doublin' up

[thoreau]

so - the scale says I"m continuing to gain weight. (sigh) Now I realize - gaining 5-6 pounds at a 33" waist vs. 2006's 38" waist is different. (as my trainer admonished me for using the "f" word (fat)) but - I think I'm going to break out the point calculator and go back on the Weight Watchers routine for a little while. Just as a refresher - and I need to reaffirm the place of the gym in my life. I've been making it there 2 or 3 days a week rather than my normal 4 or 5 for the last month or so. I'm not sounding any alarms - I just now how I feel about myself if I gain any substantial amount of weight back. I fought really hard to lose those inches and pounds. Time to double up and keep them off.

Comments

[bibliocub.livejournal.com]

Well you still look fantastic to me. After the "holidays" are over, I will be your gym buddy so we can make each other work on ourselves. As we said last night, in 12 weeks we will be 30% hotter!

[theoctothorpe.livejournal.com]

If you're going to the gym that often, it's entirely possible *some* of the weight is muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat.

Suggestion: Get a Tanita scale, as it can measure not only weight, but %bodyfat, %water, and other things. It can't be 100% accurate, but it is relatively so (meaning if when you first step on the scale your fat % is (x), and the following week it's (x-0.5), you've lost 0.5%, but (x) may not be the true value of your fat %).

That said, cutting down on your caloric intake is probably a good thing, especially if you're not going to the gym as often as you used to.

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

My trainer says the same thing - that perhaps my body is putting on muscle which weighs more than fat - (I'm now past two years of a regular gym habit) - but I also know that I need to step up and reaffirm that habit. I'll check out a Tanita scale - I'm afraid it would give me too much info to obsess over though. LOL!

[grizzlyzone.livejournal.com]

"Weight" and "size" are really two different things.

Your weight can go in one direction, while your size goes in another or stays exactly same. Conversely, you can change size and your weight will be the same.

I'm not sure the reason, but my current theory has to do with "hydration" and "bran flakes". (Remember. You'er eating all that extra "roughage" from your "box o' fresh veggies". While they're "visiting" your lower G.I., they're gonna weigh somethin'.)

I'm also not a real big fan of Tanita scales. For some strange reason, mine had a problem from time-to-time "guessing" my weight and body fat percentage. Somedays, it would pick a number and stick with it. Otherdays, it would hunt for a minute or so before selecting a particular number. And, it would often show readings from day-to-day that I thought just wouldn't be humanly possible.

My advice is to forget obsessing over a number. You're eating right. You're exercising. You're out walking. You're doing fine. (I also get the feeling that your blaze your own trail, go your own way, and don't generally worry about what other folks think. (And, you're going to let a little machine serve as your judge?)

[low-fat-muffin.livejournal.com]

as I said to Christopher - I think I'd obsess about it too much if I had a home scale that did all those things. My body is changing as I get older thats for sure. :)

[grizzlyzone.livejournal.com]

Here's something else to consider. Fat contains 9 calories per GRAM. A pound of fat is about 454 grams, meaning that a pound of fat is 9 × 454 = 4,086 calories.

So, if you actually GAINED 5 pounds, you would have had to have taken in 20,430 calories more than you "burned". Not possible.

After I go to the gym, I'm about 10 pounds lighter. That'd be about 40,000 calories. I don't think so. I think I sweat and pissed away a gallon or so of water.

[bukephalus.livejournal.com]

As others point out, a weight scale alone doesn't tell the whole story. You could also measure your waist regularly, if that concerns you. But hey, it's the holidays. You gotta cut yourself a little celebratory slack. Also, don't most mammals normally put on a little winter weight? I know I've been overdoing the carbs myself lately. But it's a temporary thing.