As I mentioned, I've recently hit a plateau with my weight loss. Actually, I'm surprised it took me 10 months to hit one. I kept expecting it to happen a lot sooner.
For three weeks I weighed in at 187 pounds. Nothing to be ashamed of or sad about but when you're that close to a huge goal of hitting 100 pounds lost, you just want the weight to keep coming off. I know I did. And I know I still have weight to lose. But, my body has gotten used to a lot of the stuff I've been doing so it looked like it was time to change some things.
In a way, hitting a plateau has actually a good thing for me. It's made me change more things with my life and, as Renee' says, figure out ways to "shock my body". These changes reinforce to me even more how this is a complete lifestyle change, not a diet. If I want to keep making myself look and feel better, these changes are going to become a regular part of my life.
So, Renee' suggested that I change up my food. Oh lord. If you read any of this blog, you know how much food confuses me. And how stupid I am about food. But, I digress. She emailed me an example of what she meant by changing my food. That caused quite a few laughs at work that day. As I read it, I just got more confused. More words and food I've never heard of. Sounded like there would be more adventures at the grocery store. Instead, my wonderful co-workers sat down during lunch with me and tried to explain to me some of what Renee' was talking about. I think the funniest part was when Kira asked me if I'd ever had a bean. I think she almost fell over when I said no. I wasn't even sure I would know what one is if I saw it in the store. Really, I am not smart about food. At all.
I also had to change my breakfast around. If you haven't guessed by now, I love having a routine. Makes life predictable. So, changing my breakfast threw me all off. In fact, I think every day except Friday last week I was 5 minutes late to work because I couldn't get my timing down for making this different food! It wasn't anything complicated, just required a little more work than an English muffin and a banana!
You may think I'm nuts, but I really enjoy laughing at myself. If I didn't, I think I would probably cry at times from how confused I get about food. The recipe writing people need to start writing things with words 10 year olds can understand so that people like me don't need a dictionary to understand them!
The other part of shocking my body was how I exercise. I'm a little smarter about the whole exercise thing but, not much! Renee' told me to just workout for 30 minutes as hard as I can. So, a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday, I decided I would try to start this new workout routine. I actually managed to run on the treadmill for more than 20 minutes straight at a speed of 5.5. The fastest I've ever gone for an extended period of time. I felt good when I got done but I also felt like I was cheating. 35 minutes (which included a cooldown) felt like such a short amount of time. But, I definitely believed what Renee' told me so it was worth a try. I kept exercising like that for the rest of the week and, when I stepped on the scale last week, I had lost a pound :) Guess it worked, at least a little. I'm hopeful that it will keep working. I want to see 181 on the scale so badly and be able to say that I've lost 100 pounds. I know I'll get there. It's just going to take time.
Change is difficult. But it's possible. And it's worth it. Take it from someone who absolutely hates change. Or, at least I used to. Now, it's not so bad. Start small and build on it. Because it's worth it in so many more ways than I could every describe to you.
"I hope everyone that is reading this is having a really good day. And, if you are not, just know that in every new minute that passes, you have an opportunity to change that." - Gillian Anderson
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