The Trouble With Good Weigh-Ins

Now don't get me wrong - seeing a good result on a Monday morning is a great thing. It's sort of the point of this whole weight-loss business too. I'm certainly not knocking good weigh-ins!

But here's the thing. For the last three weeks now, I have been quite pleased with my weigh-ins each Monday. So pleased in fact, that I have decided to treat myself. Not with chocolate or ice-cream or anything 'bad'. Just giving myself a slightly larger portion of chicken, or maybe adding some sausages to my breakfast omelette.

And each Tuesday, my weight has rocketed up. Far beyond what calories would suggest - I actually believe that with my running, my calories on these 'treat' days are actually still below my BMR threshold. I don't know if its water weight or what, but without fail for the last three weeks, my Tuesday weigh-in has been several pounds heavier than my Monday result.

And then for the rest of the week, I'm playing catch-up. I have to shed these extra added pounds, and then some, so that I can show another loss the following week.

And that's not how I want this weight loss to go. Each week has been a real mission, with my target not being to just record a loss, but a significant loss to counteract my Tuesday spike. Luckily I've managed it so far, but I'm sure, if I keep on doing this, that one week the spike will be too high to counteract before the next Monday.

Soooo, next week I can't be too self-satisfied with my result (assuming I even manage a loss by next week!). I'm getting close to half-way now, and soon I have to start thinking about not just dieting to drop the pounds, but finding a manageable, sustainable level of calorie-intake and exercise, to ease me gradually down to my target weight, and then stabilise there. The idea isn't to stay on this diet for the rest of my life, just to use it until I've dropped to my target weight, and then 'maintain' until eating healthily and exercising regularly is the norm.

Got a bit of weight still to shift this week before I start showing another loss, and from then on, its softly softly. This isn't a sprint to my target weight, its a marathon. I have to make sure I pace myself...