Saturday, June 05, 2010

Stupid Scale

Week 9 Weight: 154
Week 10 Weight: 154.5
Week 11 Weight: 152.75
Week 12 Weight: 150.5
Week 13 Weight: 150.75
Week 14 Weight: 152

Yep, you read that right. 152. The stupid scale is not being cooperative at all.

Okay, in all fairness my caloric intake has gone up a bit in the past couple of weeks. My intake, before adjusting for exercise, averaged out at 1589 calories per day. But considering I'm now "allowed" up to 1680 calories a day (per SparkPeople), I should be good. And then once you take out the calories burned via exercise and re-figure everything, my average daily intake is just at 1389/ day -- still substantially below my daily caloric needs, which (depending on the calculator you use) range from 1700 - 2100 / day simply to maintain.

So the math isn't there. I feel like red-team Melissa from the Season 9 Biggest Loser, who wasn't losing weight and was then accused by Jillian and Bob of waterloading or game-playing. Much as that woman made me crazy (and I'll admit I cheered when she got back on the ranch because crazy makes for good times, TV-wise), I found myself really annoyed at how that was shown, as if the numbers were right and you weren't losing weight, then you had to be screwing up somewhere. Well HELLO, trainer-types. I've got every bite and sip that's crossed my lips logged, every exercise I've done is accounted for, and yet I managed to gain weight too.

And I don't even have $500,000 at stake -- just an arbitrary date of November 4, 2010 to get down to 130.

Thing is, and I've seen it written elsewhere, our bodies aren't like a check register. You don't just plug in the calories and subtract the burn and end up with a scale number. Other factors impact the scale weight, such as hydration, stress, hormones, or even good old-fashioned digestive issues (those Activia commercials are so subtle, with the downward flowing hand gesture). And I've got to say I had at least three of those going for me this past week.

The hormones and hydration are the most likely suspects -- my water intake wasn't as good as it has been in weeks past, I'll admit it. And my hormones are all-over-the-place wonky. I was "due" on May 31st, and am still sitting here waiting for that to show up. No I'm not pregnant. Choreboy is fixed, thank goodness. But last year the same thing happened when I upped my cardio in July -- I went 47 days between cycles rather than my standard 25-26 days, so I'm figuring that's the culprit and things will even themselves out in a few days/ weeks.

Also there's that whole perimenopausal thing which means my hormones are hosed anyway.

And besides all that, let's just say I could have used some Activia last week :P

So all in all, the stars weren't aligned in any way for me as far as losing weight goes.

On the plus side, my treadmill speed is up to 3 MPH on the flat surfaces, and I've got 5 straight minutes at 10% incline as well as 15 minutes at 5%. I'm going to have to increase the time on the incline soon, because last night I was able to read right through it rather than needing to just "zone out" for a bit.

I also brought my 10 lb. hand weights in from the car, finally. The 7 pounders are getting too easy for some exercises so it's time to kick that up a notch as well.

Let's see what next week brings. Oh well, at least it's not predictable!

Finally, and completely off-topic, there was some interest in my Second Life avatar due to the Krispy Kreme photos I posted in my prior blog entry. I have to say I do enjoy Second Life in large part because of the shopping aspect -- my avatar is like a grown-up Barbie doll, and the clothing choices are phenomenal!

You can go from businesswear...


to Victorian Steampunk....


... without batting an eye. And needless to say, fit is almost never an issue -- if your skirt's too tight, all you have to do is slide down the sizing bar and poof! Instant weight loss.

If only it were that easy in the real world.

Okay, time to fix the boys breakfast and plan out my food for the day. That stupid scale isn't going to win this battle! Harumph.

6 comments:

Patsy said...

Stupid bloody scale! Bin it, I say! :o)

Unknown said...

Okay - 4 weeks ago you were at almost the same weight, right...
I would guess it's hormonal, lady. It suckith big time, but I put my money on the monthly "gift".

Anonymous said...

Ignore it.. I AM BIG TIME.. I am doing my thing and staying away.. and you know what.. MY 18 ARE TO BIG and my panties don't fit... NEW PANTIES TODAY.. i know TMI but I am so happy last time i lost weight.. my panties were the first to go...

HANG IN THERE AND IGNORE THE UGLY THING ON THE FLOOR..

Anonymous said...

The stupid scale doesn't seem to be on my side, either, no matter how many times a week I run or how many salads I eat. It goes down, it goes up, it just does what it wants. Find encouragement in the fact that the exercising and eating healthy is good for you no matter what you weigh. And maybe find some consolation that you're not the only one who's frustrated. Hang in there!

Heidi said...

I am SO glad you posted this. Not only have I been eating 1400 calories a day (religiously) I joined the Y four weeks ago. Since then, I've been going five days a week for at least an hour at a time (doing kickboxing, zumba, weights, whatever). WAY more activity than I've ever done in my life.

Sure enough, I've gained three pounds. I've been becoming more discouraged by the day. The boyfriend tells me I'm probably gaining muscle but I just don't see how I could have gained 3+ pounds of muscle before I lost any fat.

So I'm right with you.

Natalie said...

Don't get discouraged! You are probably gaining muscle. Muscle weighs more then fat. In four weeks you have made a lot more progress then the scale gives you credit for.

Btw, I am a sims addict too =)