I was having a plateau. A large plateau….A plateau that has hung on for a bit. And I seriously was not happy about it. I kept thinking it would pass in like a week, or a two. But it seemed to hang on longer and each week I got more frustrated. Despite no cheating, not eating differently, this dumb plateau just wouldn’t GO. Each week, my jump on the scale was followed by a big long, “Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh………”
Many well meaning friends gave me advice. I was told to go off my plan for a week, eat a cheat meal, try some new foods, drink coffee, have a little sugar. I was told none of that would hurt and it would kick in my metabolism. But I smiled and politely refused. I mean no offense to anyone, but I stopped taking food advice from anyone the day I signed on with Dr. Jack. From there forward, I told myself I was only taking advice from the expert. I am sure for some people those suggestions have worked. But to be frank, they scare me. And I have never discussed them in any serious detail with Dr. Jack, because I can imagine his answer. I already know that the addition of those things will make my little cells become inflamed. And I just got rid of that so why would I clog up things that just got better? No way!!
People start on plans to lose weight. I know lots of people who work with Dr. Jack have that as a primary goal. I wanted to lose weight, too, but that was only one part of my goal. I wanted to lose weight and cure my Hashimoto’s disease. So a part of me is really not to sure that if I start doing things, it won’t come back. And that is more frightening to me than anything else. When you have lived with this life robbing illness as long as I have, you understand that once gone, you are neverrrrrrr going back. My almost thirty years with this disease has taught me that I don’t want even a single symptom of it in my life ever again. My life is way too great right now to go back.
It’s funny, but through this process I have learned a ton about how my body works. If I eat out, most places make me break out into itchy hives. And it doesn’t matter what I eat there. Have I been food sensitive all my life and didn’t know? I have become intolerant of food preservatives. When I don’t eat organic, I itch. The next day, I feel “off.” I get icky rashes, and weird itching, and splotches on my skin. If I know I am eating somewhere other than home, I go prepared with the supplements I need to help me start getting rid of it. At home, I eat almost all organic food.
But the most important thing I learned was that for me, all things must be in line if I plan on losing anything. I have to eat well, I have to sleep well, I have to take the necessary supplements, I have to drink enough, I have to keep my stress down, I have to exercise in moderation but be careful of excess, a balance I am still refining, admittedly that I might overdo because I am so excited that I can move again.
The last few weeks of school brought a lot of stress, as they do for most every teacher on the planet. It has up taken me a few weeks to shake that stress. But last week, I thought I finally had it down. My usual weigh in day is Sunday so I hopped on the scale with the mindset, that “Okay, if it’s the same, just move on.” I kept repeating that waiting for it to beep and say it had all the numbers. I was mentally ready for the gain, or the 0.2 loss. But today I was pleasantly surprised that things are again moving. Slowly, but moving, I will take it! It seemed as if all my numbers had suddenly done a little shift, and that means progress!
Was I tempted to call it done during this plateau? Of course!! Like all human beings, I get disgusted when I have worked hard and things are not going as planned. Like anyone, suddenly bad stuff becomes a huge temptation because I just want it to move!
And it’s hard to lose old mindsets. Was Dr. Jack suddenly going to fall into the category of others I have worked with? Was he suddenly going to think the problem was something I had done wrong? Nope! Not at all! Did he think I had cheated? Absolutely not. Did he think I had done something wrong? Absolutely not! Did he accuse me of lying? Absolutely not!!!!!!
You see, we started this with a promise….complete and total honesty. I told him I would always be completely honest with him, no matter what, and he promised to absolutely believe what I told,him. That has worked well for us. When I am tempted I tell him so. And in keeping myself accountable, I told myself I would never go off unless I had told him first I was going to do it. That has kept me from a lot of cheats. I can’t imagine his disappointment after all the hard work he has done to help me, if I messed up over a dumb cookie. I can’t do that to this team.
I have held up my end of that agreement and so has he. He listens, and he is patient because Hashimoto’s is not unfamiliar ground to Dr. Jack. He patiently explains that this is how things might go now. Things will slow as you increase exercise. Things will slow as you reach a regular weight. Patience is key. Just keep on. Keep at it.
And as always, he was right. It was not forever although it sure felt that way. The Big Plateau is hopefully over now and we can keep moving toward the goal. I am so grateful to him for his guidance and patience since I am like I kid the week befor Christmas. I am grateful to me, too, for being stubborn enough to just hang on. I was tempted but too stubborn to try anything dumb. Who would have ever thought my worst trait would become my greatest trait??