DietBet Week 2 Recap | Persevering When the Scale Won’t Budge

Hi friends!

Last week I shared details of the DietBet game that I’m currently participating in and did a week 1 recap, so today I’m chatting about week 2. You can check out my first post here, but the idea is that I bet a few bucks that I could lose 4% of my body weight in a month in a game with 2,101 other people.

Week 2 Recap 

Workout-wise, in contrast to my recent weeks of trying out lots of fitness studios in my area, last week was full of mostly at-home exercise, including FitnessGlo HIIT workouts and some Jillian Michaels strength & cardio DVDs. I also went on a nice long hike with pup and had my first swimming session of the year last weekend.

Diet-wise, I did pretty well. As I mentioned in my week 1 recap, all I’m really changing is my portion sizes (a little bit less each meal) and the amount of indulgences I have (less wine, less dessert). Putting last week’s theme of not having an all-or-nothing mentality in effect, I ate clean probably 80-90% of the time, with some treats sprinkled in – like a mini bag of popcorn:

While week 1 saw a big jump on the scale for someone of my size (4 pounds lost), this week was a different story. The scale literally did not budge at all (except for going up 1/2 pound actually!), and to be honest, a stagnant scale felt depressing. Since I lead a healthy, active lifestyle and started within what’s considered the healthy weight range for my height, it was making me feel like throwing the towel in and saying that clearly my body is happy with where it’s at. I’m tempted to just pop open a bottle of wine, nosh on half a loaf of fresh bread, and forget about shedding a few pounds, but I won’t because….

My healthy living theme of the week is to NOT let the scale deter you!

Let’s remember, the scale is only one piece of puzzle. While nutritionists may tell you that weight is a simple calories taken in, calories exerted equation, I’m here to tell you that it’s not. Here are a couple of things to take into consideration when it comes to the number on the scale:

Sodium intake and hydration levels effect weight. 

Ladies, those little things called hormones play a part.

High stress levels can cause you to hold onto weight. 

Muscle mass is part of it too. You might be developing more muscle mass than you had before. Your weight might be the same, but your body composition might be changing for the better.

So what should you do when you’re doing everything right, but the scale won’t budge? Keep going! Pay attention to how you feel, and try not to give the scale the power to put you in a bad mood.

And take a break from the scale! If you’re hitting a scale plateau, what’s the point of getting on the scale every day and getting annoyed? I say just keep on doing your thing eating well and exercising often, and do whatever you can to break through it in a healthy and balanced way. If you still aren’t seeing any results after awhile, you may need to adjust a few things (that topic is for another time though!).

While it can certainly be a challenge, I’m practicing what I’m preaching this week and pushing forward. I know that I’m doing all I can to healthily shed the last few pounds I need to get to a 4% loss, and I want to just keeping doing that and feel good about it. I’m also going to step off the scale for the week… but I’ll keep you posted come next week’s weigh-in!

Before I go, can I just point out that the host of the DietBet, Jen Widerstrom, whose the new female trainer on The Biggest Loser, responded to my tweet that shared last week’s post?

How fun is that?!

Tell me…How have you broken through a plateau – whether in weight loss, your fitness level, career, or something else where you had a goal that you were working to achieve?