Archive for Stalls and Plateaus

In The Zone? • D04P4R3

LIW – 175.4 lbs (12/17/07)
Today’s Weight – 178.6 lbs
3.2 OVER LIW

Here is my menu for yesterday. This is what I had:

I didn’t stick to a Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner thing again yesterday. It was another day of fresh, raw food all day long with the exception of dinner. So I ate grapefruit, apples, bananas, oranges, walnuts, some of that Blue Cheese Chopped Salad, and then dinner consisted of Grilled Huli Huli Chicken with more of that Blue Cheese Chopped Salad, along with some Feta Avocado Tomato Salsa. A total of around 1800 calories divided this way: 113 Fat, 164 Carbs, 55 Protein

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Stalls, Gains and Cravings – What to do? P2 Experience Only

In The Zone?

Could it be? I was pleasantly surprised to see another 2.4 lbs disappear overnight. That’s 4.8 lbs since Friday morning – so I lost my gain from Thursday, PLUS .6 more!!! Feels like I am already on HCG again! It shows just how much damage water weight can be to your system. I am feeling better than I have in a while. I don’t know if it’s sticking mainly to fresh raw foods (I am almost SURE this plays a part) but what I do know is that whatever I am doing it’s working.

I have NOT had coffee since Thursday, have not desired it – this is certainly strange. I was beginning to wonder how I was going to struggle with my coffee situation while on P2 again. Not so much the coffee, but the huge amounts of cream I put in it. If I had to start P2 today, it would be NO problem!

If I could have one more day like that, I would be UNDER the ‘two pound’ limit – well, we can all dream eh? The way I feel at this moment is that it will be another day like that. I don’t know if it will be a 2.4 lb drop, but it will be another day of majority fresh, raw foods. I am slowly coming to the conclusion that processed foods are my enemy. That is about it in a nutshell.

I have done this incredibly healthy thing to my body and then I go and feed it processed foods, what was I thinking? Sure hormones seemed to have gotten in the way, but as of today, I am over that and onward to better health. Shoot, I had a couple of wonderful posts about maintaining a few days or so ago (here and here) and I need to start listening to my own advice eh?

Thank you goes to my readers for the encouragement to help me through this. Paul and my good friend Ju (through a personal email) as well as my buddy Crystal gave me some wonderful insights into Candida and yeast. This will have to be a focus of one of my posts here in the near future. I haven’t forgotten about my Splenda discussion, that is upcoming as well.

Just a little update on my son – the same. JPS – the same. They are both having NO issues this go round! ROFL

Until tomorrow!

On to my commenter’s – these are my responses to yesterday’s comments:

Mary – Don’t they tho! But I really think I have it all under control now. Let’s see, I have learned to not talk in definitives any more because things can change DAILY!

B – Hormones are the pits! Thanks for the visit!

Paul – Thanks for that tidbit of insight my friend. Could you explain a bit more about your cleansing process? Either here or on your blog, no matter. How long, the amounts your supposed to take, you know, DETAILS! ROFL Question, would ‘fruit’ sugar constitute adding to the yeast?

Crystal – The key is ‘limiting’ and for that one day, I just didn’t have it in me to limit ya know? One bite of anything would not have sufficed, it was like I was taken over by some alien force! ROFL – I would also like for you to explain a bit more of what you feel constitutes a good cleansing for yeast.

Take it easy!

Biz

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Stalls and Plateaus • D16P2R3

R3P2 Starting Weight 193.2
Yesterday – 179.2
Today – 177.8
1.4 lb LOSS Overnight
9.6 UNDER LIW of Round Two (187.4)
15.4 Lost Since Start of R3 (VLCD) 11/26/07
36.6 Lost Since Start of R2 (VLCD) 09/16/07
73.0 Lost Since Start of R1 (VLCD) 06/26/07

Here is my menu for yesterday.

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OMG! Where did THAT come from??? I was all ready to come here this morning and write that I was a bad girl yesterday. I didn’t eat any dinner. I was prepared to tell you that I honestly don’t know what happened but around 5:30pm last night I started feeling very rough, very sick to my stomach, and the thought of food seriously repulsed me. I couldn’t imagine putting anything in my mouth. So I just went to bed, and I was out like a light at 7:30pm.

Do you think that maybe my body was doing some chemical thing to dispense with all that fat I just lost overnight and I needed to give it a rest? WHO KNOWS but I will TAKE IT! WOO HOO FOR ME!

