I slipped up on my weight loss goals
Dear Donovan,
It’s almost the end of 2015 and I have really slipped up on my weight loss goals this year. I set out to lose 60 pounds by the end of the year and lost only 20. My exercise regimen includes cardiovascular exercises each day for an hour and each day I eat fruits for breakfast, whole nuts as mid-morning snacks, fish and vegetables for lunch, an apple in the mid-afternoon with coconut water, and for dinner I will eat a fruit and yoghurt. I also found out I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and a thyroid problem. How can I continue to feel motivated going into 2016 and not lose hope?
I’m sorry you did not make your weight loss goals for 2015. However, what is very important is that you have lost 20 pounds. This could play a very important role in helping your PCOS condition.
I am asking you not to give up on your weight loss goals. Evidently, it will take some more effort, but you can do this. It is also possible at this time that you may be just tired of being on a diet. This is quite understandable.
However, I should inform you that several studies have shown that your PCOS condition can be improved just by reducing your weight. At this point you will have to sit down and get your mind ready for this weight programme again. You might want to take note of all the reasons you wanted to lose this 60 pounds. Are these reasons still important to you? I hope they are because that is where your motivation will come from to take you through the process.
My first suggestion to you is that you at least try and maintain your weight over the Christmas season and then start back your weight loss programme in January. In addition, why not speak to your doctor about your PCOS and thyroid problems again? It would be interesting to know if you are presently on medication for these problems.
From a nutritional standpoint, you will only get further weight loss if you do a programme that has fewer calories than you were doing before. What has happened is that you had made some changes with your diet and exercise programmes and you had got 20 pounds off. However, at this point you have hit a weight loss plateau. This means that your input calories are roughly equal to your output calories.
At this stage, no significant amount of weight gain or loss will take place. In order for your weight loss to get a jump-start, you will have to make some changes in your diet or exercise programme, or both.
Overall, your input calories will have to be reduced so that the body will be forced to use up some of the reserved fat. In simple terms, you will have to eat fewer calories and burn more calories.
Therefore, start stepping up your exercise by 15 to 20 minutes more. However, try not to do muscle-building type exercises. In order to reduce your calorie intake, you could do two modified juice fast days in the first week of restarting your weight loss programme. This means that you would have your vegetable juices up to your lunch hour then have something light for lunch. Then continue with your vegetable juices for the rest of the day.
Over time, your weight loss programme will again hit a weight loss plateau and further changes in your diet and exercise programmes will be necessary. Therefore, if at all possible, work with a nutritionist who will suggest an adjustment to your weight loss programme over time. In addition, it is very important that you are not just losing weight, but your diet is healthy. Good luck and all the best to you and all my readers for 2016.
