If you are trying to lose weight like most people these days, you
might find yourself becoming fairly attached to your bathroom scale.
However, there is a better "weigh," pardon the pun, to monitor your weight loss progress than to rely on this "irrelevant" and out-dated method.
Is
this you? When the number on the scale goes down, you scream with joy
and accomplishment, but when that number goes up, you have feelings of
defeat and wonder what's the use? If so, this is too bad because "weight"
is not what you should be measuring to assess your results, and the
feelings of defeat only serve to discourage you from continuing your
weight loss efforts.
"Weighing" is actually the least
effective way to measure your health and your progress. What the scale
measures is the volume of blood in your body, the undigested food in
your gastrointestinal system, the fluid in your lymph system, the
glycogen in your liver and muscles, and other body components that can
fluctuate throughout the day and from day to day.
It is quite
normal for the amount of fluid in the body to fluctuate. Water actually
makes up over 60% of the total body mass (weight). Extra weight
reflected on the scale in the form of water retention, however, is often
what is responsible for the feelings of failure felt by those trying to
lose weight. Although, some water retention is normal, a great deal of
water retention can be prevented. Ironically, it is actually a lack of
water and fluid intake that is contributing to the water retention.
Dieters often restrict not just calories but also their fluid intake.
This may be due to them omitting calorie-dense drinks, without replacing
them with water. When the body is deprived of water it perceives it as a
threat to survival, and therefore compensates by conserving water. In
addition, if the diet is too high in sodium (like so many American
diets), this causes the body to hang on to even more water. Drinking
adequate water will help you maintain proper fluid balance and help
flush out excess sodium. An adequate amount of water will vary from
person to person, but a general guideline is to drink ½ ounce per pound
of body weight.
A very common cause of water retention in women
occurs just prior to menstruation, and most always disappears as quickly
as it appears. Again, this water weight gain can be reduced by drinking
plenty of water, avoiding highly processed and high sodium foods, as
well as maintaining an exercise program.
Another body component that can tip the scale is the amount of glycogen
or carbohydrate that the body stores. The body stores carbohydrate in
the liver and in muscles, in the form of glycogen. This storage is
important for when one is unable to eat, such as when sleeping, or when
exerting a lot of energy quickly and unexpectedly. This reserve of
energy (glycogen or carbohydrate stores) weighs about one pound, and has
attached with it, 3 to 4 pounds of water, hence the word "carbo-hydrate."
If you fail to consume adequate carbohydrate (as many do when they
begin an unhealthy fad diet), your glycogen stores will deplete, and
consequently, so will the water that is with it. The body, however,
cannot go for very long without adequate carbohydrate so when the body
restores its reserve of carbohydrates, its associated water is also
restored. Don't be alarmed by weight shifts of up to 2 pounds per day,
even with no changes in your calorie intake or energy expenditure. This
is quite normal and has nothing to do with fat loss. Unfortunately, the
worse thing it does is create anxiety when the scale doesn't move in the
desired direction.
Don't forget about the actual weight of the
food you eat. If you just ate dinner and your food is undigested, you
may as well just be carrying around a bunch of marbles, because the food
and drink you just consumed might weigh 4 pounds. This is not fat gain.
The message here is not to weigh yourself right after you have eaten
because the extra weight is the weight of the food. Instead, weigh
yourself first thing in the morning before you have consumed any food or
drink, but, remember that the morning weight is also not representative
of what we weigh either, because we are actually dehydrated first thing
in the morning. The first thing we should do when we awaken is to drink
water.
If you still are not convinced that the 4 pound weight
gain you managed to put on after your dinner meal is not the weight of
the food, think about this: In order to store 1 pound of fat, you need
to consume 3500 calories. If the 4 pounds you gained from your dinner
meal was stored as fat, this would mean you would have eaten a 14,000
calorie meal----not likely, nor humanly possible! The same rationale can
work in the other direction. In order to lose 1 pound of fat, you need
to reduce your intake or increase your activity by 3500 calories. A fat
loss of only 1 to 2 pounds a week is realistic, but if you went on a
very low calorie diet and lost 10 pounds in one week, this weight loss
was not due to losing fat but instead to losing water, glycogen or
muscle weight. A ten-pound weight loss in one week would equate to
decreasing your calorie intake by 35,000 calories that week-----does
that make sense?
In addition to water, glycogen stores and undigested food in the gastrointestinal track, ones weight is also made up of muscle, bones, glycogen stores, organs, and fat, so if we lose weight we
could actually be losing any one of these components. The reality is
that the scale can't tell us what component of our weight we have lost.
Unfortunately, what often happens when people go on the wrong type of
diet is they don't always lose fat, but instead, lose valuable
metabolically active muscle mass, which ultimately contributes to the decline in
fat loss and future difficulty in maintaining a healthy weight.
Therefore, one should see a professional, such as a registered
dietitian, to help lose weight the right way and to also begin using the
right measurement tool to determine success. One such measurement tool
is one that measures "body composition," to give you a percentage of
your body's muscle, as well as fat mass.
Other than determining
your body composition through simple analysis-testing, what is the best
tool to measure your weight loss success? You might be surprised, but
the best "weight measurement" tool is... the mirror! Do you look healthier? Are you less bloated? The second-best weight measurement tool is... your feelings! Your feelings are NEVER wrong. Do you feel better? Do your clothes feel like they are fitting better? Are your rings feeling looser on your fingers? Do your muscles feel
firmer? And the third-best weight measurement tool is... a change in
your lifestyle habits? If you do the right things, more often than not,
you will get the results you are aiming for! If you are eating right,
exercising, sleeping well, and managing stress, don't let a small normal
fluctuation in the scale tell you any differently!
Let's face it
though... despite being armed with all this knowledge about what
actually comprises our body weight, it is still going to be difficult
for we humans to give up our scale. So, if you must use the scale some
experts suggest not to weigh yourself for at least two months after
beginning a new lifestyle plan, in order for your body to get adjusted
to its new style. Again, however, we humans like more immediate
gratification. So, if you insist on weighing yourself, do it only once a
week, preferably at the same time of the day. In the morning upon
awakening is generally the best time of the day because that is when we
always weigh less. But, don't forget... this number on the scale is not
the sum of your success!
Cheryl Winter is a board-certified family nurse
practitioner and registered dietitian with advanced training in
diabetes. She is President of DiabeteSteps Rx®, a full-service health
and wellness organization, providing services aimed at the prevention
and treatment of diabetes, and its associated medical conditions.
DiabeteSteps Rx® also leads other healthcare professionals to increased
revenues and improved patient care. Access her FREE "Get Balanced, Fit & Slim" STEP-POWER® Transformation Package at: http://DiabeteStepsRx.com to help with the challenges of weight gain, stress & illness.
