“I’ve hit a plateau.” The scariest 4 words in dieting since “No more chocolate cake!” We are just minding our own business, going miserably along with the latest diet craze… hating every minute and hoping beyond hope that scale will jump down a few pounds. We finally work up the nerve, strip naked, squeeze our eyes shut, step on the scale … and OPEN!… only to cry our hearts out (thank goodness for that full roll of toilet paper) and threaten to throw that stupid scale out the window because our weight is the same… or worse yet – up. We shake our fist at the beastly bathroom box and shout “But I did everything I was supposed to do! How could you do this?? Why me???” The downward spiral begins. Our hope takes the first nosedive, and yanks our resolve down with it. Next thing you know, we’re hiding in the garage eating that chocolate cake with our face because that stupid scale basically said it wasn’t worth it anyway.
Can you tell I’ve been there? I have. What’s more I see countless clients face exactly the same struggle. It’s painful and has the potential to derail our progress dramatically.
Sometimes, we can become too infatuated with the number on the scale. What it is… what it could be… what it should be… and this obsession backfires most of the time. When our dreams are dashed “most of the time,” it can be a real challenge to progress.
In this perpetual state of defeat, we can miss all the other positive actions we are taking for a healthy body that may be influencing the scale… up or down.
I have created a fun “Food Management Vision Wheel” that will allow you to look at some of the very important other steps you are taking for a healthier you – that cannot be measured by the scale.
If you’d like a free copy of the “Food Management Vision Wheel” to help you push past plateaus, please send me an email in the contact form and write “vision wheel” in the heading and I’ll email you a free copy.
Meanwhile, here are some questions to ask yourself when the scale brings you down because your weight goes up.
1) What healthy activities are you prioritizing right now might cause weight gain?
2) How might being obsessed with your weight, or the number on the scale, inhibit growth in other significant areas of health that you believe are important right now?
3) (After filling out the wheel) Do you think you may be placing too much importance on weight loss? Why or why not?
4) (After filling out the wheel) Are you happy with the areas you are prioritizing right now? Are there areas you might like to place more priority? Less priority?
5) (After filling out the wheel) There are only so many hours in the day. How might you adjust your efforts to focus on what is more important for your health today? This week?
Progress takes practice. Practice makes progress. Keep moving forward in health, because no matter what the scale says, you can be confident you are changing your life for the better.
Need more support? Contact me to see if personalized health coaching with a Christian Health Coach is a good fit for you.
Julia Fikse is not a therapist or a doctor and this blog cannot and should not in any way replace doctors advice.
Photo by Abigail Keenan on Unsplash
