Big Girls Don't Cry.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

     Last time I talked about how I kind of messed up but was going to square my shoulders and move forward, blahbitty blahbitty blah. And I tried to, I really did. But is the scale cooperating? No. No, it is not. I am stuck at a sixteen lb. loss (better than a sharp stick in the eye, but still – stuck is stuck.) The loss is 16 lbs. one day, 15 another day, 15.5 yet another. But never, ever is it sixteen and one half. Or, if you you’d like to get fancy, it's never 7.5 kg or 1 stone 2, either. My scale could be messing with me just for fun, but it’s more likely that I’ve hit the dreaded PLATEAU! And boy, howdy! This isn’t just any plateau, this is the flatlands. This is freaking South Dakota! (Disclaimer: I’ve never actually been to South Dakota, but I have been led to believe that it is flat, flat, flat. Rather like my weight loss at this point.)

     So I think it’s back to square one, my friends. Weepy I shall not get, and forge ahead I must (Yoda, is that you?). As one of my idols, Newt Gingrich, *snicker* has said, “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” Well said, there Newt, well said.

     Plateaus suck, but there's not a lot you can do other than ride them out, rather like power outages or presidential election cycles. Increasing exercise (Boo hiss!) and, as counterintuitive as it may sound, sometimes increasing caloric intake helps (It says so here). Boosts the old metabolism & all that. My plan is to start with the exercise angle and if that doesn’t work, boost the calories a bit. I’m holding off on increasing calories because it scares me. I’m doing around 1200 calories a day. More than that seems unnecessary, but who knows?

     While I ponder my next move, this could be a tasty and not too terrible way to increase calories and not go overboard (Besides, it's pie. What’s not to love?):

Yogurt Pie (8 servings)

2 containers lite, fat-free yogurt, any flavor (lemon or lime are particularly nice in summer)

1 8-oz container lite non-dairy whipped topping

1 pre-made low-fat graham cracker pie crust

Fold yogurt and whipped topping together until thoroughly combined. Pour into pie crust.

Freeze for about 4 hours.

If adding any fruit be sure it’s cut into fairly small pieces. 

Per serving: 183 calories, 28g carb, 7g fat, 2g protein