Seriously tho, I was NOT feeling good last night, and it came on me all of a sudden. And my husband grilled London Broil last night for us, and I couldn’t bring myself to eat it! Something was up. I am feeling better today, and I certainly do NOT recommend going without food, and I wont be doing that again, but still, this is amazing for me.

This round has blown my mind, seriously. I do NOT know what is going on. I am just “letting go of the wheel”.

All right, let’s discuss plateaus/stalls. I am sure this is all information you folks are already familiar with, but repetition is the mother of retention, so it doesn’t hurt to go over the material again.

Let me preface this discussion that I am talking about plateaus/stalls that happen when you have done everything you’re supposed to be doing according to Dr Simeon’s manuscript.

Dr Simeon’s told us that plateaus/stalls most likely would occur, and that there would be several different reasons for them to happen. Interesting that the words he uses to preface this section of his manuscript is “Interruptions of Weight Loss”.

Interesting here too, right before this subheading he tells us “After the fourth or fifth day of dieting the daily loss of weight begins to decrease to one pound or somewhat less per day.” So before we even start, he basically is telling us that we are to NOT expect the decreases we saw in the beginning to last throughout the course of treatment. Elsewhere in the manuscript he mentions that our averages should be around 300 – 400 grams loss per day, or 10 – 14 ounces loss per day.

We are SO excited with those first few days, or even a week or more of one pound or more losses each and every day. He simply tells us this will NOT continue. We cannot expect to maintain those losses throughout the protocol. He does mention that there will be SOME men that “often continue to lose regularly at that rate, but women are more irregular, in spite of faultless dieting.” So the women need to really pay attention!

He tells us that “these fluctuations are entirely due to variations in the retention and elimination of water, which are more marked in women than in men.” Then he goes on to tell us the process by which or cells break down, fill with water, blah blah blah.

Now, back to the subheading “Interruptions in Weight Loss” – Dr S first tells us about the “Plateau” – interesting that he starts with this. And interesting to that he describes a plateau as being 4 – 6 days. A plateau isn’t two days at the same weight, a plateau isn’t three days at the same weight, a plateau by HIS definition is 4 – 6 days at the same weight. I see most people start to fret because the scale didn’t move one day, and then all of a sudden they are scrambling to find out “what went wrong”, when in reality, NOTHING. Now don’t get me wrong, at the first sign of a stall, it’s a good idea to look over your menu in previous days to see if there was anything that might have contributed to the lack of weight loss.

Some things to look for:

  1. Did you get all your water/liquids in? (Dr S mentions at least 2 liters)
  2. Did you have a lot of sodium? If so, you need to drink more water than he recommends.
  3. Did you do ANYTHING to deviate off the protocol according to “his” plan? I say this because I know there are people out there doing different plans, and when all else fails, look to the one that started it all. In other words, go back to the basics.
  4. How are your bathroom habits?
  5. If you are a woman, is it time for Aunt Flo/TOM or is ovulation near? Dr S this could even cause a GAIN!
  6. Some people are very sensitive to chemical additives, ie Diet Soda, Artificial Sweeteners and the like.
  7. Any new medications?
  8. Any new cosmetics, lotions, deodorant, bath lotions?

Ok, so let’s say you looked at all of this, and you did everything right, then you know what? DON’T FRET! Let the process happen. Or as Paul (Imago Embraced) said, “LET GO OF THE WHEEL!”

Let me tell you that I have experienced stalls. In my first round, I had 9 separate times I stalled, 4 times I was the same weight 2 days in a row, 4 times I was the same weight 3 days in a row. In my second round I had 7 occasions at 2 two days the same weight and then 1 occasion where I was three days at the same weight. But in the big picture, look at the weight I have lost.

Sure, I am human; I want to see something happen every day just like the next person. But when it doesn’t happen, I look back, did I do anything to deviate from the protocol, if I didn’t then I just “let go of the wheel” and move on to the next day. Things will even themselves out.

Ok, so let’s go back to this “4 – 6 days at the same weight”. Dr S gives us an answer for that. He calls it an APPLE day. He is very specific about this, “In such cases we consider it permissible, for purely psychological reasons, to break up the plateau.” He gives us this apple day for purely psychological reasons. In other words, he does this to make us feel better. Totally warranted. We are after all, only human, and it’s discouraging to be on 500 cals and not see a weight loss of any sort for 4 – 6 days. But get what he ALSO says, “It is useless to give either an apple-day or a diuretic unless the weight has been stationary for at least four days without any dietary error having been committed.”

