Friday, October 14, 2011

Plateau verses Rebound; a Dieter's Choice


The inevitable flat lining of a dieter's weight-loss is a test. If we allow frustration and boredom to overcome our enthusiasm for our diet, we will rebound. We know this from past experience. I have documented several cycles of weight loss and my inevitable rebound, the pattern is always the same. 

When my weight loss is dynamic and steady, I am inspired and diligent. But when life gets in the way, when dieting conflicts with work and social activities, I face a choice. Buckle down and stick to my current dieting methodology, or slip into the dark side.

My pattern may be familiar to you. Quietly I seek solice in comfort foods, temporarily escaping the tedium into old soothing addictions, sweet creamy tummy stuffers. I forget to pay attention. Lost in the oblivion of oral orgies, my weight line rises, defeating months of success... confirming again my own self-contempt. This is crazy, yet this has happened too many times to ignore.

My advice to myself? Play with the variables, eliminate obvious leaks in the system, persevere. Plateaus are inevitable, even unavoidable as our bodies adjust to our current metabolical state. Let the plateaus happen. Don't panic. Don't run away into an old abusive relationship with food. Reconfirm diet fundamentals, the rules that have carried you this far, and stick to your guns. If only to preserve the new you, that was so reassuring, when the pounds were melting away. 

"This too will pass."