The Scale Lies to You
weight loss, scale
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We’ve been told over an over again that daily weighing is unnecessary, yet many of us can’t resist peeking at that number every morning. If you just can’t bring yourself to toss the scale in the trash, you should definitely familiarize yourself with the factors that influence it’s readings. From water retention to glycogen storage and changes in lean body mass, daily weight fluctuations are normal. They are not indicators of your success or failure. Once you understand how these mechanisms work, you can free yourself from the daily battle with the bathroom scale.
Water makes up about 60% of total body mass. Normal fluctuations in the body’s water content can send scale-watchers into a tailspin if they don’t understand what’s happening. Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink, the more of it your body retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto it’s water supplies with a vengeance, possibly causing the number on the scale to inch upward. The solution is to drink plenty of water.
Excess salt (sodium) can also play a big role in water retention. A single teaspoon of salt contains over 2,000 mg of sodium. Generally, we should only eat between 1,000 and 3,000 mg of sodium a day, so it’s easy to go overboard. Sodium is a sneaky substance. You would expect it to be most highly concentrated in salty chips, nuts, and crackers. However, a food doesn’t have to taste salty to be loaded with sodium. A half cup of instant pudding actually contains nearly four times as much sodium as an ounce of salted nuts, 460 mg in the pudding versus 123 mg in the nuts. The more highly processed a food is, the more likely it is to have a high sodium content. That’s why, when it comes to eating, it’s wise to stick mainly to the basics: fruits, vegetables, lean meat, beans, and whole grains. Be sure to read the labels on canned foods, boxed mixes, and frozen di... read entire entry
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on 2/11/2008
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13.5
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Break out of a Weight Loss Plateau
weight loss, plateau, dieting
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What is a weight loss plateau?
You are on a diet, but you reach a period of time (two or more weeks) where you can't seem to lose any weight. Your weight may actually fluctuate 3lbs up or down, but you can't seem to break below this range.
You can experience a weight loss plateau for different reasons:
1. You are consuming too many calories for the amount of calories that you are burning off. 2. You are not consuming enough calories; your body defends itself by slowing down your metabolism.
First, you need to determine if you are experiencing a plateau or if your weight is in a state of normal fluctuation. Weigh yourself once per week. If you have not lost any weight after 3 weeks, you've hit a plateau. Remember, people lose weight at different rates. If you've lost even one pound after three weeks, you are still losing weight and probably don't need to change anything. The closer you get to your goal weight, the harder it will be to lose weight.
Second, if you are experiencing a plateau, look at your current diet and exercise patterns. The NutriCounter can function as a measurement tool to see how many calories you are consuming each day. (http://www.nutricounter.com) It will also help you determine if you are eating the appropriate amount of carbohydrates and protein each day. You should also keep an exercise journal that will help you determine how much exercise you are getting each day.
Here are some patterns that you may need to break. (Note: before trying any of the methods below, get your doctor's advice. This is especially important if you have special dieting needs.)
1. You should be eating at least 1200 calories a day if you are a woman and 1500 calories per day if you are a man. If you restrict your calories too much your body will start stockpiling fat because it thinks you are starving.
2. You may try to break a plateau by decreasing the percentage of... read entire entry
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on 2/6/2008
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16
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