Stalling Out--Motivation Refound

Honeymoon--June 2002

I have been doing this healthy eating thing since April 2013.  That would be 9 months with a few weeks here and there off plan due to life--vacations, summer camp, appendicitis, holidays.  I've lost 37 pounds so far, with most of that being quick and painless.

But here I have sat, gaining and losing the same 3 pounds for the past--oh, probably 4 months.  Nothing I've done has budged the scale.  Exercise, faithful, 100% compliance with the eating plan, mixing up my fuel types so I am eating more E-carb meals versus S-fat meals (I have a tendency to lean toward S meals.  Okay, it's more than a tendency.  I have an addiction to S meals.  But without the switching up of fuel types, our bodies get used to the one way of eating and that causes the metabolism to sloooooowwww down).

I have gone back and forth about this stall.  My thoughts range from "37 pounds is nothing to sniff at.  I have done good and am happy with where I'm at.  I can just sit here at this weight and call it good enough" to "I have come this far, this weight is not my goal weight, I need to kick it in high gear and get past this stall and lose the rest of the weight."

So when Hubby decided that we were going to go on a vacation this spring, and then booked our trip making it a reality, I realized a few things:

1. We are going to an all-inclusive resort near Cancun just like we did for our honeymoon.

2. Said resorts require nice attire to eat in the non-buffet restaurants.

3. I have two sizes of dresses hanging in my closet--size Tent and size Tight.  Tent is clearly out; in fact, they need to really clear out and go the way of the rest of my too big clothes and be purged.  Tight would be the dresses that I wore 11.5 years ago on my honeymoon that zip up but leave little room for actual movement.

Which led to my determination:

I am going to wear those Tight dresses in Cancun and they are going to fit.

I am going to be the same size as I was on my honeymoon.  

I am within 10 pounds of it now; I can do this thing.  

Enter new-found motivation.  Which I kicked off with a Fuel Cycle.  A Fuel Cycle is a specific pattern of eating the various style meals in such a way that it kick-starts the metabolism.  It is 3 days of S meals, followed by 2 days of Fuel Pull (low carb and low fat) meals, and ends with 2 days of E meals.  Rinse, repeat.  This cycle can be repeated for a total of 3 weeks before you need to give your body at least a 6 week break by eating freestyle before doing again.  

I am on day 5 of my first week.  So far I am back to my original low weight.  The scale isn't really moving at all.  And I admit, it's a little discouraging.  But I am not a quitter and I am going to repeat the cycle two more times.  Add in restarting my daily exercise routine.  And hopefully, by the end of it, my metabolism should be a flaming hot blacksmith's forge.  

Because I am wearing those dresses.  I refuse to come this close to my mini-goal only to fail.




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