No one likes a weight loss plateau. NO ONE. 

We have all been there. We are being “good” and doing all the things to lose weight and the stupid scale will NOT move.

Bike rides? Check! Healthy eating? Check! 64 oz of water? Check! 

And yet somehow sometimes it seems to take FOREVER to see the evidence in that number.

OR, maybe the number IS going down, but you aren’t seeing the results NEARLY as fast as you might want to.

So, how do you ACTUALLY bust through that weight loss plateau and start watching that number on the scale move in the right direction?

Curious? Read on to learn how to get your head in the right place AND take actions that will get you the weight loss results that you want. 

Recognize that stalls and plateaus are a completely natural part of weight loss

How many weight loss apps have you come across that ask you how many pounds you want to lose a week?

For me it has been literally EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Even ones that I currently use NOW!

This implies that if we do everything “right” then of course we should actually lose what we want to. 

BUT, when you look at my weight loss graph from when I lost my weight? It’s allll freaking over the place. So many ups and downs. 

Weight loss is NOT linear. We are humans with human bodies and we are not going to lose exactly 1 pound a week. It took me 18 months to lose 50 pounds.

Some weeks? I gained weight. Other weeks I lost. Many weeks? The scale didn’t budge.

I would be at the same weight sometimes for a month or more. And then all of a sudden I might see a couple pounds disappear seemingly overnight.

But the thing is? It WASN’T overnight. Sometimes some of us lose a bunch of weight seemingly at once, but oftentimes it’s really the result of days, weeks, or even months of being consistent with our efforts leading up to that moment.

A lot of times when we are working on reasonable weight loss and have reasonable goals and we don’t see ANY difference in the scale we get impatient. We think that 1 pound a week is reasonable and so we want to see that pound come off every week.

Well guess what? That was my goal. That is what I thought was reasonable. Turns out it wasn’t reasonable for me.

It took a lot longer than 50 weeks for me to lose 50 pounds, and that’s OK. It might take you less time. It might take you more. However long it takes is how long it takes, and that’s OK. 

Be consistent with your efforts and see if there are a few places you can get a little more “dialed in”        

Once you have talked yourself off that ledge of quitting because you aren’t seeing the results you want when you want them, you then can start figuring out what to DO about getting the scale to actually move.

When I am working with women in the Lose Weight Biking program who are experiencing a plateau, a lot of times it is because their body has adjusted to what they are doing right now.

If you are experiencing a weight loss plateau, ask yourself if there is a place where you can dial in or improve your weight loss or biking efforts just a little bit.

I am not talking about going crazy and being super restrictive. 

I am talking about maybe fitting in an extra ride a week, or making each ride a little bit longer. Maybe you don’t need to have dessert every single night so you just have it every other night. Or 5 times a week instead of 7. 

Maybe you need to start doing a little bit of a better job at stopping at satisfied. In other words, are there times where you are eating more than you actually need? Times when you feel just a little too full?

This can happen a lot after dinner for many of us because dinner tends to be (at least for me!) the most delicious meal of the day.

Perhaps you are always having an afternoon snack around 2 or 3 that you aren’t even hungry for anymore or don’t actually need.

Look to see what habits you have that maybe aren’t serving your biking weight loss goals, and see if you can start to tweak them a bit.

Remember, small changes lead to big results over time, so these do not need to be big things. Nor should they be! They should be doable, manageable, and sustainable. 

Be a freaking scientist

Bet you didn’t see THIS one coming!

Hear me out.

Instead of judging yourself, that number, or even your whole weight loss journey? 

Take a step back and be a scientist.

Look at the data for what it is. It’s just data.

How many times has someone told you that the number on the scale is just a number? How many times have YOU told yourself this?

I am here to remind you that it IS just a number. It’s just data. It’s just a small little snapshot in time.

Case in point. I got on the scale a few days ago and I was up THREE POUNDS from the DAY BEFORE.

Three pounds? Are you effing KIDDING ME? 

Now I could have approached this a number of ways.

I could have lost my mind over the three pounds. I could have decided that I sucked and was going to just gain back all of the weight I worked so hard to lose.

OR, instead, I could get curious. I could remind myself it’s just data and say “hrm. That’s interesting. I wonder what is going on here?”

There are SO MANY REASONS why the scale might be up a bit, or you might be in a weight loss plateau. Maybe your body is holding onto more water than usual right now. Maybe you are getting your period.

If you just look at it scientifically instead of judging yourself then you might have a reasonable explanation. Maybe you ate a bunch more than usual over the weekend and the scale is temporarily reflecting that jump.

For example, almost EVERY time I have an overeat the scale is up in the next day or two. It doesn’t mean that I actually gained all that weight, just that my body is probably holding onto more water because I ate salty food or something.

I have learned that generally for my body that number will come back down over the next couple of days.

Additionally, if it was a week I was hoping to lose weight I know that it’s probably not going to happen if I am overeating.

And that’s just what happens! It’s nothing to beat yourself up over. Just recognize it for what it is and use that to make a different decision next time (hopefully!). 

Always remember you are playing the long game  

Speaking of recognizing things for what they are, It would be awesome if weight loss happened overnight, but it just doesn’t.

There will likely be times in your weight loss journey where you go weeks, or even months, without losing any weight at all.

I am here to remind you that this is totally and completely normal. The only way for weight loss to truly be sustainable is for you to make changes that you are willing to live with for the rest of your life.

You can’t take temporary actions like cutting out all carbs and expect permanent results.

When we are making these incremental, doable changes the reality is that the weight comes off slower than when we do drastic dumb stuff.

This is normal. This is OK. This is exactly what SHOULD be happening. Because this is how you lose weight for the last damn time.

A Final Note

When the scale is being a jerk (OK, I know, it’s an object…but sometimes that sucker IS a jerk) we have exactly TWO places to focus our energy.

One is on the thoughts we are having about it.

The other is on what we are going to DO about it.

What we allow ourselves to THINK about that number on the scale is directly correlated with what we decide to DO about it.

So if you think “Oh my gosh, this freaking sucks, I am such a loser, I am never going to lose my weight for the last time,” then you are SO much more likely to give up.

If instead you think, “Hrm, that number is interesting. I wonder why the scale isn’t going down? What could be going on here?” you are so much more likely to do something that is going to bring you CLOSER to the result you want, instead of further away.  

 The idea is to get curious about what is going on and then develop your actions (such as seeing where you can maybe dial in some of your efforts) from that place of curiosity.

This is how we get the results we want. The scale stalling is not a problem. It’s just a fact. And, when you get curious about that fact, then you will be that much closer to getting the number to move in the direction you want long term. 

You absolutely can do this. Even when it feels like you can’t. Even when it feels like your weight is just going to always be where it is. I promise you that if you keep taking those small steps towards your weight loss goals you will get there.

Ride on!
xoxo
Stacy