Everyday Systems

This was a week after i finished a great 10k with a record time for me. i felt like i did great with my eating this weekend. i was prepared to see a lower number on the scale. what did i get. a gain of 0.8 lb. this is why i shoudln't weigh myself. in one month i seem to have gained a lb. was so set on a loss that it almost sets my mind for the day. i almost want to say 'screw it' and throw today (friday) out the window. but i'm not going to. because I realize that weighing myself is something i do once a month just to make sure i'm not horribly off track. i have weighed more than this. i have weighed less than this. it's just a number... i have been doing noS exactly as i should and these fluctuations will happen. just wish a number wasn't so set in my head to do such psychological damage.

It is so hard when you anticipate due to your behavious that you will have a loss and you get a gain instead!!

Hang Tight!!! You are doing so well and working a great road!!!

((((Hugs))))

If weighing truly inspires a person, it's a great tool. If it leads a person to have a cruddy day or give up perfectly reasonable habits, it's an obstacle. Some people seem to be able to go from obstacle to tool.

It's so hard to know anything about any one weigh-in. We can be so influenced by what are essentially fluctuations in water retention. It certainly isn't fat when we change by anything more than a few ounces (at most) a day. But you know all this.

Hey, congrats on breaking your record!

Hi MJ,

You probably trained a lot for the 10k. Any chance you now have less fat and more muscle?

i guess the reason i am so discouraged is i thought i was doing everything right and didn't get the desired result. I need to think about whether weighing myself is something i should even do anymore. sure, i'm happy when i see a 0.8 loss but not when i see a 0.8 gain. in reality it is the same difference with regression to the mean. i find myself overanalyzing why it happened if it's a gain and being overly ecstatic if it's a loss. it's a silly cycle when in reality not much changed. i need to start thinking about whether it really matters. maybe i need to go to an every other month weigh in cycle and that would help. i don't really know anymore.

eschano wrote:Hi MJ,

You probably trained a lot for the 10k. Any chance you now have less fat and more muscle?

that's a thought but i somehow doubt that. it's probably just a water fluctuation and i need to just get over it.

oolala53 wrote:If weighing truly inspires a person, it's a great tool. If it leads a person to have a cruddy day or give up perfectly reasonable habits, it's an obstacle. Some people seem to be able to go from obstacle to tool.

It's so hard to know anything about any one weigh-in. We can be so influenced by what are essentially fluctuations in water retention. It certainly isn't fat when we change by anything more than a few ounces (at most) a day. But you know all this.

Hey, congrats on breaking your record!

thanks for the good thoughts. you know, it is an obstacle and it just interferes with the good work i'm doing for myself. some people love counting calories, weighing themselves, etc and they find it motivation. for me i find it defeatist and it hurts my good habits. maybe i will change to every 2 or 3 months. why torture myself regularly.

MerryKat wrote:It is so hard when you anticipate due to your behavious that you will have a loss and you get a gain instead!!

Hang Tight!!! You are doing so well and working a great road!!!

((((Hugs))))

Thanks!

I agree with oolala53.

Our body weight changes constantly. It can change by up to a pound or two during the course of a day and mean absolutely nothing about your actual body weight. That can be from fluids or undigested food.

I'd look at the minor increase you saw as no change.

Hi MJ,

I too get discouraged with the scale. One night last week I weighed myself before bed and was happy to see I was down a pound, then weighed in the morning and it was back I didn't spend much time trying to figure that one out. Congratulations on your 10K success!