Is it Working Yet?
You’ve been exercising way more than you used to, your meals are lean and full of superfoods, you drink more water than ever and you’re fasting like a hibernating bear, but… you’re not losing weight? What gives?! Fear not, you’ve hit a weight loss plateau. Try your best not to let your frustration throw you off the deep end because you’re doing everything right!
Am I Being Punk’d?
The scientific hypothesis [1] behind this weight loss plateau is that it is misleading and the key to the mystery is water retention. Sound confusing?
So basically you’ve been losing fat ever since you started SFD, but it isn’t always visible to the human eye. By consuming fewer calories than you’re using, your body starts emptying its fat cells of triglyceride (the fat that lives in your blood and is made from carbs and proteins) as they get burned up for energy. However, (this is the part of the magic act where you keep an eye on the magician’s other hand) as soon as the fat cells get emptied of fat, they temporarily get refilled with water. This means that while you mightn’t look smaller and the water that you’re carrying adds up on the scales, you actually have less fat! This illusion can be incredibly discouraging, especially when you’re working exceptionally hard and not seeing results.
But, after some time (it’s different for everyone; can be a few days or many weeks), your fat cells suddenly drain their temporary water storage and you will experience a whoosh [2] that makes you feel slimmer and lighter literally overnight. Bodies, am I right? So weird!
It’s important to remind yourself that your hard work is working, it just can take some time to show it!
Don’t Give Up!
When your body is in a state of caloric deficit (burning more calories than you’re consuming), weight loss plateaus, and subsequent whooshes, are part of a natural pattern. Try not to concentrate on them too much or let them do your head in, just remember that you are making progress even when it doesn’t feel like it. The intermittency of your diet is what spurs these whooshes into action; the contrasting stages of famine and feast give your body the opportunity to ‘reset’ every once in a while and flush out its excess fluid.
Laugh it Off!
Okay, let’s get out of the science lab now! The best way to deal with the weight loss plateau is by not taking it so seriously. We know what we’re doing is working, so who cares what the scales look like? Think back to the whole get happy first, lose weight second mantra. It really comes into play now – you’ve got to keep a positive mindset because feeling frustrated will mean you’ll be less likely to stick with SFD and you’ve put in so much hard work up to this point, you’ve got to make it worth it!
If you find yourself stuck on a plateau, use your super power of laughter to combat it. Call up a friend, have a good plateau vent and then use your cunning sense of humour to deflate those dreary feels and laugh your ass off (and we know that that really works)! See a comedy show, watch a stitch-inducing chick flick or just hang out and relax with your best bud and downgrade the seriousness of dieting by laughing about it instead!
Happy life = Happy waistline!
[1] Keys, A., Brožek, J., Henschel, A., Mickelsen, O., & Taylor, H. L., The Biology of Human Starvation (2 volumes), University of Minnesota Press, 1950.
[2] A whoosh is also referred to as LTDFLE (Long-Term Delayed Fat Loss Effect)