There are hills. There are valleys. There are plateaus. At any point in our weight loss/getting healthy journey we’ll hit a plateau. They may be short or stretch for miles. No matter what they’ll cause a level of frustration that may prove damaging to our sense of self and journey.




At some point that scale will stop decreasing, our endurance will seem to pace, our strength will feel stagnant, and overall a feeling of “ughness” will overcome at the idea of steamed veggies and a 60 minute workout at the end of the day. This happens to each of us. It seems to be triggered by the cease of decrease of the dreaded scale. We stand there weighing ourselves in every possible fashion; morning, noon, night, dressed, semi-dressed, naked, hair up, hair down… However, we can manipulate the scale in reading a decreased number. We’re doing all the right things. Our diet remains healthy. Our exercise regime is intact. Simply put, we’ve hit a plateau.



They are apart of the geography of our journey. Any map will foretell our impending arrival to these plateaus. We can attempt to cross rivers, climb mountains, and jump off cliffs; but, alas, our tired feet will land in that plateau. It’s the way our body takes a rest. We’ve been working hard. We’re doing everything right.



I have hit several plateaus in this journey. Some I navigate through rather quickly and soon find resurgence in all the benefits of my health journey; renewed strength, energy, endurance, and weigh loss. Others stretch on for months. Nothing I seem to do shake it. I decrease calories. I increase calories. I go on a no exercise bender for a week. I go on a Fat Guy Food Bender for a few weeks; all done in hopes to jolt the system for my return to un-Fat Guy habits.



While these may seem to work, they are only shocking my system into weight loss. Is that what this journey is all about? I am NOT going to lie. I want to lose the weight. I am 36lbs away from y goal weight. I am 36lbs away. A few weeks away I was 41lbs. However, shouldn’t this be about my health? If I don’t lose the 36lbs, but remain eating healthy and exercising regularly isn’t that victory enough? If I settle this plateau and build a home in a foundation of healthy living, isn’t that what this journey is about?



As I reflect on it, that’s the most important thing. I am still going to work towards my goal to lose these 36lbs and reach a healthy weight; for me. However, I need to remain in a perspective that sees the plateaus as a part of my journey. If I do not maintain this perspective, what are the consequences? The consequences are my dire than the stagnation of the plateau. Wrapping my self worth and the basis of this journey up in the weight loss v. the healthy living will cause the crumbling of the foundation I have worked so hard to build. Extreme tactics, as listed above, may cause me to put my health in danger. After months of not weight loss I may choose to forgo my journey. “Why bother?”



If I choose to reframe these plateaus and my journey, I’ll center it on what it needs to be about; my health and NOT the weight loss. So, I’ll enjoy the picnic of healthy living in my plateau, while I maintain the march ahead.

Pulling that brick along my journey to remind me of the weight (emotional and physical) that we all carry on this journey.