Holiday Regret
- Thread starter 3kids4me
- Start date
Omega
Moderator
I suspect that you are looking at a gain which has taken place swiftly over the past week or two and are thinking that you have effectively cancelled out what may be a couple of months of hard work...
The fact is that many people experience a sizable gain at this time of year. Luckily - it is often more sodium than fat...
When you weigh yourself - you see a weight which is the fat in your body - plus all the tissues. bones etc plus food / water weight.
You may have been eating bigger portions - hence maybe more food weight. The food may not be the same kind and may pass through your body more sluggishly too...
There could easily be more sodium which often triggers water retention which also shows as a gain on the scales.
The most important thing is not to panic and decide that all is lost...
To gain 13 pounds of fat you would need to have eaten 3500 calories over maintenance for each of those pounds. That means that you would need to have eaten 45,500 MORE calories than you have burnt during the time that the gain has taken place. If you have recently been losing weight - I am sure that you will decide that while you may have been indulgent and may well have eaten over maintenance - that is a lot of calories to have gone over by...
The chances are that you will have gained a little actual fat - but that the majority of the 13 pound gain is likely to lie in the areas I mentioned earlier.
Do as I will do. Ensure that you drink your full allocation of water. Be sure to have at least 1 oz for every 2 pounds of your weight. When I believe that I am retaining water I tend to drink an extra half a litre of water above this for good measure... Drinking sufficient water encourages your body to release the water that it is holding on to...
You also want to encourage your system to be running efficiently. If I can do so I try to avoid junk food and do the following
have 5-a-day
hit 25g fibre target
hit 1000mg calcium target
hit 1g protein for every pound of lean body weight target
do my daily exercise
I am sure that if you follow this plan you will find that the 13 pound gain has disappeared as quickly as it happened...
The fact is that many people experience a sizable gain at this time of year. Luckily - it is often more sodium than fat...
When you weigh yourself - you see a weight which is the fat in your body - plus all the tissues. bones etc plus food / water weight.
You may have been eating bigger portions - hence maybe more food weight. The food may not be the same kind and may pass through your body more sluggishly too...
There could easily be more sodium which often triggers water retention which also shows as a gain on the scales.
The most important thing is not to panic and decide that all is lost...
To gain 13 pounds of fat you would need to have eaten 3500 calories over maintenance for each of those pounds. That means that you would need to have eaten 45,500 MORE calories than you have burnt during the time that the gain has taken place. If you have recently been losing weight - I am sure that you will decide that while you may have been indulgent and may well have eaten over maintenance - that is a lot of calories to have gone over by...
The chances are that you will have gained a little actual fat - but that the majority of the 13 pound gain is likely to lie in the areas I mentioned earlier.
Do as I will do. Ensure that you drink your full allocation of water. Be sure to have at least 1 oz for every 2 pounds of your weight. When I believe that I am retaining water I tend to drink an extra half a litre of water above this for good measure... Drinking sufficient water encourages your body to release the water that it is holding on to...
You also want to encourage your system to be running efficiently. If I can do so I try to avoid junk food and do the following
have 5-a-day
hit 25g fibre target
hit 1000mg calcium target
hit 1g protein for every pound of lean body weight target
do my daily exercise
I am sure that if you follow this plan you will find that the 13 pound gain has disappeared as quickly as it happened...
Addiecakes
New member
Omega is right. I know that I allowed myself to have a "free" day where I wasn't counting anything on Christmas Day. I stepped on the scale yesterday and I was up almost 6lbs. I drank my 160oz of water plus a little extra, ate very sensibly and got in my exercise. This morning I am not only down those 6lbs. but also an extra one. Now, not everyone can get that number back overnight, I was surprised that I had, but I know that my body is very sensitive to salty foods and water retention, and I usually drink plenty of water regularly so I knew that I could get that out fast.
Panicking only sabotages further progress. If you are still in control of your food choices, then the number on the scale does not matter, because you know that it will come off in time.
Panicking only sabotages further progress. If you are still in control of your food choices, then the number on the scale does not matter, because you know that it will come off in time.
Thank you guys for the support! I'm sure you are right. It took about 1 month to put all this back on, so it will not come off right away. I did lose 1 lb from yesterday. Healthy choices starting right now!
Thanks again. It is just so discouraging, it helps to talk to people in the same boat.
Jenny
Thanks again. It is just so discouraging, it helps to talk to people in the same boat.
Jenny
Omega
Moderator
Sodium can be a real killer for some people...
In April 2008 I had to have an emergency operation. I was rushed into hospital on the Wednesday and had a nil by mouth sign above me. I had no food at all. I was not even allowed water to take paracetemol - it had to be dripped into me... I was permanently on a saline drip.
I knew that I was sodium sensitive because I had been on project for over a year at that time...
I had the operation. Eventually on the Friday I was allowed small sips of water and a small bowl of soup in the evening... They disconnected the saline drip then too...
I was released from hospital on the Saturday afternoon - starving to death... I weighed myself when I got home. I had gained 8.5 pounds over three days of effectively no food at all (the soup was so little and so poor I hate to count it)... LOL - I was in the middle of a team challenge and spent the next week drinking water like my life depended on it...
In April 2008 I had to have an emergency operation. I was rushed into hospital on the Wednesday and had a nil by mouth sign above me. I had no food at all. I was not even allowed water to take paracetemol - it had to be dripped into me... I was permanently on a saline drip.
I knew that I was sodium sensitive because I had been on project for over a year at that time...
I had the operation. Eventually on the Friday I was allowed small sips of water and a small bowl of soup in the evening... They disconnected the saline drip then too...
I was released from hospital on the Saturday afternoon - starving to death... I weighed myself when I got home. I had gained 8.5 pounds over three days of effectively no food at all (the soup was so little and so poor I hate to count it)... LOL - I was in the middle of a team challenge and spent the next week drinking water like my life depended on it...
Omega
Moderator
I am 5ft3 tall. I normally try to maintain a 126 pound goal weight... I am pretty pleased with that as a goal - it gives me a normal body fat % of 21.7%...
It is best to go by body fat percent when deciding exactly what your goal weight would be. My body fat percent is lower than my weight or BMI would imply because I carry a lot of loose skin...
LOL - I havent updated my ticker (it is just too depressing) - and Christmas hits the maintainers after a long project the same as everyone else.
It may encourage you to know that my weight is currently actually 12 pounds up. It was nicely at 126.6 pounds on 17th December having got through my first Christmas party without too much ill effect. It has however done nothing but rise since then. I weighed in today at 138.0 pounds...
I have experienced an almost identical gain to your own - and am telling myself pretty much the same as I am telling you.
It is my third Christmas on project and I know that this happens so often it is silly. The very worst thing that people can do is become despondent and walk away from the whole concept of chasing the weight of their dreams. Getting back on track means that these gains do disappear swiftly.
It is best to go by body fat percent when deciding exactly what your goal weight would be. My body fat percent is lower than my weight or BMI would imply because I carry a lot of loose skin...
LOL - I havent updated my ticker (it is just too depressing) - and Christmas hits the maintainers after a long project the same as everyone else.
It may encourage you to know that my weight is currently actually 12 pounds up. It was nicely at 126.6 pounds on 17th December having got through my first Christmas party without too much ill effect. It has however done nothing but rise since then. I weighed in today at 138.0 pounds...
I have experienced an almost identical gain to your own - and am telling myself pretty much the same as I am telling you.
It is my third Christmas on project and I know that this happens so often it is silly. The very worst thing that people can do is become despondent and walk away from the whole concept of chasing the weight of their dreams. Getting back on track means that these gains do disappear swiftly.