Week two of summer shredding is over!
The last two weeks I have been very strict about my diet. Especially about the no cookies, candy, etc part of it. Of course I was also very strict about staying under 1600 calories, and getting at least two miles of cardio in per day. There was something I struggled to do, however, and that was loose weight.
Weight – it fluctuates
There is some debate about whether or not a person should weigh themselves every day. Most people in the actual fitness world seem to agree that it is important to weigh yourself every day. I have also been told by my doctors to weigh myself every day, to be alert for fluid retention.
Often in the past, when I knew that I was going to have a heavy weigh in, I would avoid weighing myself all together, which was really a vicious cycle. Weighing myself daily helps me know exactly where I am at. The people that recommended less frequent weigh ins, (typically weekly or biweekly) recommended that philosophy on the basis of the simple fact that the scale fluctuates. With that fluctuation some people can get discouraged. It is important to realize that the numbers on the scale may not go down every day. There are a number of factors that can affect weigh-ins.
- Holding water
- Eating extra salty foods
- How late you ate your meal the night prior
- How late you were drinking water
- Maybe you just need to poop
- ETC
On Wednesday I woke up weighing 150.4. On Thursday I woke up a whole pound heavier, likely thanks to the glass of wine I had the night prior. 
In fact my weight stayed about the same all week, fluctuating up and down by a fraction of a pound.
Thus it is important not to just go by the numbers on a scale, but how a person feels. I feel great, and according to our fancy scale my muscle percentage has gone up by .4%. The same two people weighing 150 lbs can look extremely different based on how much muscle they have.The more muscle a person has, the more food they can eat. So really – I want all the muscles!!
For every day sustainable long term weight loss, don’t expect the numbers on the scale to go down extremely quickly. Fast weight loss, or more than a few pounds a week, can actually be damaging to overall fitness goals.
Other success markers
Not only have I been feeling great but I am looking better as well. In order to have more progress markers, I have decided that next week I am going to take body measurements. In fact, I don’t know why I didn’t do this before!
Dedication and motivation is all in the mind
The last two weeks have been a challenge. It is not just changing my actions, but I have been working to change my thinking. For example, telling myself that I don’t want any chocolate, has helped to stay strong. I know I am lying, you know I am lying, but eventually the idea is that my mind wont even think about chocolate because I don’t want it. At this point the desire for chocolate is no longer an issue, and the habit of not eating chocolate has developed.
Good habits are ultimately the key to success in most anything in life. There have been many days, (including today) where I do not want to do cardio. I have almost talked myself out of doing cardio quite a few times. The problem with skipping a day, is that if I talk myself out of cardio today, it will be easier to talk myself out of it tomorrow, and even easier the next day. Then after a few days, I have ended up right back where I started.
Treat yo Self!
As a treat to myself and hubby for being good, I ordered us some new workout clothing. I read somewhere (probably Pinterest) that you should reward yourself with things other than food. Not only will new workout gear make us feel good, but we will want to go to the gym and use our new gear, thus cementing a good habit.