Well, I was all set to break the 40lb down barrier, or at least be so very near to breaking it. Only to have my excitement, hopes and all dashed on the rocks or great barrier reef of reality this morning. Watching in rapt attention to see my new digital scale read "360.0" in all it's digital glory... But I was crushed to see it read "366.8"!!! ARGH! FIVE POUNDS UP FROM YESTERDAY MORNING!!!
I can't complain as I was warned not to weigh EVERY DAY, but I cannot help it! I am like a kid in a candy store, excited by the very prospect of losing even more weight on this low carb life. It is like a daily reward, watching the pounds peal away! I have been losing a pound or more every day, and now this! I am not really blown out by this. Just a little frustrated. I am keeping to the plan. Staying the course. Looking for things to get back to the familiar daily lower numbers...
I think I know what my enemy is. WATER RETENTION. I had my calves swollen and large this morning, and simply know it is something like too much salt in something I ate - Unwittingly.
Do not panic - Oh TWO readers of my blog! I have not fallen off the wagon in a gigantic binge of chocolate, candy, cookies, donuts, and ice cream! I am staying true to form. I actually suspect the office cafeteria, where I ordered my low carb breakfast this morning!
I am very sensitive to salt, and if I have to cast suspicions around - looking for someone to blame, or some root cause of my calamity, I HAVE to believe it is something like this. Still - it is what it is. I have been drinking massive amounts of water and diet beverages to try to force the kidneys to purge me of my blight. Hopefully my plan will work!!
- Keeping the Faith. Staying the Course! Hoping the Best (Tomorrow Morning)!!!
4 comments:
Yeah, if you're experiencing swollen calves, it's definitely fluid retention.
The thing with fluid retention is that the number you see on the scales one day can completely reverse the next - or at least in a couple of days.
I'm also a daily weigher - it helps keep me on track. If I have a day when it bounces back up, I go back through what I've eaten, how the digestive tract has been working, what exercise I did, and whether or not my ankles feel puffy. I'm quite sensitive to salt too, which can result in a near-immediate fluid retention, but sometimes I find a problem after eating too much of something different.
I figure if I can track down the reason for a slight gain, it helps me understand what I will do best on long term - all part of the learning experience on low-carb. Since I intend to eat this way for the rest of my life, I need to know as much as possible about exactly how I react to different foods or different situations, so that when I finally lose the last of it, I'll have it firmly established exactly how I should be eating. Daily weighing is just one of the tools I use to accomplish that goal.
This is one of those areas where the individuality and personality factor really comes into play. When I went low-carb, I started out weighing myself every day or every other day. I have the personality type that enjoys good but REALLY latches onto bad with gusto, so 6 good weighs could be instantly wiped out by 1 bad weigh, and I got tired of that. I figured anything that might discourage me was not a good thing overall, so I took the advice of many other low-carbers and started weighing myself once a week. Even though I was often tempted to get on the scale more often than that, in hopes of seeing some great loss indicated, I found that with a once-a-week weigh-in, I always came away with a good result. Even if somewhere within each week, I might've gained a few or not lost any, by the time a whole week had gone by, I would have definitely lost (well, not counting my one-month stall).
So that's my 2-cents, and while it worked great for me, it may not apply to others :) It's just an observation.
-Cindy
You're right about that - it's definitely an individual thing.
By doing a daily weigh, I can see quite easily that I'd have a real problem with disappointing weekly weigh-ins, because all too often, my weight at one week intervals doesn't change at all - but the previous day, it was down a pound or two. I just tend to bounce around all over the place from day to day.
But by weighing daily, I can see an overall downward trend.
You've got to do what works best for you though - if a bad scale day bothers you a lot worse than a bad hair day, go for the weekly (or even once every two weeks, or once a month) weighing.
Thanks for all the great advice! I know that for the moment I am a "Big Enough" man to deal with the daily variation in weight.
If I hit a plateau or stall, I need to know it and look at what I am doing and change my game a little.
In this case I need to be sure that I eliminate potential sources of salt, and keep focussed on what I am doing. I'll just use the results as a way to reinforce my own discipline on my activities, food choices, and to double up on my motivation and determination to WIN by losing... hopefully losing massively!
Thanks for stopping by and saying hello!
I appreciate the support of others hard charging on the low carb lifestyle.
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