Plateau....the dreaded word

In all of my reading about weight loss surgery, and now on the facebook sites I belong to for bariatric patients, plateau is a dreaded thing.

Dictionary.com defines plateau as  (I took out the land form!)

a period or state of little or no growth or decline: to reach a plateau in one's career.

Psychology . a period of little or no apparent progress in an individual's learning, marked by an inability to increase speed, reduce number of errors, etc., and indicated by a horizontal stretch in a learning curve or graph.

to reach a state or level of little or no growth or decline, especially to stop increasing or progressing;remain at a stable level of achievement; level off: After a period of uninterrupted growth, sales began to plateau.

So why is this so tough?  Unlike the sample sentence above, I have not had uninterrupted growth, but rather, uninterrupted LOSS.  I was losing at a consistent rate.  But now, it is slowing down, a LOT.  Am I now hitting a plateau, or leveling off?

I do NOT want to level off yet.  I have 43 pounds to go til my goal weight of 200 pounds set by the doctor.  Honestly, I would love to lose even more and get below 200 pounds.  I remember being 200 pounds in college - that is the lowest weight I remember being.  It would be phenomenal if I could achieve my lowest weight in memory!  I just have to get below 200 pounds to do that.

So why is my weight loss slowing down now?  Why the possible plateau now?  I can tell you the #1 reason without even thinking.   I HATE TO EXERCISE and now the pool is closed and I can't go swim every day.  

People say that they love to work out.  Or, they feel so much better after working out.  WHAT?  They must be sick in the head!

I know, I know.  I have to exercise.  But I am so good at finding every single excuse to avoid it.  

I have a recumbant bike and elliptical and could easily go use them every single day.  I have a Wii fit board and discs.  I have exercise DVDs.  I have the "equipment" to do what I need to do.  But still I don't do it.

It's frustrating because I have worked my tail off to change my eating habits.  And I truly have changed them.  I don't eat crap any more.  If I eat the "dreaded cracker" (not supposed to eat them - empty calories and carbs that give my body NOTHING that I need).  But if I do have some crackers, I have them with some 35 calorie cheese that gives me some protein.  AND, I only have a serving of the crackers - that, by the way, is FOUR club crackers.  Yes, only 4.

I make sure to eat my protein first so that when I am full my body first has what it needs.  I pick protein heavy foods, I add things to recipes to add protein.  I stay away from pastas and other carbs. 

I am truly doing the food part right.

So why is this exercising thing so hard for me to just do?  Yes, I dislike it.  I feel stupid doing it.  I get all sweaty and nasty.  I get winded and feel dumb that it makes me feel winded.  And I have yet to feel "great" after exercising.

Some people say they pay a gym to hold themselves accountable.  Here are some issues with that...

1)  I have equipment at home, it is stupid to pay a gym to go and use equipment that I own.

2)  I feel like I look stupid when I exercise and I really don't want others watching me or seeing me.

3)  I don't have a job right now - and though we certainly aren't going to the poor house because of that, we also don't have the extra money to pay a gym right now.

4)  If I WERE going to pay to exercise, I would pay to swim because it works so many more muscle groups and burns so many more calories.  BUT - the nearest indoor pool is 30 miles away.  That means $$ to join, $$ to drive and instead of a 60 minute work out it becomes a minimum of 120 minutes to include the drive time.  If I am having trouble carving out 60 minutes a day, how will I find 120 minutes a day?  

Ok - see.  Told you I was great at finding excuses.  

I had applied for a job in one of the nearby towns that does have a YMCA.  I was so excited at the possibility of getting that job because I would already be there and could swim before coming home each day.  Unfortunately, that job was not offered to me.

Now, I am substitute teaching.  Many times I find out at 6am that I am working that day.  Makes it more difficult to find a consistent time to work out.  If I KNEW I wasn't working every day...or I WAS working every day.  

UGH - like I said, excuses, excuses.  

OK - I am telling you, here and now, I have to put the excuses aside.  I am going to start working out at night before I go to bed.  I HATE getting up in the morning, am much more of a night owl.  So that will work better for me than earlier in the morning.  Tonight I have to paint a bathroom.  When I complete that, I will head out to the bonus room and find that DVD I bought last spring and just DO IT.

If you feel so inclined...ask me if I am doing it.  Maybe the pressure from you will hold me accountable.