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(Those of you who aren't interested in being subjected to a diatribe about the whims of my body can ignore everything behind the cut. Move along, move along.)
So I've been trying to lose weight, and I'll admit I'm somewhat baffled. I put on some pounds in the last few months of college, and have spent the last year trying to get rid of them. I did pretty well with the first ten, and I'm definitely in better shape than I was a year ago. So I'm happy about that.
But the last five that I wanted to get rid of won't budge. (This is the five that put me over the border on the BMI scale into overweight.)
I bought a scale in the fall, and I've been watching my weight fluctuate. I noticed pretty fast that my weight wasn't exactly a steady number, and it's become almost a weird sort of hobby in trying to guess why I'm at the number I'm currently at. Not in an anorexic sort of way - just genuine confusion. Any given day, my weight seems to waver somewhere in a five pound range. (And yes, I do usually try to weigh myself at the same time of day.) One day it'll be 157. The next, 154. The next, 156.
Despite doing a better job of watching what I eat and getting regular exercise, the range of fluctuation hasn't changed in months.
The last week, I've held steady at 154, which is a little on the low side. Despite having eaten a lot of junk over the weekend. Which was nifty. In the last two days, I've been "bad". (And by "bad", I mean I skipped exercising one day, and yesterday I had a muffin instead of my usual veggie snack and then later a handful of chips.) This morning I'm up to 157. So - is this the result of the weekend? If so, why did it take so long to take effect? Is this the result of the weight lifting I've taken up in the last three weeks? (Muscle being heavier than fat and all.) If so, again, why did it not impact my weight today? Is it the result of Mr. Muffin and Chips? Why didn't the weekend's cake cause issues, then?
So I am baffled by two things -
A) My own body. Body, what's up? What is it that you want to be strong and healthy and officially of the right mass for your height and bone structure? Why don't you want to lose that last five pounds of pudge? What makes your weight swing around crazy-like?
B) Other people's weight loss reports. Do other people have this much fluctuation? If so - what's up with people claiming to lose three pounds? I lose three pounds every couple days. They're back the next day, but I lose them. I'm sure water retention and stuff like that must be partially the culprit. But really, how can you tell you lost weight in increments smaller than five pounds unless it keeps going down?
That is all. Go back to your non-obsessive-compulsive days.
So I've been trying to lose weight, and I'll admit I'm somewhat baffled. I put on some pounds in the last few months of college, and have spent the last year trying to get rid of them. I did pretty well with the first ten, and I'm definitely in better shape than I was a year ago. So I'm happy about that.
But the last five that I wanted to get rid of won't budge. (This is the five that put me over the border on the BMI scale into overweight.)
I bought a scale in the fall, and I've been watching my weight fluctuate. I noticed pretty fast that my weight wasn't exactly a steady number, and it's become almost a weird sort of hobby in trying to guess why I'm at the number I'm currently at. Not in an anorexic sort of way - just genuine confusion. Any given day, my weight seems to waver somewhere in a five pound range. (And yes, I do usually try to weigh myself at the same time of day.) One day it'll be 157. The next, 154. The next, 156.
Despite doing a better job of watching what I eat and getting regular exercise, the range of fluctuation hasn't changed in months.
The last week, I've held steady at 154, which is a little on the low side. Despite having eaten a lot of junk over the weekend. Which was nifty. In the last two days, I've been "bad". (And by "bad", I mean I skipped exercising one day, and yesterday I had a muffin instead of my usual veggie snack and then later a handful of chips.) This morning I'm up to 157. So - is this the result of the weekend? If so, why did it take so long to take effect? Is this the result of the weight lifting I've taken up in the last three weeks? (Muscle being heavier than fat and all.) If so, again, why did it not impact my weight today? Is it the result of Mr. Muffin and Chips? Why didn't the weekend's cake cause issues, then?
So I am baffled by two things -
A) My own body. Body, what's up? What is it that you want to be strong and healthy and officially of the right mass for your height and bone structure? Why don't you want to lose that last five pounds of pudge? What makes your weight swing around crazy-like?
B) Other people's weight loss reports. Do other people have this much fluctuation? If so - what's up with people claiming to lose three pounds? I lose three pounds every couple days. They're back the next day, but I lose them. I'm sure water retention and stuff like that must be partially the culprit. But really, how can you tell you lost weight in increments smaller than five pounds unless it keeps going down?
That is all. Go back to your non-obsessive-compulsive days.
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no subject
Date: 2006-05-18 06:57 pm (UTC)From:The other reason that I don't weigh myself every day is that I don't own a scale. I use my parents' when I go home for a weekend. Usually I weigh myself every day that I'm home (mornings) and take the average of those, before I can say definitively that I've lost weight.
Also...I've stepped up the workout lately (and I changed my diet)...and I look like I've lost about 10 pounds...but I went home and weighed, and I've only lost 5 off my max. I'm certain that it's a muscle/fat interplay thing.
One more thing...your body doesn't want to lose that last five pounds because it's like, "holy crap! If I lose any more fat, that'll be bad for my future survival! So when I exercise, I'll be more efficient about it!" Of course it's not bad for your future survival, but that's what it's been biologically programmed to believe. So if you are having trouble losing that last bit, switch up your workouts (cardio and weight training...change the days you do each one, or the amounts of time you spend on each) and ramp up the intensity a little. Should do the trick.