This is an interesting week as far as the weight loss Goal goes. First, the weight. My weigh-in yesterday was 249.8 pounds. This was up 1.2 pounds from last week. The last 3 days, my weight has been essentially unchanged each day. 249.9, 249.9 and 249.8. That’s pretty rare for me. However, I do like that I’ve been under 250 so many days in a row, so that’s good. Additionally this week I have begun a new morning routine, one I’ve wanted to get going for what seems like forever. Every day since Sunday I’ve gotten up when my alarm went off, 7am Sunday and 6:30 the rest of this week. Each day I’ve exercised by riding my stationary bike. I started small to build up to the time I want to do. So far I’ve gotten it up to 20 minutes. In fact, I felt like I could have gone more; but I had a schedule to keep. On Monday, I start getting up at 6:15 during the week. I’ll do that for 2 weeks and then move it back to 6am. I’ll hold there for a bit to see how it goes.
Back to the weight. What happened? Good question. I’ve been tracking my weight daily, not because I’m obsessed with it, but to see what patterns there are. I’m trying to see if any particular things affect my morning weight more than others. One thing that absolutely drives me nuts is the wild swing from day to day. Up 2 pounds, down 1.5, up .5, down 1, down.1, up 4 pounds. Yes I had a day that registered more than 4 pounds more than the prior day. Now that was New Year’s Day, but I find it hard to believe I ate and drank a net of 4 pounds worth of food and drink.
Either my scale is really messed up, thank you Fitbit Aria if it is; or my weight fluctuates more than I ever thought possible. Why is that?
One thing I’ve noticed is that whether I’m regular or not plays a big role. Sounds gross, I know. But when you’re older, these things are important for your health, not just your comfort level and not feeling bloated. As part of my morning routine, I take a heaping teaspoon of Metamucil in 8 ounces or more of cold water. I know, makes me sound like I’m 80. I’m not. I do it so I’ll REACH 80 and beyond. Days when I eliminate my waste tend to be days where my weight goes down, though not always. Days where I don’t, it almost never goes down. Seems obvious once you thin, about it.
Another thing I’ve noticed is that I’ve gotten into the habit of a small breakfast, if I have anything at all before I leave for work. Part of it is not being terribly hungry and part of it stems from the habit of not having enough time in the past to eat anything. At lunch, I try for a small meal, partially because I just don’t feel too hungry if I did eat breakfast. Plus there’s been perhaps 5 hours between breakfast and lunch on work days. Not enough time to feel hungry. Dinner on the other hand tends to be my biggest meal of the day. There’s been more time between lunch and dinner to work up an appetite, and the meal made at home is usually more elaborate. Sometimes it’s take out which tends to be more in portion as well as calories.
I’ve been thinking that’s backwards anyway, which it really is. What I think this is doing is backloading my food intake and not giving me time to burn through the new calories I’m taking in before bed. That has to have had an effect on my morning weigh-ins, plus I know it’s not the best arrangement of my food intake. So, I’m going to have to work on shifting my eating to earlier in the day and cutting back on the evening meals. That should be more healthy too, as I won’t be winding down while my body is trying to digest my biggest meal.
