Why am I worried about this?

[jubjub]

I have been on a diet since July 9 and I have lost probably about 25 pounds. At the moment I seem to be at a standstill, even though I am sticking quite closely to my diet.

I am on the GI diet, which is full of fibre, fresh fruit and veggies and no sugar. There are lots of food choices and I am never too bored with it. I did attend a mandatory computer course last week where I broke down and ate a bit more than I should have, I would say due to stress and the fact that my diet food was not readily available. This is a new and complicated system we all HAVE to learn and NO ONE wanted to be there! I didn't mind being there, but the atmosphere was fairly hostile! What WAS available were candies on every table ( I didn't indulge TOO much), catered breakfast by Tim Hortons, lunch from Subway or Swiss Chalet or Chinese food or pizza. We were rather stuck in our work room and I did break down my diet defences A BIT. I didn't do too badly on the Monday and Tuesday.

I have been back on my diet this past week. I have not gone overboard with food in any way. I am a bit worried because I don't seem to be losing any more weight. Granted, I have not been weighing myself because I don't want to obsess, but I just generally FEEL that I have stopped losing.

Healthwise, I felt much better since starting the diet, but as of last week my arthritis pain is back with a vengeance and I am not a happy camper.

What gives? I seem to be at an impasse.........

 

[David Baxter PhD]

It seems to me that losing weight fairly rapidly at first and then slowing down and periodically reaching plateaus is pretty much standard for any diet. I don't know the GI Diet specifically (does it have anything to do with a concentration on foods like spam, jerky, and chipped beef on toast?) but in most cases if you can just persisit on the diet you will in time start losing weight again. Other things to consider are increasing exercise where feasible or even changing to a different diet. For example, there are reports that after 6 months on the Atkins diet, many people first plateau and then even start regaining a little weight. Maybe after losing the initial weight on the GI diet, switching to something like a Weight Watchers type of plan might be more effective.

 

[jubjub]

LOL re: the beef jerky, etc.! No, GI stands for glycemic index and it is a very healthy diet indeed. I even cut back on the things this diet ALLOWS you to eat. I did screw up the week I was on the course and, to be honest, I screwed up a BIT this week also (okay, I went to the Chinese restaurant with a friend and had curried beef......last night I had diet ice cream.......). Prior to this, over the course of the past 3 months, I had a constitution of iron when it came to not going off my diet. Over the past few weeks sampling the CARBS I CRAVE, I think I have made it harder for myself to get back on track.