I’m still on the Noom weight loss program. It’s been 5 weeks.
However, something different happened this week: my weight went up.
Now, I know that weight loss, slow, healthy weight loss doesn’t happen in a line that heads straight down. There will be plateaus and even moves upward.
That knowledge makes it a little less disheartening. But it’s still a little disheartening.
After all, it was the Thanksgiving holiday, and I still ate well. I busted through my calorie budget a few days, but I always do that. I definitely did not overeat junk on Thanksgiving. In fact, my entree was a delicious butternut squash along with some mashed potatoes, green beans, and pomegranate salad, plus one almond flour roll and gravy. Dessert was baked pears. It was all delicious, and I did not feel stuffed at the end.
But my weight went up.
I put in almost 100k steps for the week!
But my weight went up.
The Noom weight loss program accounts for this. It explains that there are many variables at play when we weigh ourselves, and that weight will fluctuate. It explains that exercise accounts for a very small part of weight loss, and that diet is the key. It explains that there are plateaus, and how to break through them.
Noom explains that weight can zigzag as the body finds its natural size. (And Noom explains that the body’s natural size may weigh more than my goal weight, which is something I hope I don’t have to deal with.)
I know all that stuff, but it’s still a bit disheartening.
Anyway, I got out of the shower this morning, and I looked at myself in the mirror. I still don’t look good, but, man, I look a lot thinner. And that made me think. Hmmm…
I grabbed my tape measure — I keep it in the bathroom closet — and put it around my waist. I had last measured myself at 42.5 inches around the waist, a few months ago. I forgot to do it at the start of Noom, but I had told my partner that if I could get below 40 inches, Noom would be a success.
I pulled the tape measure around my waist and held it in place.
40 inches!
I dropped the tape measure, and restretched it around my waist.
40 inches! Wow!
What a simple thing. That one non-weight-based measurement took me from disheartened to ecstatic!
Lesson learned. Don’t worry about the weight. Weight fluctuates. I’m going to stick with it, because the Noom weight fat loss program works.