The Four Pound Weight Window
In the last
year I have lost over twenty pounds.
Most of it was my “stop smoking” weight.
When I quit smoking five years ago I slowly gained twenty pounds. I was already 15 pounds overweight, so I have
about 15 pounds to go.
I have not
been on a “diet” per say. I have changed
my diet and do not intend to go back to old habits. I have drastically reduced eating anything
with sugar and reduced my intake of carbohydrates. I have had maybe 5 sodas in a year. Soda, diet or otherwise, is poison. What makes my change in eating habits palatable
is I no longer feel guilt about some really good foods that experts tell you to
avoid. I eat bacon or sausage every
day. I have eggs every day for breakfast
and hard boiled eggs for snack. I eat a
lot of meat, and smother my vegetables with real butter.
Enough on
that, eat whatever you want, this is working for me. I am losing weight I feel good and I am never
hungry.
I weigh
myself every morning. I should stop
doing that. The daily weighing sets the
tone for my day. I have a four pound
weight window. Regardless of what I eat
or how much I exercise, on any given day my weight will fluctuate four pounds.
I wake up one
morning and weigh 195 pounds. I skip
through the day happy as a clam. The
next morning I hit the scale at 199.
WTF!
“OK, I had a
pretzel after dinner. What was it, a
friggin four pound pretzel? It makes me
miserable all day.
Intellectually
I know the body’s weight just fluctuates from day to day. Mostly it is probably just a function of water retention or
dehydration. When I hit 195, I should just recognize that as my low reading
and not get excited. When I hit 199 I
should know that is just my high weight and not get upset.
When it
comes to weight loss, emotion kicks the crap out of intellect.
It is just
me?
I hear you regarding the weight fluctuation.
ReplyDeleteI weigh in every morning, too.
This morning I thought I had a good reason to weigh in a second time after my morning coffee (IYKWIM).
It is absolutely amazing how a single cup can put a full pound on someone... even after a call of nature.
It's not just you. I get cranky when I've been eating less for weeks, or months, and the scales show no difference at all, or maybe a half a kilo less. I shoved the scale back under the bed and now I' using my clothes as a guide. When things start dropping off my hips, I'll know I've lost weight.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember where my scales are. Maybe we threw them away. Whatever, my weight seems to stay the same - I can tell by how the clothes fit.
ReplyDeleteThe scale is a hard habit to break. Put it somewhere you have to work at to get to, like the basement junk room.
ReplyDeleteI do the same as far as weight fluctuation. I read that is common with
ReplyDeleteA-blood types. I used to weigh every day too but I was able to kick the habit. Now my scale just collects dust. LOL
I've found the same thing about weight changing throughout the day. The worst time for me to weigh myself is the morning, probably due to water retention overnight.
ReplyDeleteI definitely understand how much a number on a scale can affect your mood...
ReplyDeleteI won't say good luck with the weight loss, just good luck getting healthier!
No it's not just you. I have 20 extra pounds and I weigh myself every morning if we're home. I ride the same emotional roller-coaster you ride. I have good days and then I have those bad days.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day. ☺
I'm the same. I've been weighing every morning for about a year and a half now and it fluctuates up and down, seemingly no matter what I do or eat. But I could be kidding myself.
ReplyDeleteAnd I thought this post was going to be about window weights, sash weights, the old-fashioned pulley weights used on wooden windows. I'm disappointed.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the loss of your own weight. Sometimes that loss of a pound or two is just a bran muffin away.
Laughed out loud at the 4 pound pretzel. I weigh everyday also and it appears I had a 1 pound donut yesterday. Cheesh. Keep up the good work joeh. What ever works.
ReplyDeleteI weigh every morning as well. I used to eat bacon EVERY morning. I had to stop when I started my diet. According to my diet, I can actually eat 2 slices a day without worrying about. Really? I don't want just two slices so I give it up completely. If I eat a piece of bacon now, its like giving a shot of liquor to an alcoholic!
ReplyDeleteLisa
No its not you; I had to finally go cold turkey and get rid of the scale. Weighing myself 12 times a day was not beneficial and made me miserable. I go by how clothes fit and doctor visits. Less stressful.
ReplyDeleteCongrats though that you are getting the poundage off
betty
I have a doctor's type slide balance scale--IT LIES!!
ReplyDeleteA hundred and ninety-five pounds? Ah, to be twelve again.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just you. When you are losing weight, it goes away slowly, so only weigh once a week, and be glad that overall it's going down over time. When you have reached your "goal weight range" weigh every day so you can catch yourself if you slip and start to creep back up.
ReplyDeleteIf you'd stop carrying around that 4-pound window, your scale might drop a couple of pounds...
ReplyDeleteI'm like you, I weigh myself every day. It's tough losing weight, especially as you get older. My New Year's resolution was to lose 10 pounds. I've got 15 more to go.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of factors that figure into weight fluctuations, but they're going to happen bubba whether you get pissed about them or not.
ReplyDeleteWe drink very few sodas. We drink tea, water and a few adult beverages with dinner, but we don't eat "low-fat" anything.
We eat real food in moderation and we try to walk at least 10k steps a day to keep the ticker tocking.
If the urge to find out my weight becomes overwhelming, I find it best to always weigh myself in the morning. You're usually lighter then. I also wait until after a pee or (even better) a huge bowel movement.
ReplyDeleteI try to weigh myself a couple time a week because the scale can certainly set my mood. Carbs are my weakness especially beer. I never drink soda or juice though so I guess that's something (or so I tell myself)
ReplyDeleteI weigh in most mornings, too. And you're right - sometimes there is a 3 pound difference from one day to the next. I move the scale to another location and ... the same. I sometimes believe that the extra slice of cake for 3 days makes the body "prepare" for weight gain, and then BAM, it hits when you when you don't expect it.
ReplyDeleteGood for you on the weight results!