So what is THIS telling us? HA! The apple day is ONLY to be used and in fact is ONLY useful if you have been stellar in your eating habits, following the rules to the letter. This is NOT the answer following a deviation. It is NOT useful for that purpose. So it would NOT be wise to veer off course and then think to yourself “hmmm, I will do an apple day to lose everything I just gained” – nope, this will NOT work. The apple day is for a specific purpose.

The next thing he mentions is “reaching a former level” – This one I can truly vouch for. I had a set point in my 220’s, and it took me FOREVER to get thru that decade. You are forcing your body to obey your will, get passed it. What is interesting about this? He tells us that this ‘plateau’ could last for TWO WEEKS despite being good. WOW – that one would be hard. But it is being done. I have known people to be stationary for 10 days, and then BAM their weight loss resumes. I have known one person in particular that was stationary the entire 14 days, on the 15th day? BAM – 3 pounds loss and then her weight loss continued. Disheartening yes, but he warned us about it.

He mentions the dreaded AUNT FLO interruption, well, we all don’t need to discuss this one. We know how this affects our ability to lose. One thing to remember, and in doing research I have seen this time and time again. Us women are putting our bodies in some extreme chemical processes, our menses, which are usually fickle to begin with, could rear its head at almost any time. From what I have seen, there is no rhyme or reason when our menses can appear. So, when us women have a stall, always expect that this might be the cause!

And then of course he talks of dietary error. HA! I don’t need to delve into that one. But I will, but I will leave that one until tomorrow! HA! Gotcha! This is already too long!

Update on my son: From Thursday (the last day we weighed him) to Monday, he lost a net of .2 pounds. Something happened, but they are not telling me. That is ok. He is back on track now, and home and his environment can be controlled. One day at a time for him. He is at 176.6 – Tomorrow is his picture and measurement day, so I will post those results on Thursday, so stay tuned.

Update on JPS: She is at 156.2 which is 13 lbs for her, she lost .6 yesterday. She is LOVING life! She has now lost a total of 56.8 since the start of her protocol in July. WOW! We sat around lamenting about clothes yesterday. She says she is really going to have to buckle down and buy things. The size 14 skirt she was wearing yesterday was WAY too big!

On to my commenter’s:

Amy – Thanks for the vibes for my son, he seemed to be doing better yesterday, so we are just taking it one day at a time. Can’t wait to see your update sometime this morning.

Crystal – Figuring it all out, that is what this protocol is good at, forcing us to really LISTEN to our bodies for the first time ever!

Jennifer – OMG! Ba-donk-a-donk, that was TOO FUNNY! Someone told me I was losing all my “junk in the trunk”! Crack me up! The only thing I can tell you about the scale is that I feel that during the week of my deviations, I had much slower losses. The kinds of losses you could expect on being on a “normal” diet, you know, like only 2 pounds. HA! I can’t even believe I typed that! 2 lbs is hard on ANY diet! ROFL Your hunger? You drinking enough water???

Michaela – Thanks girlfriend, for the nice words on the pics, and for the vibes for my son. One day at a time ya know?

Tracey – HA! Even I see the difference! How cool is that??? Will you ever be posting some pics???

Whew, another windbag post! ROFL – I am so surprised you folks aren’t tired of me yet! ROFL

Biz (Miz Skinny Minny)

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Stalled • D15P2R3

R3P2 Starting Weight 193.2
Yesterday – 179.2
Today – 179.2
0.0 lb LOSS Overnight
8.2 UNDER LIW of Round Two (187.4)
14.0 Lost Since Start of R3 (VLCD) 11/26/07
35.2 Lost Since Start of R2 (VLCD) 09/16/07
71.6 Lost Since Start of R1 (VLCD) 06/26/07

Here is my menu for yesterday.

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Preview Commercial:

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What did I eat yesterday? I had coffee with 2% milk, grapefruit, beef and cabbage soup, apple and Thai Chicken! I have to get you folks the recipe for that.

My first stall this round. Ask me if I care? Um, NOPE! But here is the interesting thing about this weekend. I had a lot of stress. And yesterday? I didn’t drink the water I normally drink and I had lots of sodium. My rings are a little snug so if I concentrate on the ‘norm’ today, I think I will see a big number in the morning. No worries you all, I’m not.

Totally excellent post on Imago Embraced last night, please take a moment and read it. How appropriate it is for my topic about Plateaus, he said it way better than I ever could – I just love how this guy takes life’s experiences and relates them to the protocol. Believe me tho, I have alot to say on the subject of plateaus too!

