If you want to lose weight, your focus should not be the number you see on the scale. I have learned this many times while losing 130 lbs.
I almost made this mistake while planning my next cut. I'm trying to get my weight closer to 190 than 200. The plan will take place up until Thanksgiving.
As I devised the plan in my head I was putting a number on how much weight I'd like to drop. Then I realized this was a trap I often fell into during my weight loss journey.
Weight loss is rarely linear. Your body does not follow a calendar. Due to things like stress, sleep, water retention, less Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), etc, the scale might not move on a given week. Then the next week it can drop more than you'd expect.
Of course, if you are going weeks on end without any weight loss there was a flaw in your plan. At that point, you need to increase activity, decrease calories, or do a little of both.
For those curious about my process to cut a few pounds here's my plan:
- Maintain current calories, but up my protein by 10%
- One additional 3.5 hr difficult hike a week
I am increasing protein because it has a greater thermic effect and will help maintain muscle mass during the cut.
The hike is pretty brutal. It has lots of steep climbs.
I usually don't like adding movement to my program to cut weight. It inevitably makes me more hungry. However, I am in a conditioning block so it coincides with my present goal.
We'll see what the next five weeks of this plan yields. I'll post back my results before Thanksgiving.
