Author: Healthi Head Coach, Lisa Wood
You’ve worked hard all week, stuck to your plan, drank your water, moved your body and are feeling confident come weigh in day. You step on the scale…. 😯😫😡…. WHAT?!? That can’t be right!
You’re right actually. Unexpected numbers on the scale can be caused by many factors, and it’s frustrating and disappointing for sure. There are a million things that influence that number. The average person fluctuates 0.5-2lbs over the course of the day. If you want a better idea of what’s actually going on – try weighing daily – same time, same scale, same clothes and average it instead of having one number, which is just a snapshot of your body at that specific moment.
Then there are still other things to consider:
🔹 Fluid/Water Retention
🔹 Sodium Retention
🔹 Muscular Repair from increased exercise
🔹Hormonal Changes
🔹 Amount of water you’ve had
🔹 Amount of sleep you’ve had
🔹 If you are sick or your body is fighting off illness
🔹 Time of day
🔹 Clothes
🔹 Bathroom habits
🔹 How much coffee/caffeine you’ve had
🔹 How late you last ate
🔹 Reaction to meds
🔹 Reaction to foods
🔹 Allergies
Sometimes it’s about going back to basics. The first thing to check is are you tracking everything you should, not by eye (portion distortion is real) but actually weighing and measuring?
Are you eating enough calories? Eating too few can create a sluggish metabolism that holds onto everything. Not sure? If you are a PRO member, you can track calories alongside points by turning on the Secondary Metric under your Settings.
Are you using your 0 Bite foods correctly? Do you have the right food list and understand how it works?
Are you getting enough water? Hydration is key to not only stopping hunger but keeping your body from holding all it can from the foods you’re eating.
Check in on your sodium levels. For sodium sensitive people – you can gain 2-8lbs overnight from retention. And high sodium hides in many things as innocent as canned soups, frozen dinners, cottage cheese – and when you eat out – it is very easy to exceed your daily recommended level. The average person shouldn’t exceed 2200-2400mg/day and people needing to watch sodium, it’s 1500. A large Wendy’s Chili for example = 1170mg. McDonald’s Grilled Chicken = 1110mg. Applebee’s Fiesta Lime Chicken = 3970mg…
For most people it will take 1-2 days to flush through your system – so be sure to watch this 3-4 days before weigh in to avoid a big surprise. The good news is – it isn’t a real/fat gain and drinking plenty of water (without additives – you’d be surprised at the sodium in some diet drinks and products) will usually take care of it for you.
In the end, this is a long haul process – some weeks up, some down. Be patient with yourself… It will balance out. #justkeepswimming
