Nutrisystem Week 38 Weigh-In

It’s time for our first Nutrisystem weigh-in of March!

Beeb’s Weigh-In:

Starting Weight: 164.5 lbs
Week 38 weight: 132 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 32.5 lbs
Goal Weight: 110 lbs

Jai’s Weigh-In:

Starting Weight: 217.5 lbs
Week 38 Weight: 174.4 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 43.1 lbs
Goal Weight: 158 lbs

We’re on a bit of a plateau this week. Jai is down by .6 pounds and my weight remained steady at 132 – nothing gained, but nothing lost either. We’ve really been working hard, but as we all know, weight loss can slow down the closer you get to your ideal weight. I can’t say it’s surprising that my weight is sticking around the low 130s, as this seems to be a weight that my body has settled at for most (healthy) periods of my adult life. The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention states that for someone of my height of 5′ 4″, a healthy weight range is between 108 and 145 pounds; so I am currently medically healthy where I’m at. For my small body frame, being in the 130s means that I still have excess areas of fat around my middle, but while this may not be my aesthetic preference, I am not considered overweight. I definitely feel healthier and lighter as I am more toned and lose those excess areas, which is why I set my goal weight as I did; but again, I’m not surprised that it is getting harder to shed the weight as quickly, given what a good range I am already in. As for Jai, he too is close to his goals and has not been this weight since at least 1996!

Where our eating habits are concerned, we’ve made a big effort in staying with it faithfully. In the past there has been more wiggle room, but as we close in on our goals and have hit this slowdown, we’ve tightened up our efforts so we can make the most of our opportunity on Nutrisystem. I’ve really worked to remember my PowerFuels and SmartCarbs during the day to keep my blood sugar level, and while I do still forget or get too busy at times, I’ve done better with it in the last few weeks because of my efforts to maintain a more stable schedule. We’ve also been eating salads, drinking V-8 and chugging water at the gym. I had a few off-plan moments over the course of last week, and noticed that the biggest problem both Jai and I have is eating too much popcorn at night. Popcorn is an “Extra”, which means that you can have up to 3 cups per day, assuming you haven’t eaten any other extras. However, we have both been eating more than 3 cups and I have the bad habit of adding salt to it, which is not on the plan. Since I seem to get the real urge for a flavorful, crunchy snack after we get home from the gym, I went to the store yesterday and stocked up on a few tasty items to add to our salads, including jalapeño peppers and red onion. My hope is that this can take the place of popcorn in filling that craving. I also put all of my salt shakers in a bag and stuck them in my car yesterday; it may sound silly, but since I usually snack on popcorn at night, having the salt out of easy reach should help deter me from overeating popcorn, since I don’t have a problem sticking to 3 cups if it’s plain.

So, I will continue to tweak and observe my eating habits so I can continue to progress. Keeping my schedule stable is really the foundation to being healthy, so I try to keep that as my main focus. Don’t get me wrong, my life is so hectic that it is very, very, very hard to do, so it requires continual effort to keep things in check as much as reasonably possible so that I’m not running on empty 24/7. Even if this didn’t affect my weight, working non-stop and not sleeping destroys all the other areas of my life, so I have every reason to try hard to keep work in check; and if my diet goals can provide an extra impetus to stay on track with my schedule, that’s all to the good!

We’ve been continuing our efforts at the gym, and last week marked some progress for me. Jai has been doing a lot of cardio, weights, and when he’s not in the gym he’s been working his arms by painting! As for me, last week I started increasing the weights with my arm circuit, and I was even able to do a little weight work with my legs. I used an ankle cuff to lift a 10-pound weight by flexing my leg, thereby working my knee flexibility and strength. It went well, so I will continue to approach this cautiously, as I will need to do work like this in order to regain that strength. Once I am able to kneel and squat without pain, I will use that as a springboard to resume higher-impact cardio. I have to watch myself, since I enjoy pushing myself, and it was my hard work at the gym which ended up injuring my knees to begin with; so I have to resist the urge to rush into doing things that would put stress and strain on those knee joints and re-injure me. I’ve been slowed down enough over the last few years, so I’d rather be patient and heal completely in the very near future than limp around with knee problems indefinitely.

How do you deal with weight loss plateaus, readers?

As members of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Panel, Jai and I will be receiving the Nutrisystem program free of charge in order to share our honest opinions with you. Always consult with your physician before embarking on any weight loss or exercise program.

Want to lose weight and get healthy on Nutrisystem? Take advantage of their online support forums & community and join today by calling 1-888-853-4689 or by visiting Nutrisystem.com. And if you’re planing on traveling over spring break, click here to check out a blog post full of tips for staying on track while you’re on the road!