The strangest thing to me about working to get a hold of your health is how up and down the scale can be…even when you are working your hardest.
In the last week, I have got back on track with diet (except for a few splurges for the long weekend) and even went to a Cardio Barre class last night. Work made me a little late, but I went in any way and still got in a 45 minute workout (which is well above my 20 minute requirement). Yet today when I weighed myself, I was up a pound from last week.
Even if my scale is going up and down, I am taking a moment to understand the fluctuation which will help me NOT ride the emotional roller coaster (and you shouldn’t either):
- Eating Late – I ate dinner much later than usual last night. There has been a big change in schedules and I am not able to do night time workouts. That being said, I am getting home and eating MUCH later than usual (around 9pm) which I know impacted my weigh-in. While I know it is not good to eat so late, the reality of my schedule is that I either eat late with a workout, or don’t workout at all. Sure, sure…I could do a morning workout and bypass this problem, but my class is not early enough in the morning. I have found that even if it isn’t perfect, as long as you are working to be healthy…well, then go YOU.
- Working Out – I started working out again. It is a well known fact that muscle weighs more than fat, so with the additional exercise…this could happen.
- Too Much Sodium – as I have been working to lower carbs, I have been overcompensating with salt and pepper to season. I absolutely love salt and pepper on veggies, but too much salt is always a bad idea. I remember thinking to myself this week if I should be concerned about how much salt I have had, then told myself with all the water I drink I should be fine. Guess not! All the salt caused more water retention. There is a hormone called aldosterone. More aldosterone = more water retention. When you keep sodium low, the body increases production of aldosterone. So, with already high levels of aldosterone coupled with a flood of sodium, the body holds water like crazy.
In a world where it is impossible to be perfect, I am going to give myself a pass for the pound increase this week and a high five for altering my lifestyle to accommodate exercise. Could I be doing better? Always. But am I doing pretty darn good from where I started? Heck yeah.
References:
http://www.ontheregimen.com/2014/02/09/what-those-scale-weight-fluctuations-really-mean/
Good going! Keep on doing a good job! You can do it
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