Friday, January 25, 2019

Smash the Cycle: yo-yo weight loss

I have had this weird cycle thing going with my weight.  It has been going on for months.  I talked about it in Late summer of last year!!!  I mentioned it throughout the winter.   And it is still going on!  I spent some time thinking (in the shower of course) and talking to a friend about it (Thanks Julie) and I believe that I may have found some clarity to my issues


The cycle is that I am in goes something like this…..

On my official weekend weigh in day, my weight is nice and low!  Hurray for me!  I don’t pig out over the weekend, but on Monday or Tuesday my weight pops up about 2 pounds!   Booo for me!!!  I sent my Wednesday morning weigh in results to my friend Julie and they usually are a bit lower each week…which gives me SOME hope, but it is still annoying to see my weight jump up each mid-week, even though it does go down again on the weekend. 


For example……..a typical two week period (totally made up numbers, because quite frankly, I am feeling lazy and it would have been way too much work to go get real numbers……but I will say that the first two numbers were real)

Saturday 250.0

Wednesday 251.4

Saturday 249.6

Wednesday 251.0

Saturday 249.2


You see….painstakingly slow!  So the other morning in the shower I really spent some time thinking about it.  I can’t help but wonder what results I would be getting weekly if I didn’t have that pop on the scales. (I have lost 2.8 pounds for January as of last weekend’s official weigh in, so I am losing…just SLOOOOOW).  So I decided to really try to keep that weight from popping this upcoming weekend.

I immediately said to myself.  WATER.  I need to make sure that I’m drinking lots of water on the weekend.  I know that my water intake is a whole lot less on the weekends.  I try, but it gets away from me.  I was easily on board with that plan.   But if I was going into the weekend and really try, I also knew that I had to really watch my caloric intake.  No, if you remember, my goal for January is NOT to watch my caloric intake, but to simply track. (the side benefit is that if I’m tracking, I’m usually eating within my goal range of calories!)   Ok, ok ok….I grudgingly agreed to actually restrict and make sure that I was in the lower realm of calories for each weekend day.

But then at work that day, I was writing an email to my friend Julie…and this is what I wrote…….and it brought clarity to my weekend weight woes.


My weight is down from where it was last Wednesday…like a pound down. So that is good.  I’m up from the weekend weigh in though.  GRRRR  it is crazy but my weight does the exact same thing each week.  It pops up on Monday or Tuesday and sits high all week long and then Saturday or Sunday it drops to a new low….(last Saturday  I was down to 250.0…..which is a 2.8 pound loss for January……today I’m back up to 251.2)   I was thinking in the shower this morning.  I am going to work really hard….drink TONS of water this weekend and really watch my food intake and see if I can break this cycle.   The odd thing is that I don’t really eat all that differently over the weekend.  Actually probably less…hmmmm thinking back though…not as much fruit as normal…and probably less veggies too since we usually get subs one night and pizza or Chinese another night.  HMMMM

 

Jason doesn’t eat unless he is really hungry.  (REALLY HANGRY)  I can’t even fathom why food has no pull on him!  It is insanely odd to me!   Ohh and he doesn’t like bread.   Who in their right mind doesn’t like bread?????  In some regards that is good for me…because if we are out and about we very rarely say “lets pick up lunch”  so it forces me to actually sit back and say “I’m hungry….really  hungry” before I say “lets stop and grab something for me to eat”.  (Closet eater and all that…I have to be REALLY hungry before I will make us stop because, well that’s not closet eating!)    But it’s bad on the other hand because since we don’t eat regularly when we are together there is a very good chance that I will end up eating a snack/something non-nutritious when I do get hungry!   

 

CLARITY!  The light bulb went off!  Yeah, my calories are in my range over the weekend…BUT I’m not eating as nutritiously as I do on the weekdays.  Add that to the high sodium of Chinese, subs and pizza (which I am eating in moderation!) and I have stirred up the perfect recipe for disaster!

So with that said, it helped me cement a weekend plan to break this weigh in cycle that I am in.   1.  DRINK DRINK DRINK…..Water…hahaha  but then you knew that because I don’t drink too much alcohol!  2.  Really watch my food intake….I haven’t been trying to stay beneath a certain calorie count, but this weekend I am going to do it!   And 3….and maybe the most important one…….eat nutritiously. Turn to fruit versus un-nutritious snacks!


