Wednesday, February 15, 2012

My Body's Cruel Weight Loss Cycle

According to the scale this morning, I gained a pound. Blah! Terrible way to start the day. Honestly, it's a bummer and I'm not going to act like it doesn't bother me at all. But I will say that it is just a blip, and I'm not going to freak out about it. I used to though, it was very discouraging to do everything "right" and then not only hit a plateau, but to break that plateau by GAINING weight. I mentioned this in a post a week or so ago; I gain weight from time to time and this is part of a pattern I have noticed. It is part of my body's weight loss cycle. I will lose a bunch of weight really quickly (like 3-5 pounds in a matter of a couple of days), then I will plateau for a few days, gain a pound or two and then lose a bunch of weight again. So, the uptick in weight this morning was due.

Here is an example of how it generally works: Last week, Monday, I gained a pound after having hit a plateau and not losing any weight for just under a week. On Thursday I was down four pounds, I have been holding steady at that weight for several days, and today I was up a pound. I'll probably be down around 3 pounds or so by Saturday or Sunday. That is how it goes. I know that I have been doing everything right, I haven't changed anything, and there aren't any other factors I can think of that would account for my weight gain. Therefore, I am not going to worry about this unless this pound sticks for a while. If it does, I'll look more closely at my records and try to figure out where I need to make some changes.  Everyone is different, and you may not have the same pattern of weight loss that I do, but you should pay attention to how your body acts, because it will help you to understand how you lose weight - and, at least for me, that helps to avoid feeling discouraged.

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