Before I start moaning, I get it, weight loss isn’t always as simple as eat less and lose weight. I don’t get why, but I am well aware that there are such things as weight loss plateaus, and that any number of factors out of your control can impact the number that you see on the scale.
That being said, working your ass off – or not – for a week and then seeing the number on the scale actually go up SUCKS! The reality is that it’s not terrible, the number went up by less than a pound, but still, over a week I haven’t done enough to lose anything.
Looking back at the week I feel like I did OK. I had a calorie deficit pretty much everyday (we’ll get to that) and I worked hard at the gym. It wasn’t a perfect week, but I definitely wasn’t expecting to gain weight. We did have a takeaway one day, and there was a birthday party where the food on offer was hot dogs/burgers/chips, and rather than eating before the party we ended up eating there and after one hot dog in a bun I realised just how not filling they are, and whilst the meat isn’t terrible, I ended up eating a lot more bread than I have for a long time now.
Now it’s time for the excuses. Weight loss plateaus happen, I shouldn’t worry about it. It has been crazy hot, especially the couple of days prior to getting weighed, so that will have resulted in excess water weight. I’ve been working hard at the gym, but I have changed things up and am currently doing more strength training than cardio whereas previously in a 1 hour gym session I was likely doing 40 minutes of cardio and only 20 minutes of strength training, so there is every chance that my muscle mass has gone up.
No matter what excuses there are, the reality is I had a takeaway, and ate junk food at the party. In the short term that hasn’t helped, but I think the silver lining to this is that it has pissed me off enough that I’m now not looking at comfort foods as something that makes me feel better, the mask has lifted and I now see them for the secret agents of the enemy that they are. Sure, they woo me and make promises about how good I’m going to feel after enjoying them, but the reality is that joy is very short lived, and it definitely doesn’t top the crappy feeling of seeing the number on the scale go up. So, hopefully, going forward I’ll be able to use this feeling to avoid the junk food, and it has already helped because Vikki is out on Friday, as are the kids, so I only have to feed myself, which would normally result in a takeaway, but not this time, I’ve already planned the menu for the week and I will be cooking a sensible meal on Friday.
In conclusion, I’m annoyed. I’m annoyed with myself, I’m annoyed with the process, I’m annoyed at the whole weight loss struggle, I’m annoyed that no matter what “experts” try to tell you weight loss isn’t simple maths, there is more to it that calories in and calories out. BUT, I’m learning from it, I’m motivated by it, and ultimately in 2 weeks when I’ve lost a few pounds I’ll forget all about being annoyed.