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Wait on your weight

It drives me a little crazy when I see folks, many of them friends and relatives, posting things like “down 5LBs since last week!” Losing five pounds of fat is a significant achievement, but guess what: in a week, you almost certainly didn’t lose five pounds of fat. You lost, ideally, one pound of fat, and probably four pounds of water, which will come back as soon as your various hormones will settle. And then you’ll post something next week about how it was a tough week, you gained a few pounds back. You didn’t! You just soaked up a little water.

Note: if you’re significantly obese, like pushing four hundo, it is possible to lose many pounds very quickly, but if you’re just trying to lose a few Christmas cookie pounds before heading to Punta Cana in March, you can’t do it that quickly, unless you simply stop eating altogether, and then you’re going to pay a heavy price in muscle loss, so don’t do that. #runonsentence4lyfe

Short term weight changes fluctuations are the bane of the fitness-minded. You have to ignore them. The only thing that matters is the long-term trend, which you’ll find follows a nice gentle slope of 1-2 pounds a week, depending on how much a deficit you’re in. This is obviously frustrating to folks who have a *lot* of weight to lose, but keep in mind: it took you decades to put it on. It ain’t coming off in a few weeks.

That being said, I weighed in at 229 this morning, two pounds down from last week, so I’m going to celebrate with cheese cake. #justkidding.com I did go to a Flyers game tonight and had a couple hot dogs, but avoided having any beer, which is good from both weight loss and wallet health perspectives. I did come home and have Scotch, but that’s because I took my 8yo son and 9yo nephew to the game, and little boys are exhausting.

Food today: pork tenderloin and mixed veggies for lunch; hot dogs for dinner.
Workout: The sleet this morning delayed school, making me late to work and cancelling my intended swim workout. I’m still trying to get all my chins/pushups/planks, but it’s getting late; I may have to make things up tomorrow.

Weight: 229 (-2 since January 5th)

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