A Long Plateau.....

     Last week, my weight began to drop again following a very long plateau.  My initial mistake was failing to get measurements at the beginning of my keto diet because weight does not always tell the whole story.  While people around me consistently said I looked thinner, the scale remained stagnant.  So, while it's a little late to tell you, please take your measurements.  I wish I had taken my measurements because the period of plateauing where I didn't lose any weight was almost 4 months long.  That was profoundly discouraging.  However, if I had taken my measurements, I might have realized that I was actually losing even though the scale was not reflecting that fact.  I remember that friends and relatives commented that my midriff looked thinner, my behind smaller, and I appeared more toned.  I was probably increasing muscle mass even though I was not losing weight, which makes good sense.  Also, because muscle weighs more than fat, the scale is not trustworthy because it cannot differentiate between them.  So, while I was probably losing weight, it was not verified.  Even though it's a little late for me to tell you to measure yourself, you can start now.  I've started measuring myself and documented my measurements, so if I fall into another plateau, maybe the inches will continue to go down, and I'll stay encouraged.  However, even if I lose fifteen pounds every 6 months like I've done so far, I'll get to my goal weight in a year and a half.  That's actually very exciting.  However, I had to make several adjustments to my diet in the end.  As I mentioned before, one of the significant adjustments was discontinuing the wine that I had each evening.  I had two glasses of wine and just assumed that I had limited my carbs sufficiently to get by with those two servings.  However, I wasn't counting my carbs precisely like I was supposed to be doing.  Also, to achieve ketosis, you have to balance fat with carbs and everything else, and you're supposed to have a certain amount of fat each day.  I wasn't cautious with all of that, but I shall be as I go forward.  I'll continue measuring myself, weighing myself, and counting and tracking fats and carbs in every food I ingest.  However, my point is don't be discouraged if you plateau.  That's the moral of this blog session.  If you start to plateau, hang in there because you'll probably be able to see improvement in inches.  At this very moment, I'm on my daily walk and talking my blog into my phone as I navigate the pathways along Po'Kai Bay.  I achieve half of my 10,000 steps each day along this beautiful bay, and it's a gorgeous walk.  The waters change colors depending upon the skies, from hues of blue to greens with white-capped waves gentle enough for novice surfers to learn how to catch one and come all the way into the shore.  It's beautiful to watch... a lovely sight to see, which brings me to my next piece of advice.  I suggest to anyone visiting any of the Hawaiian islands that the west side of Oahu is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.  The water views all the way to the horizon are absolutely stunning!  I shall make a comparison everywhere I go and write about each place, but for now, Oahu's northwest side has my whole heart!