Greetings! I am excited to be with you today for this episode of Fresh Focus Podcast! My name is Aimee Wittmaier. I am a Registered Dietitian and Coordinator of the MOVE Weight Management Program at the Kansas City VA Medical Center. I’ve been with the Veterans Healthcare Administration for 15 years now and I can honestly say, I’ve loved every day of it. It is an honor and a privilege to serve our nation’s heroes.

In my experience as the coordinator of the MOVE Weight Management Program, one of the most frequent questions I get from participants in the program is, “How do I get past a weight plateau?”. We know it can be terribly frustrating to not lose weight, despite one’s efforts to adopt a healthy lifestyle. So the focus of today’s episode of Fresh Focus Podcast will be, what is a weight plateau and how to get the scale moving again!

First, what is a weight plateau? When a person first starts a weight loss program, it is not uncommon for the biggest weight losses to occur within the first couple weeks. As one progresses through the program, the weight loss may slow down. One may have weeks where no weight is lost. One may even have weeks where the scale goes up a little. That is okay. I often remind my participants, it is a journey….one that doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to change lifestyle habits and it takes time to see results.

By definition, a weight plateau is failure to lose at least one pound in a 3-week period, while adhering to a healthy eating and activity regimen. These weight plateaus happen and may occur multiple times before reaching your long-term weight goal. We know this can be frustrating. The most important thing to remember when going through a weight plateau is, don’t give up! When faced with weight loss challenges we know it can be frustrating and we are here to help. It is best to focus our attention on things we can control so we know where to focus our energy.

I’ve worked with many veterans who have struggled with a weight plateau but this is one story that has really stuck with me over the years. I was working with a gentleman who had lost a significant amount of weight through the move program but he still had about 15 more pounds to lose. And despite his efforts of his healthy eating choices and continuing with his activity regimen The scale didn’t budge for a month.

With increasing frustration he requested to see me for help. I recommended he keep a detailed record of his eating for several days so we can start to problem solve. The gentleman met me at my office a week later and even before I had a chance to look at the food log he said I figured it out, it wasn’t until this veteran wrote down his food intake he became aware of the calories he was consuming of starlight mints he had a long standing habit of sucking on mints between meals and didn’t realize he was consuming 30mints per day which was about 600 additional calories.
After realizing calories consumed from the mints he was able to take the steps needed to lose weight again. And he did reach his long term goal which has really served as an inspiration to those around him.

So Today, I am going to review 3 strategies to help you reach your health goals.
Number one, nutrition. As one’s weight decreases, the amount of calories or energy the body needs, also decreases. This is so important to remember. The calorie level that you started your weight loss journey at, is likely different now that you have lost some weight. If you are unsure what your calorie needs are, please contact your nearest Registered Dietitian to ensure you are keeping within an appropriate calorie target based on your height, weight, age, and activity level.

Once you know your calorie target, the next challenge is to ensure you are sticking as close to that target as possible. The second strategy is tracking! I cannot emphasize enough the value of tracking your food intake. When one doesn’t track, it is kind of like driving blindfolded. Through documenting what you eat and how much you eat, it really helps to paint a picture of what is going on and what and how much is being consumed.

To keep the most accurate food journal, this may mean getting out those measuring cups and measuring spoons to measure your food. When you go to pour a bowl of cereal in the morning, get out the measuring cup to see exactly how much you are pouring in the bowl. Is it one cup of Cheerios or two cups of Cheerios? And don’t forget to measure the milk you add to the cereal, along with any other items added to the cereal, such as table sugar, honey, and fruit. Measuring and weighing food can take time, but it is time well invested because it provides the details to know if you are meeting or exceeding your calorie target.

One area that can be so easy to forget about in terms of tracking what you eat, is the condiments and beverages! The mayonnaise on the sandwich, the salad dressing on the salad, the creamer in the coffee. All of those condiments have calories and should be documented to keep an accurate food journal. Even the oil that is using during cooking. If you add a tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet to cook your fish in, know that your food your fish does absorb the calories from the oil. And if you tend to eat and snack while you are cooking you need to be mindful and remember that everything does count

We also know that sometimes the tendency with food journaling, is to wait until the end of the day to document what was consumed. We’re all busy. I get it, but this leaves lots of room for error. It is SO easy to forget what was consumed throughout the day. It is easy to forget the couple of chocolates that you grabbed out of the candy dish and it is so easy to forget the handful of chips that you grabbed from the breakroom at work. This illustrates why it is so important to document eating either while you are eating it or shortly thereafter so that no details are missed. If you are on the go all day, this may mean getting your phone out and taking pictures of the foods you consume throughout the day as a way to refresh your memory. This accurate food journal will let you know if you are exceeding your calorie target. If you are, then some minor adjustments can be made to get you within the target. The third strategy to focus on have you been physically active. Has anything changed recently has anything caused you to not meet your goal for physical activity and exercise.

The recommendations for physical activity are to get 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week, which would equate to 30-60 minutes of activity per day, 5 days per week. Please don’t let that recommendation discourage you! Know that if it makes it more doable to break that exercise down into smaller chunks, please do so! Walking for 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes in the afternoon, and 10 minutes in the evening, does the body just much good as walking 30 minutes at one time. So every little bit of activity you can do, adds up over the course of the day. And let’s not forget about those lifestyle activities.

Things that you do in your everyday routine that help you to keep moving and burn more calories. Things like washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, walking out to the mailbox to get the mail…all of these activities keep the body moving. And if you’ve been exercising for a while now, see what you can do to take your exercise program to the next level. For example, if you’ve been walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes a day at 2 miles per hour, try to bump it up to 2.5 miles per hour.

Or perhaps increase the time from 30 minutes to 35 minutes. Or maybe you are feeling kind of bored with your exercise routine try to change it up and make it fun exercise isn’t punishment find something you enjoy if you aren’t excited about walking on a treadmill what about a rowing machine or a swim class. Or check out your local whole health department at your VA and look for some classes that might be available like tai chi or yoga.

Any change you can make, will challenge your body in a new way and may help to get past a weight plateau. We know managing weight is hard and it takes time. We need to accept we can have a weight plateau at different steps in our journey and that doesn’t mean its all downhill or that you are failing.

Don’t be hard on yourself walk through the strategies and shift up your focus. Maybe your routine needs a tiny shift to help you with healthy eating choices and being active and don’t hesitate to ask for support MOVE program and dietitians can help support you in your efforts and may be able to help you think of some other ideas to help get you back on track. You aren’t in this alone we can help you in your weight management journey and we can help you reach your health goals.

Keep these strategies up, remain positive and focused, and the results will follow. We don’t want barriers that we can control to interfere. Let your move team help if you are interested in learning more about the move program. Please contact your local MOVE weight management coordinator.
Thank you for listening to this edition of the Fresh Focus Podcast. This is Aimee Wittmaier with the Kansas City VA Medical Center. It was a privilege to be with you today. Be sure to leave a review subscribe to wherever you listen to podcasts and stay tune for future episodes.