So I’m ready to head into the weekend!  I’m waiting for my weight to go back down and then I’m ready to implement these three things!!!   It is time to smash this cycle!!!!








14 comments:

Wendy said...

Good insights! Hope these help break the cycle. The nurse practitioner I'm seeing, who specializes in weight management, also encouraged me to drink LOTS of water for weight loss. She says this is because, any toxins stored in the body are stored in the fat. When we lose weight, we are breaking down and using that fat - this ends up releasing toxins to circulate in the bloodstream. We need lots of water to then get rid of them, otherwise, your body won't break down more fat, since that would release more toxins. I've heard other people say this, and I was suspicious of it, but hearing it from a bona fide health care professional gave it some credibility for me. So, maybe that will help you get your water in this weekend. Good luck! You can do it!

jesseybell said...

I definitely feel that water is super important. I have seen some jump ups in weight this week and then I record that I need to make sure I am getting in my 100 oz of water those days. I also feel that water (and walking) both um *get things moving* so I physically feel better and also reflects well on the scale.

Have you thought about only ordering food 1 of the 2 days on the weekend? I know subs aren't that bad, depending on what you have on them, but still could be full of sodium.

My husband can go all day without eating much or anything, except his many, many cups of coffee and he often doesn't think about the other 3 people in the family who eat a pretty consistent diet and eat on a regular basis, so I make sure I bring all of us snacks along when we are out and about, even if it is doing mundane errands. Then I am less tempted to suggest eating out for lunch or if we do end up at a restaurant I hopefully make better chances. And I always make sure I have plenty of water in the car to sip on.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

SANRDJ said...

Ugh the dreaded roller coaster of weight loss. Water is def key!! I don't drink as much on the weekends as well but I received a lovely water bottle from my son for Christmas and I love to carry it around with me so I do tend to drink more than I used to!! I might also suggest just the one out meal a weekend. We switched from going out or ordering out on both fri and saturday to just one night. The other night we cook at home and try to do it together and make something that we both love or we have never tried before. And lots of healthy snacks as appetizers while we prep. Sometimes our bodies just need that shake up from us doing our weekly normal. Great on the 2.8... cause it's 2.8 that is no longer there but press on. You can do it!

mxtodis123 said...

Fortunately I have always loved water and drink plenty of it on a daily basis. Unfortunately, I am up and down all night as a result.

Sarah said...

I need more water too! And constantly go up and down in a range like you. Looking for a way to break out of that pattern. I hope it works for you.

Shelley said...

Excellent insight, MaryFran! Here's to breaking that cycle!!

jen said...



I know with me, water is my thing. At work I am always drinking, but on days off I have to remember to drink it!!

You got this, here's to breaking that cycle !!

MaryFran said...

Oh wow! I had never heard that....and I know that I haven’t been drinking enough water...close but not near enough!!

MaryFran said...

Good for you for recognizing your husbands eating habits don’t coincide with yours (he sounds like Jason’s twin...hahaha) and working to accommodate it! I have been doing it...but with junk food! So healthy food today....after I get to the store to refresh our fruit!!

MaryFran said...

I think the healthy snacks for me is the biggest...even weeks we onlyborder once (about half the time) my weight does the exact same thing!)

MaryFran said...

Boo to being up and down all night!!! I usually used to try to taper off in the evenings..have most of my water done by the time I left work...to avoid the up all night thing!

MaryFran said...

It sounds like water may be the key!!! I’ll let you know!!!

MaryFran said...

Thanks!!

Cathy said...

I weigh my self on Wednesday unofficially and then Friday is my official weigh day. I tend to eat a lot of junk on the weekend lately, so I don't really want to see what my weight is on Monday morning. But because I figure that my official weigh day is Friday, it doesn't matter what Wednesdays weight is as long as Friday to Friday I'm going down (which isn't going to happen this week because I was terrible yesterday). And according to my blog my "official" official weigh in is only on the first of the month, so if my weight is down from Jan. 1st that's a win. I think that you have to give yourself a break after eating chinese, pizza, etc on the weekend. Those things will make your weight pop up no matter how much you eat of them. I'm not suggesting to only weigh one day a week, but maybe only focus on one day and as long as your going down week to week, that's a win. :-) (Did that make any sense??)