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Trying to Take a Big Gain in Stride
 Posted by Michelle Butler Jun 12 2011, 8:31 pm in calories, exercise, Expectations, food diary, Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, motivation, weight loss I’ve been following the healthy living path for two-and-a-half years now. I know that there are ups and downs, times when it is difficult and even times when it is easy. Struggles and stress in any part of my life can make me struggle with food faster than you can say portion control problems. Right now, my life is pretty awesome. I even have my head on straight about the one area that could be a big source of stress and have my zen reactions ready everyday. You think this happiness would make it very easy to make wise food choices and work out regularly, but that is not the case. I’m not rocking my journey to become a healthy writer right now. I’ve been in the higher ranges of my acceptable 5-pound zone for a couple of months now. That’s nothing to panic about, and quite frankly, I haven’t been able to get worked up about it at all as I’m just pretty darn happy right now. But, my weigh in last Tuesday disturbed my peace a bit. I broke a new record in the annals of Michelle’s weekly weight fluctuations. Brace yourself, people, as I have talked myself into sharing the awful result. The Weight Watchers receptionist said at my weigh in that I was up a little this week and asked did I expect that? Her tone of voice certainly suggested that “up a little” might be code for good heavens, did you gain a lot of weight this past week. Did you pig out every single second of every single day? I said it had been my birthday on Saturday, she nodded, and I went to take my seat in the meeting. I knew I had eaten out and done some celebrating, but I had tried to balance it with lighter meals, some exercise and other healthy choices, so I didn’t think it would be that bad. I looked and immediately wished I hadn’t. I had gained 5.4 pounds in one week. I would have been better off not knowing that for awhile. Now, I don’t think I ate that much food in the past seven days. If 3500 calories equals a pound, I would have had to have eaten 18,900 extra calories. I did not do that. Other things had to be affecting that gain. Yes, the timing in the month was such that I could expect to gain even if I had been perfect. I also knew that a weigh in can be more about the past 14 days than the past 7. At the previous weigh-in, I had stayed the same weight and that had felt like a victory. Finally, the group leader stressed at the end of the meeting that the heat outside could cause some of us to retain water. That might explain a disappointing weigh in. I could come up with several reasons why I might have gained weight including eating a little too much in the past week. I’ve been doing this too long to let one weigh in freak me out too much, but there was no getting over the fact that my Tuesday night weigh in showed a weight that I had not seen for more than a year-and-a-half, and I hated it. I pretty much adopted a “screw it” attitude the next two days and wondered what I was getting out of my weekly Weight Watchers weigh ins and meetings. I did not track and may not have make the best choices when I ate out Wednesday and Thursday nights (although both nights were very fun, and I do appreciate that). I did spend some time making note of how my clothes fit. I was still wearing my 12s and 10s, and I’m not sure if they should have still fit given what I weighed. I was very glad they did though. Given that I once wore a size 20 plus pairs of shorts, fitting into a size 10 or 12 is still a victory. By Friday, I was better and wanted to make wise food choices and eat within my points limits for the day. That continued through the weekend. I still don’t entirely know what caused that big gain. When I went to the gym Sunday, I weighed myself and was a few pounds down from my Tuesday night weigh in. I do know that sometimes I can have a very disappointing weigh in with a large gain and then lose it all by the next weigh in. It’s just not worth getting that upset about it though it can be difficult to remember that moment to moment. So, where am I now? I’ve never lost 5.4 pounds in a week – though I never have gained that much in a week either. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go to a Weight Watchers meeting this week because of a work conference. That same work commitment is going to make it impossible to control my food options for the week. I will try to make wise food choices, perhaps add in some extra walks if I get any free time. I just have to keep on keeping on, trying to make wise choices and be patient. This healthy living thing will last the rest of my life. It just won’t always go well. I can accept that and just keep trying.
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Good luck with your travel this week, Michelle. I wouldn’t put too much stock in your one week gains. I know I have the periodic day where the weight shows way off the norm. I weigh myself every day because it fluctuates so much within a pound or two in either direction that once a week could give me a totally off base reading.
I’m so glad life is treating you well!
Thanks, Mary! I’m trying to be cool about it but also force myself to consider if my food portions/choices are getting too large. Either Thanksgiving or Christmas week, my weight fluctuated 10 pounds in one week, so I do know I can swing if I have some big meals. We’ll see where I am in a week or two.
Yes hot weather will cause water retention. It will also depend on where you were in your cycle and a host of other things. The only thing you can do is to treat it like a wake up call. You can’t change the past but you can use it as an incentive to do that exercis e you were going to avoid. Or to choose a healthier option or a small portion. Little changes rather than big ones. But don’t beat yourself up. You had fun celebrating your birthday and there is no crime in that. The worst thing would be to over-react and punish yourself. It happened. You go forward.
Truly you are capable of more than you think.
Thanks, Michelle! It is hard to realize your last line – “Truly you are capable of more than you think” – at times. I will do my best (without obsessing and ruining what could be fun times) at the work conference and during my social activities this weekend.
Michelle, I think you have a very realistic and positive attitude about your off week. It affected you in an expected way, but you didn’t let it derail you to the point you couldn’t even see the tracks anymore.
Michelle – the week mid-cycle for me is a beeyotch for losing at all. I’m typically up a pound or two, only to drop it the week before the end of my cycle. I know some people say don’t weight yourself regularly, but I do and by doing so I know a great deal about how things fluctuate due to what I eat/cycle/etc.
It’s good because rather than get discouraged, I can say to myself…but we had ham last night, and that was salty, or it’s day 16, and nothing’s budging…and that way I put it in perspective and keep moving forward.
Whatever you need to do to keep it from derailing you, that’s what you should do.
You’re right about the math, and if you were eating out it could be also the sodium and not just the calories. I had chinese a few weeks ago – we ordered 3 dishes for 3 of us, and had scads of leftovers. The dishes were mixed veggies, chicken guy ding (chicken and veggies) and beef and noodles. Nothing deep fried, no eggroll, and a few noodles were my only starch. I gained over 2 lbs. Sodium laced sauces killed me!
So you can’t change last week – you just tackle this week – today – and do the best you can. That’s how you make it a lifestyle rather than a success/fail scenario.
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