by Kerry Taylor
Client: “I gained a pound.”
Me: “Okay, stay focused and keep with the plan.”
Client: “I’m so pissed!! What the f?@#!?”
Me: “Relax!! If it bothers you that much, go to the bathroom and you’ll be down a pound.”
Client walks away laughing
The weight loss journey can be a tough and challenging one, more so mentally than physically. Why? Because of all the information that is out there, your brain can get cloudy and the first sign of not making progress we jump ship and say this isn’t working, let me try this instead, or my body reacts better to this than it does to that. I’m here to tell you that your journey to weight loss will be filled with fluctuations daily and weekly. You will not lose weight every day, nor every week. If you get on the scale every day or a few times in a day you may be shocked to see how much your weight would fluctuate up and down. It could fluctuate as much as 4 - 5 pounds in a day. How many times you weigh yourself really depends on the relationship you have with the scale. I’ve seen people let that number cause them to get severely bent out of shape and say F it all!! We all know that weight loss is a complicated and very challenging thing and it can’t happen every day. What you need to focus on is your overall trend during your journey and your body fat ratio. If the trend is going in the right direction then you are on the right path. Here are some of the reasons as to why your weight will constantly fluctuate on your journey to weight loss.
Salt
The amount of salt we have in our diets will affect our weight daily. Have a meal or a day where there is more salt in your diet than normal, you will retain more water, which will result in the increase in weight. Conversely, if you have a day or week where you drop the amount of salt you consume, you will see your weight drop.
Peeing and Pooping
I’ve told many clients that get upset with a small weight gain to go to the bathroom. Do a number one or number 2, I guarantee that will fix the weight gain you see on the scale. If you don’t believe me, go try it on yourself some time.
Timing
When do you weigh yourself? If you are just weighing yourself at different times all the time, the number will not be consistent with the other days you weigh yourself. Do you weigh yourself first thing in the morning on some days and then on other days, at night after a workout? You can expect those numbers to be very different. More than likely your morning weight will be lighter than your night weight.
Working out
When we workout it causes us to slightly tear our muscles. In order to repair, build and grow those muscles, they suck up a ton of water and nutrients to begin that process. That process will lead to a higher weight than normal versus weighing yourself on a day that you don’t workout.
Stress
We all have to deal with different levels of stress in our lives. The question is, how do we handle that stress? Some of us decide to eat and drink more to deal with it, and others decide to not eat or drink at all and just shut down a bit. However you, yourself, deal with it will lead to an increase in weight or decrease in weight.
Medication
If you are on any medications, make sure you see what the side effects are. Some medications have been known to make you retain water, increase your appetite or suppress your appetite.
Hormones
Our hormones can affect our bodies a lot. Women more so than men. When it is early in a female’s cycle, water retention increases which leads to a temporary increase in weight. Wait it out a few days and things will normalize.
Weight of food and drinks
Don’t forget that water and food have weight to them. Just as if you were to hold them in your hand, a pound of water in your hand weighs the same once you drink it and add it to your body.
There you have it ladies and gentleman, some of the reasons why your weight will fluctuate at any point in time. If you want to get as close to as you truly weigh, get on the scale first thing in the morning after a normal night’s sleep, after you use the bathroom and before you eat or drink anything. Get your body as close to homeostasis as possible. Note: I didn’t mention lose fat and gain muscle. That’s a process that takes a longer time. You won’t gain or lose muscle or fat in a few days, but you can gain or lose weight in a couple of hours. Which, most of time, is water. Because of the reasons I mentioned, don’t bail at the first sight of a couple pound increase in weight. Stay the course and stay focused on the game plan and you will be just fine. Until next time, continue to live life 1 degree above the rest.
P.S. If you’re interested in seeing what your body is made up of and not just your weight on the scale, sign up for an Inbody (https://inbodyusa.com) reading with us today!