What happens when your weight loss journey hits a hiccup? Everything is going along perfectly, but the scales totally refuse to play the game any longer. In my last blog post I wrote about losing weight and gaining fitness, and life at that stage was just peachy! Weight was falling off me, and I felt 10 feet tall and bulletproof!

But as often happens in life, one has to expect the unexpected, and this is exactly what happened – the plateau effect.

So let’s look at what was then in the wonderful world of weight loss and what is now in the world of the stuck scales!

Since my last blog post we’ve celebrated Christmas (pudding and custard – so yummm) Easter (who seriously doesn’t love chocolate?) and 4 family birthdays (an overload of sponge cake and lemonade) but this only takes up a small percentage of the past few months so I cannot entirely blame these overindulgences.

The truth of the matter is that in November and December, I lost approximately 14 kilograms, which was very pleasing, but it was only the start of this journey. My goal was to lose 30-40 kilograms, and that remains my target. Since the beginning of the year, in about 5 months, I’ve managed another 6 to 7 kilograms, which some may call an admirable effort, but I guess I’m impatient.

Now my weight isn’t moving in the right direction, so I have to question my methods. I have always believed that if your output (exercise) is greater than your input (food) the weight will come off. But it isn’t as simple as that, as was explained to me by an exercise physiologist. He told me that, for example, you will burn a certain percentage of kilojoules during the act of eating and as your body processes your food, so as my weight drops, the percentage stays the same, which makes the amount of weight I lose lessen as my body weight gets less.

So moving on from the science lesson, I looked at my diet and I am comfortable with my current food intake, and as this is a permanent dietary change I am making, I don’t wish to make any huge adjustments to it. Leaving the dietary side of things as they are, I was left with my physical output. At the end of last year, I was walking approximately 40-50 kilometres a month. In the first three months of this year I’ve increased that to between 60 and 75 kilometres a month, managing up to 4 kilometres a day and I’ve also continued with my love for wheelchair basketball and enjoy this immensely, however, the unexpected has not finished with me and I currently face another challenge to my perseverance.

One basic fact is that your body isn’t designed to have your arms carry your body; that’s what we have legs for; however, when your legs refuse to cooperate, you’re left with your arms to do what they can. I have suffered chronic elbow and wrist problems for as long as I’ve been disabled including a torn tendon in my wrist for 10 years that has not had a chance to heal and recently both have reached a screaming crescendo of pain (very dramatic hey?) and my walking has diminished greatly as well, sadly, has my wheelchair basketball

So, am I beaten? Do I memorise the TV guide and take up residence in front of the television? Or do I look at alternatives? Since becoming disabled, I, like most people living with a disability, have had to make alterations to everyday life because society has largely built a world that, quite frankly, isn’t made for us – but that’s a story for another day.

Now to sort my current predicament – what to do now? As someone who has previously done a lot of swimming, I’ve decided to give that a go again. Yes, I know it’s coming into winter, but thankfully our local pool is heated and open 12 months a year, so that is the plan for now. Hopefully, my elbow and wrist settle down and I can do a bit of both in the future. Whichever way it goes, I am still 100% focused on my weight loss journey!

About the author:

Bill is a husband, father and grandfather who lives in the central Queensland town of Maryborough. Bill is an ambulant wheelchair user following two failed surgeries and has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. He is very passionate about disability rights and social justice and was selected by Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN) to take part in the Emerging Leaders Program for 2024. Bill plays wheelchair basketball which he loves and serves on the committee of the club as Vice President. You can find Bill on X/Twitter @bilfulaAU, on bluesky as bil.bsky.social, and on Facebook as Bill Fuller