When it comes to weight loss, everyone hates a plateau. They are so frustrating, right? What happens when you hit a plateau in weight loss? You feel disappointed, disheartened, frustrated, annoyed and downright angry with yourself.
So not helpful!
When you feel disappointed, annoyed and disheartened, how is the motivation to keep on going? Likely not so great huh.
- “This stupid diet doesn’t work.”
- “Here I go again.”
- “This is the beginning of it all coming right back on… again.”
- “Just another waste of money.”
So many uninspiring thoughts. Your brain, loving the familiar, goes right back to your past weight loss attempts and SEE! You can’t change. Come back into the safe and secure cave, sit down, have some (insert favorite comfort food – for me it is Almond Crunch cookies) and lets trigger some happy juice (dopamine) to make this go away. Ahh. Much better.
For a bit, maybe. But then the self-reprimand starts, again. And seeking more solace you find yourself at the bottom of a bag of potato chips. Then you give yourself a good buck-up talk ‘I will do better tomorrow little lecture,’ and the not-so-merry-go-round goes around again.
So unhelpful. Let’s skip this nonsense shall we?
What if that plateau is actually teaching you something useful that will ultimately give you success? Instead of hating a plateau, what if you were curious about it? Hmm. “What is going on here?” “What GIFT is this plateau giving me?”
There is an inherent danger here, please be forewarned. Your brain is going to be very confused. It knows from past experience that plateaus are awful and never end well. You are going to ask it what is good about a plateau. WHOA, what? Brain infarct. But, though perhaps a bit rusty, your brain loves to answers questions. Don’t ask it “Why do I always fail?” Or “Why is this so hard?” ASK it a great question. What GIFT is this plateau giving me? What can I learn from this plateau?
Shift your belief about plateaus. Your body does not have words to tell you what you need to know, so it is sending you a message… a plateau. Listen to your body.
Do a thought download on it every day for a week. ASK your brain to scan for and identify what is good about a plateau, then start writing. I can almost guarantee you will be surprised with the answer.
Listen to your body, it may not have words, but it’s sending all kinds of information your way all the time. An itch. An ache. An inside smile. A frown. A plateau. Thank your body for the information. KNOW that your body is brilliant and doing everything it can to take care of you. LOVE it and thank it often. And when you love someone, you listen attentively. Listen attentively to your body!
Be very careful you are listening to your body with LOVE. Reprimanding yourself for not following your protocol is not helpful at all. NOT AT ALL. But, being curious about why your protocol is not working, or curious about why you struggle to stick to it can be ever-so enlightening.
Think about it this way. You slip on the ice, and break your wrist. Your brilliant body sends you some serious pain OUCH!!!! Would you ignore it? No. Would you beat it up for sending you that pain signal? No. You would thank it for the info, and seek assistance. What if your body did not send that pain signal? Interesting thought experiment.
So, “What is great about a weight loss plateau?”
A few answers my brain generated…
- Patience is important.
- Honestly, admit you are not following your protocol.
- Be curious about your self-sabotage.
- Adjust the protocol and monitor results.
ASK your brain empowering questions. It’s a CRITICAL skill to develop. To help you develop this skill, I have created a 5 day Buff-up Challenge ASK Empowering Questions, GET empowering answers.
Here is the link: 5 Day Buff-Up
Please join on in! It’ll be FUN.
Buff it up my friend!
Dr Karen
