most of us have been there...the evil scale doesn't move and you find yourself still at the same weight for weeks, or even months on end. I've been there time and time again. Over the years I've fluctuated in my weight. In 2008 I've reached 146lbs from 250lbs in a short amount of time, only to gain the weight back by binging on food for years.
Ive battled depression for a long time. Many people would think from looking at my smile everyday, but I still do. During the years, I've learn, adjusted, researched, and pretty much had breakdowns from losing weight. I've experienced slow weight loss when I reached my prime years of my late 20s. And learned how my body operates by simply learning about my hormones, water weight, body fat, and muscle mass.
In in a sense I've always dreaded plateaus. For a long time I hated the scale for showing me evil numbers of weight fluctuation due to monthly cycles, and not drinking enough water. I had to learn so much about the healthy lifestyle, and what it takes to maintain this lifetime of my eating habits. I used to binge on whole bags of candy, cookies, ice cream...you name it, I've indulged in it. These foods made me happy, and in turn I would spend lots of money on u healthy foods just to make my day feel a little better.
Ive also learned about why my body would plateau over the years. We all know, well most of us, that our bodies are machines. It's made up of energy (carbs) and (fat). But I never knew why plateaus ever happened. By in no means am I an expert in nutrition or fitness. This is by trial and error and overcoming the woes of the evil scale.
Everything takes ken into account when we step on the scale to measure our weight. Most of us have a general scale which displays just the current weight of the day. I used to be a scale junkie because I wanted to know if I was losing weight effectively. Generally for women our weight fluctuates from month to month because of menstrual cycles, hormones plays a big role in body fat loss. There is a difference between body fat loss and water weight loss. That's why, for example, when a person does low carb they tend to lose weigh at a more rapid pace because carborhydrates in our bodies hold water. I've done the low carb days, high carb days, and saw a major difference in water weight. For me, as a woman, I hold at least five pounds of water weight just from pms alone. And I find myself frustrated sometimes during the time my pms decides to hold on to water. And then your body is able to tap into fat stores when you workout rather than glycogen stores (carbs). That's why some people do fasted cardio. I had to learn all this to be effective with losing body fat loss.
I never knew knew that water consumption was important because it plays a role on the scale. Some scales show body fat percentage loss as well. Because I build muscle now I used to focus on the the numbers on the scale rather than how loose my clothes would fit. I had to learn that everyone metabolic rate is different.mind was slow for a while until I built up my intensity in workouts and eating more calories as I became more active. Over my life I was always in the 200lb range because I would start low calorie diets and fail. But I learn my body has gotten used to workouts, and eat I low calorie meals. Even 1200 calories was low for me. The numbers were slow and steady, and I would get frustrated as to why the scale was moving so slow. But I learned, our bodies adapt to exercise...
i learned how how to increase my intensity in short periods of time with HIIT than low intensity because my body was used to the elliptical and treadmills. Everyone is different, and have different goals, and a genetics, and body frame. But I had to learn to allow my body to become u comfortable in my workouts and fuel it with efficient amt of calories.
I started using olive oil in my meals and eating healthy fats instead of low fat diets...and I lost a significant amount of weight. During the first part of my weight loss journey last year I started at 220 lbs. and I had to adjust my eating plan to eat more calories depending on my activity, and increase workouts and change up style in order to lose weight. My body has changed from month to month because I've had to learn, our bodies can starve if we don't eat enough Caroline's to fuel workouts. I've done insanity and the like, and because it requires eneegy to burn, I wanted my body to burn fat stores instead of water weight or muscle.
I eat healthy fats along with healthy carbs...and has been effective. Again, each person is different but I have saw great results by researching and learning my body type because I want to see everyone win or achieve their goals.
Its a a daily learning process but my body isn't adjusted to carb cycling and calorie cycling and I've lost weight in a safe manor. I hope this helps someone because I've been there, and understand that it can be frustrating.