Weight Watchers Chat #311: How to Deal With A Weight Plateau!

News and Reviews March 2023

More news and scuttlebutt about the WW changes, too many for just the “news” section so we will spend the second half chatting about what I do and don’t know.
Deanna has uncovered a new feature and shared it with us! You can find the Weekly Topic and more content that disappeared with the Discover Tab by doing the following (I will make a video and share it too!)
- 1) Click the “hamburger” three lines in the upper left corner of your app
- 2) Scroll down to “Toolkit”
- 3) Scroll on down to “Discover Content” (take a moment to celebrate the little icon we’ve been missing)
- 4) Click “Discover Content” and watch the heavens open to find: Weekly Technique, Walk Talks, Eating In, Eating Out, and more!

Last week in Chat #310: Is My Weight Loss Goal Right For Me?, we agreed that no matter what year it is, what the most popular weight loss program is, or how old you are…science still agrees it takes a 3,500 calorie deficit to lose one pound.

A healthy rate of weight loss is deemed to be 1 – 2 pounds per week. That means you have to take in 500 calories less per day (through food intake or a combo of food and exercise) for an entire week to lose one pound. That’s 1,000 less per day to get to two pounds per week…if you ask me two pounds is looking like a pretty good achievement right now! But how do you know if your weight loss goal is right for you?

When?

If there is a timeline on your weight loss it can make a HUGE difference in what a realistic goal might look like. For example:

If your loss revolves around an event you may need to do some math. Let’s say it’s a beach trip in 12 weeks. If you start today you might expect a reasonable loss of say 10 pounds if all goes well. But if you wait until week 10 to start maybe 2 pounds is more likely!
If you are looking at your long term goal try breaking it down into smaller bite size portions so the end result won’t be so overwhelming

Pounds Lost versus Actual Weight?

When you think about your weight loss, are you more interested in total pounds lost or what you will actually weigh when you get there? If you haven’t thought about that, give it a minute to roll around in your head a minute. When I first set my Lifetime Goal I chose a nice round number of pounds lost. Turned out that wasn’t the right number for me so I reset my goal to a management number on the scale. Neither one is right or wrong, just something to ponder!

The Ups and The Downs

Remember at the beginning when I said it is a scientific fact that there has to be a 3,500 calorie deficit to lose (or gain) a pound? That means setting a weight loss goal whether short term or long term we need to understand a lot more than just calorie deficits affect the scale. There are many factors that can land us a temporary weight gain or sudden loss like:

Whoosh – this is not scientific but many of us have experienced the “whoosh” when your body just seems to be hanging on to weight for dear life and suddenly lets go
Sodium – a major culprit for many of us showing a gain at the scale
Hormones – ohhhh those lovely hormones, nuff said
Exercise – don’t let this one scare you, but you can show a loss after an intense workout and sweat out some H2O. But you can also show a gain while your plasma stores up water “just in case.” If you don’t drink enough to stay hydrated you could be holding onto extra water, not real pounds

Just remember, whether your roller coaster is going up or down to enjoy the ride (maybe scream a little) and be ready to hi five your friends when you get to the end

Your homework for last week was #RollercoasterRoundup. This week’s homework is for those of you who have been around the block, ridden a weight loss coaster or two, and have some sage advice for those just now getting on. I’m serious, we are better on this journey together and just one little piece of advice you give today might be what it takes to keep someone from jumping off the ride. Tell us one thing you know for sure affects your ride on this weight loss roller coaster that has nothing to do with calorie deficits…. and then type it, snap it, share it however you like, and then tag me for your next cool badge!

Let’s see how you did!

Scott rides a roller coaster and takes us along every week with his weigh in update graphics! Sometimes it’s a wild ride but he hangs on, screams a little, and has some fun along the way!
Mindi has had such a wild last two weeks that I’m giving her the next two spots. After everything that has gone on with losing her center, her groups, her peeps this week instead of getting off the ride she did this on Wednesday:
- Woke up
- Did my Wednesday morning weigh-in
- Attended a virtual workshop
- Made my menus and tracking the day before my workshop
- Made a list of hard things that I’ve been avoiding but have a time restriction and going after it!!

Bravo, you did it!

This Week’s Topic: How To Deal With A Weight Plateau!

Which one of these describes a weight plateau for you?

I keep exchanging the same few pounds up, then down
I haven’t shown a loss in the last few weeks
My weight hasn’t changed significantly in the last few months

If you answered A: I keep exchanging the same few pounds up, then down…

The answer (and hence advice) will be different for everyone, but this sounds more like a rut than a plateau. Some little tweaks like changing up a meal or two, adding back some protein, maybe a different activity to throw your body off it’s comfort zone may be just what you need to get those wheels out of that ditch

If you answered B: I haven’t shown a loss in the last few weeks…

I think this is the perfect time to step back and do a self check.

