what will keep you motivated. If you're bored in the gym why not enjoy the great outdoors. Go to a beautiful park and walk. That's what I do. I love it! The squirrels, the people, the chill in the air is just what the doctor ordered. Try walking everyday for a while and go to the gym when you feel like it. Stay motivated and don't give up! : D

O Goddess of the Metal...yes!

have you ever tried zigzagging? heres a brief discussion and a calculator. ignore the 8x column. maybe you could add in some favorite tasties on the higher cal days that way...i think its very important to take away the sense of deprivation. treat yourself. but within limits.

exercise. the biggest challenge here is boredom. always. i have been working out for years and i have to contiinually change up my activities because i bore rather quickly. i know with kiddos it makes it more challenging. maybe take becka, et. al. with you walking? got to try different things, see what you enjoy. add that in. dont give up the weights, just dont do them as often.

do you have a dvd player? or vhs? let me know, k?

whatever you do chelle, dont despair. be patient. try new things. you can  do this! this too shall pass...

zeke wrote:
On food. If you stick to unprocessed food with plenty of veggies then no need for diet food. Small changes like leaving out the butter when you cook can lower calories. Easier for me since I've never been a fan of sauces etc.

Hi Zeke!
I've been trying to limit the amount of unprocessed food - even just bought a package of pita/wraps that are made with oat bran and they look good (interesting?) ... haven't tried them yet.  I've also replaced some of my higher fat fats for lower fat versions.  For example, instead of the 'regular' mayonnaise, I now use the reduced calorie/fat mayonnaise, which actually tastes the same as the regular.  I bought some of the cooking sprays - one is butter flavored, one is olive oil.  I've always thought of them as just for coating the pan - have you (or anyone here) used them as a substitute (or an ingredient) in a recipe or meal?  I guess it's possible, just gotta get past that 'for pan coating only' mindset.  I like some sauces and gravies although I guess that's just adding even more calories? 

Thanks for responding!

watergirl wrote:
have you ever tried zigzagging? heres a brief discussion and a calculator. ignore the 8x column. maybe you could add in some favorite tasties on the higher cal days that way...i think its very important to take away the sense of deprivation. treat yourself. but within limits.

LOL    Goddess of the Metal!  I like it, has a nice ring to it!  :D

Thanks for the zigzagging link - just finished reading it.  I have been doing something like that, though I'm wondering if maybe my range is too.. limited?  I try to keep my calories between 1500-1700 per day (I usually get in the 1600-1700 range though), and allow myself a little more leeway on one of the weekend days - usually Saturdays.  (Even then I try not to go beyond 2500 calories.)  I did the calculator on the site and am a bit shocked - according the caloric amounts it calculated, for the 11x column (ignoring the 8x one as suggested), I should be having about 4000-4800 cals a day!!  That seems so much!!  I mean, 3500 cals = 1 lb.  How can I lose weight if the caloric intake for the day exceeds 3500 cals??  Even the 8x column averages between 3200-3600 cals/day.  Heck, the CC allowance calculator gives me 2099 cals/day to reach my goal of 135 by 9/1/09.  (My daily caloric burn, based on the CC calculator, is 3000 cals/day, sedentary.)

I agree that it's important to not deprive yourself.  You need that feeling of 'normalcy', and some people (like me) will just end up feeling more deprived and resentful and end up eating not just what I denied myself initially, but other things on top of it.  If I'm really really wanting those 5 cookies, I'll have them.  I figure it's better than saying "no" and finding myself with the empty bag in one hand, and all those cookies now in my stomach, an hour later.  I know myself and my limitations enough to know that I just can't just walk away from it.  I try, and if it works, awesome.  However it usually doesn't last that long.  I have a lot of admiration for those who have willpower of steel.  I don't.

As for the exercise, I am more than willing to try new things.  I would love to walk around the neighborhood.  We don't live in the safest part of town, however during the day it *shouldn't* be that bad.  I know Becka has been wanting to go, and when she gets home from school, there's still some sunlight.  Maybe we can work out some sort of walking routine - go on the off-days that we don't go to the gym?  I like the weights tho - wasn't thinking of giving them up!  Was just wondering, I guess, what I could possibly add, or do differently, to get me out of the boredom rut, both with food and the exercise.  Last night, after I started this thread, I did a google for low-fat recipes to see what I could find.  I'm still looking, so I guess I might be able to find something that's good.  I'm not big into a lot of preparation - that's Wes' department! (he's a chef by trade) - I like quick, easy foods.

And yes to the DVD player.  We had a working VHS, however a tape got stuck in it a year or so ago and it hasn't been the same since (it's an older machine anyways), so we just rent/watch movies in DVD form.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.  I'm trying to be patient and remind myself I didn't get this way overnight, I'm not gonna lose it overnight.  It's gonna take work and time.  ::hugs::

I thought those numbers on the zigzagging site looked high too.  So I went to the Expenditure tool and figured the numbers at "Very Active" lifestyle.  Guess what?  I came out with about the maintenance figure the Zigzagging site recommended.

So I plugged in different weights until I get a similar maintenance calorie count as this site gives me.  This is what I got:

Plugged in: 170 lbs. (2380 cal for maintenance)
11x ---1870 (avg)
--------1870 (Su), 1700 (Tu, Th, Sa) and 2040 (Mo, We, Fr).

Sounds reasonable to me. 

I usually go months without losing, even when I'm being perfect! Then I'll lose 6-7 lbs very quickly in like a week or two, then I have to wait a few months again. It's just how my body reacts to losing weight. Since I've been on calorie count I haven't lost, however if you were look at my food log I get in between 1200-1650 calories per day depending on exercise level, those calories come from whole foods and I average a 50/25/25 for carbs/prot/fat, so I really don't think it has anything to do with my food. Maybe your body is the same way?

yup....same here.....lost steadily, every month, for the first 3 months, then hit a plateau.  added more exercise, plus zigzagging calories, lost some more, and hit a plateau again.  went on vacation for a week and didn't count anything, ate well but reasonably healthily, and stayed within 2 pounds of my lowest weight.  i'm with claire on this....i'm just gonna concentrate on maintaining till the holidays are over.  thanks for bringing up a great topic!