Another morning, another good reading on the scale. I even had wings and sweet potato fries last night with Sherry after I picked her up from the airport after a business trip, and I was sure that I was going to weigh more today than yesterday. However, I made sure to eat perfectly all day and I got 8 solid hours of sleep. I’m telling you; getting the right amount of sleep seems to be the secret weapon to losing weight consistently.

I can trace my weight loss spurts to times I’m getting enough sleep, and plateaus seem to happen when I’m not getting enough sleep. I need to keep that in mind this weekend during drill, as I’m pretty sure I won’t get enough sleep tonight or tomorrow night. Sunday, however, I’ll be all about getting into bed early and getting as much sleep as I can before waking up for work Monday morning.

People think that regular exercise is the most important ingredient for weight loss. It’s not. First, it’s the diet. If you eat crappy food, you will get crappy results. If you eat good food, you will see good results. Second, you need to get enough sleep. Period. Third, stick to the plan. That means resisting temptation, keeping your portion sizes normal, and persevering when you feel like a cheat. Remember: there is no cheating on a diet. It’s sabotage.

This week has been good to me. I know that the trend will end soon, and that I’ll hit another plateau for 2-5 days. But knowing it’s coming helps to soften the blow. Once you get to know how your body responds to diet and inputs, it’s easy to track where you are in your progress and to anticipate what’s coming next. It also helps a lot when diagnosing a stall and to help get you back on track.