Are you measuring and weighing? Or have you gotten comfortable and suffer from “the creep”?
Check your tracking. Is it honest or more of a “oh I’ve got this, I don’t need to write it down” situation. A week or two of Honest Tracking may be in your future!
Myself and other long timers can tell you that weeks of not losing can be a result of many factors like new medications, too much sodium, body is used to what you are doing, and making just a few tweaks can sometimes create a “whoosh” where you suddenly get the loss you’ve been waiting for

If you answered C: My weight hasn’t changed significantly in the last few months…

If you’ve been tracking, doing all the things, and it’s been a few months since the scale has budged, it may be time to look at taking a little break. Taking a break doesn’t mean throwing in the towel and giving up, it means putting yourself in an intentional mode of maintenance to give yourself a break before you jump back in. Many times lengthy plateaus like this are more about “life” than they are about your actual weight. I have intentionally put myself on “non goal maintenance” several times over the last 25 years when I was caring for ailing parents, overwhelmed in another area of my life, or most recently moving and reinventing our businesses. Giving myself permission to stay at the same weight has removed the burden of being perfect AND kept my weight stable until I’m ready to jump back in again! If you weren’t with us LIVE tonight, watch my short video on how to change your app to “maintenance”

This Week’s Homework: #MaintenanceMaster

Your homework for this week is #MaintenanceMaster. This week’s homework is to be honest and tell us about a time in the past (or one you see coming up) where you know life would just be a little easier if you allowed yourself to be in intentional maintenance…. and then type it, snap it, share it however you like, and then tag me for your next cool badge!

Don’t forget to do your homework #MaintenanceMaster and tag me when you share on social media!

Tag @ifyouhaveanegg on Instagram
Tag @ifyouhaveanegg on our Facebook Page
Tag @Kelly Green Milligan in our Facebook Group
Tag @ifyouhaveanegg on WW Connect

Extra Credit: What Is Up With Weight Watchers?

The title makes it sound like I’m angry with all of the changes going on at WW…I absolutely am not so please sit back, sit tight, and hear what I do know, what I don’t know, and what you say you’d love to find out.

So Weight Watchers is up to some pretty interesting changes in the last few weeks, but this time it has nothing to do with the food plan itself. Some of you are intrigued, others are angry, many of us are just going to keep doing what we are doing, and there will be people who drop out. It’s natural to be a little nervous about things you don’t understand, so let’s get some dialogue going and dispel that fear!

Where are my statistics lovers? I need two people to volunteer to get the numbers on the following questions.

Question #1 – raise your hand (or do a single thumbs up if you are here with us live) and you just lost your in person workshop

Question #2 – raise your hand (or do a single thumbs up if you are here with us live) if you have never had an in person workshop

Question #3 – Raise your hand if you have done or are doing another program in combination with Weight Watchers

Question #4 – raise your hand (you get it…) if you have diabetes or are pre-diabetic

Results from those who joined us live: 7 lost in-person workshops, 4 never had an in-person workshop, 22 have or are doing another program in combination with Weight Watchers, and 9 are diabetic or pre-diabetic.

In case you all haven’t heard, Weight Watchers has purchased a company called Sequence that offers telehealth and weight loss drugs as well as support and education during the weight loss process.

Here are some questions I DO NOT know the answers to:

Whether any other Weight Watchers in-person locations are going to close – and why are locations closing at all
If any of the closed locations will reopen (either as the original studio or in a different space like a church)
If the closed locations will lose their Connect group
What do new lifetime members without a location need to do?
What I think about Healthi, Noom, other programs or WW alternatives – I haven’t used any of them so I can’t give you advice on which ones is better or worse than another
What is the distance to a location before you’re excused from weighing in for lifetime benefits?

What I do know:

I say this all the time but WW is a for profit company. As much as we all want to be in Jean Niditch’s living room holding hands and hugging, WW and their investors spend hundreds of thousands of dollars making sure that the most people, have the most support, and the most knowledge, and that the shareholders who support WW make money and keep investing in this future. No profit means we are all still eating liver twice a week and weighing in our neighbor’s living room
2023 saw the largest non pandemic related closure of in person workshops in the history of Weight Watchers
Not all in person workshops or centers are or were closed
Weight Watchers franchise locations operate independently and do not fall under the same umbrella of requirements for attendance, expenses, etc. As such, I know our franchise location is still good to go… when you already live on a shoestring budget you can survive on a shoestring budget!
The weight loss drugs offered by the newly acquired company Sequence (Ozimpec and Wegovy in particular) will ONLY be offered under physician care by prescription. This is not a move to a magic pill scenario. Our friends with true diabetic issues may see some benefits with this move.
Weight Watchers was and still is the best weight loss program for support, education, and teaching people how to live with this lifestyle. Just like you wouldn’t deny someone who had gastric bypass the opportunity to learn how to live successfully after their surgery, we shouldn’t limit those trying Keto, telehealth or other programs that same opportunity to create healthy and sustainable lifestyles
There is a Connect group called “Find a Studio or Workshop” that may be able to help those who have lost their in-person meetings find a new one

As we navigate these changes together I’ll do my best to get you the most accurate and up-to-date information I possibly can. Be sure to check back here or on our Facebook page/group for the latest information I have to pass along!

What do you think about these new changes with Weight Watchers? Let us know in the comments below!