Time is just vanishing from me this morning, with the pics and measurements and everything, I just didn’t think it through about what I wanted to talk about today, but sorry folks, I will have to approach the “plateau” talk tomorrow, ugh. I am like those blasted tv shows that leave you hanging, but seriously, I don’t do it on purpose, I just gotta manage my time better! ROFL

No update on my son until tomorrow. He had tinges of wanting to go off protocol this weekend, I am sure spending time with other kids his age this weekend did something to affect him. Please send good vibes his way – he only has 9 more injections until he is done with his 21 effective doses, but he needs all the help he can get.

Update on JPS? She lost 1.2 overnight! She was freakin! LOL – 156.8 is where she is at as of yesterday. She is thrilled with that because that means she will never have to see the 160′s again for a steak day! ROFL

Picture Day! Remember, that these are all clickable for larger view!







MEASUREMENT DAY!!!
Neck Oct 28th = 13″ / Dec 10th = 13.0″ (NO LOSS)
Bicep Oct 28th = 12.50″ / Dec 10th = 12.50″ (NO LOSS)
Forearm Oct 28th = 9.50″ / Dec 10th = 9.50″ (NO LOSS)
Chest Oct 28th = 39.00″ / Dec 10th = 39.00″ (NO LOSS)
Waist Oct 28th = 35.50″ / Dec 10th = 34.50″ (Loss of 1.00″)
Hips Oct 28th = 46.00″ / Dec 10th = 43.00″ (Loss of 3.00″)
Thigh Oct 28th = 24.50″ / Dec 10th = 24.50″ (NO LOSS)
Calf Oct 28th = 15.75″ / Dec 10th = 15.50″ (Loss of 0.25″)Total Loss is 4.25″!!!! Keep in mind this is the total loss THIS ROUND! I don’t know about you, but isn’t it amazing to see how the HCG just concentrates on specific fat? Obviously, I need to lose more on my hips then anywhere else! WOW, that is all I can say is WOW!!!On to my commenter’s:

Lili - Can I just say I adore you too!

Crystal – I am certainly NOT going to tell you what to do, but maybe taking this opportunity to grow and strengthen yourself would be a good thing? I certainly know how the scale can play mind games with you. But if I were you, and I am NOT, but if I were in your situation, I would want to document every single day what is happening with my body. With this protocol, we are finding out all the little nuances our body goes thru. This information would prove invaluable to me come future times. I could see with each and every round how my body is being affected by the little things the scale says to me daily. But that is ME, not you, so you do what is comfortable for you. I certainly understand. The scale is sometimes our enemy.

Jennifer - ewwww! I don’t even LIKE Mt Dew! It’s about the worst tasting drink known to man! I am so glad it was just a dream! First, to answer your question, I dislike IMMENSELY the word “Cheat” – it has such a horrible connotation. I much rather use the word “deviate” and yes, I have deviated from the protocol on several occasions. On my first round, during the first 6 of the 8 weeks I was on the protocol, I didn’t deviate once. On the last two weeks, I had a beer one night. On my second round, during the round I used Half and Half in my coffee the entire time, and sometimes 2 tbsp! During the last two weeks of that round, I had HORRIBLE protein cravings and sometimes had days where I only ate ground beef with salsa and lettuce all day long, getting more than my allotted protein in, but the cravings were horrible. I also ate pork. And toward the last couple of days, I was very loose with mixing veggies, but mostly just adding onions to things. Sweetners? I think different people react differently to them. You have to test them for yourself. Thanks for the questions!

Ewewho – HA! Yes we are neck and neck girlfriend! WOO HOO, this round is kicking butt and taking names! Stall? Schmall! Body just needs to play catchup!

Mary – Yup, I have TWO teenagers and one on the way, I need more than good weight loss vibes that is for sure! ROFL

Larbsl - Thanks for the check in sweetie, looking forward to seeing your update sometime this morning! So glad you joined the book club!!!

CB – OH YES CB!!! Thanks so much for checking in! I know you have had a rough few days, but it’s all about the process my sweet. Let it happen and it will take care of you. Honest. YES! I might just beat my goal! WOO HOO FOR ME!

Amy – Yup! Primping is my new thang! LOL – I am sorry I have to delay the plateau talk, time just ran away from me this morning. UGH

Becca – WOO HOO! Another one bites the dust! Glad to have you a part of the book club!

B – Thanks for the visit! Looking forward to your update!

Until tomorrow, keep up the good work!

Biz

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