If you’re carefully watching your weight, you might notice day to day fluctuations in your weight or even wild swings during the course of any one day. Some moments you might be right on track and others you might be startled to see that the number has jumped without explanation. Although it can be frustrating to see the number unexpectedly creep up from time to time, it’s completely normal.
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FitClub has a few key points to keep in mind the next time you notice a weight fluctuation.
It’s not body fat. If you’re gaining body fat, it’s going to occur gradually. You’ll notice it in the way your clothes fit and the number on the scale might rise steadily over the course of several days and weeks. If you see a temporary jump on the scale, it’s just water or waste your body is holding onto. Too much salt, a big meal, and even just more water than usual can cause your weight to increase between morning and afternoon. When your body eliminates the water and waste, the number will decrease.
Up to 5 pounds?! Yes, your body weight can fluctuate up to five pounds over the course of any day. If you’ve ever weighed yourself before breakfast and again after dinner, you may have already noticed this happening. If you’ve had a larger than normal evening meal or eaten more sodium than usual, you may even see the five pound increase the next morning on the scale. This is not a reason to panic. Your body just needs time to flush the excess out of its system. You’ll return to your pre-dinner weight sooner rather than later and without five extra pounds.
What can you do instead of panic? Knowing that body weight fluctuations are completely normal is one step in the right direction. You might also want to consider weighing yourself once each week instead of every day or even several times during the day. Weighing yourself at the same time on the same day of each week will give you a far more accurate representation of whether you’re meeting your weight loss goals.
Don’t get frustrated. Frustration at your body’s normal processes will only hold you back. Frustration might keep you from achieving a consistent workout or healthy diet or give you an excuse to slip from your healthy goals. Focusing on how your clothes fit, how much energy you have, and how your body feels over the course of a day are better ways to gauge your progress than the number on the scale. The benefits of a healthy lifestyle transcend the number on the scale, whether it creeps up or drops down.
Remember why you started. You didn’t start living a healthier lifestyle to see weight loss throughout the course of one day, did you? Hopefully, you started a healthier lifestyle to get and stay healthier over the course of your life. Achieving a maintainable weight means perseverance and consistency.
Have you panicked after one day of unexplained weight gain? How did you handle it?
