Did You Weigh Yourself Today?

I have a friend who worked hard to lose weight last year.  She did a great job eating salmon with lemon and spinach at lunch until she got to her goal weight.  Today she confessed that she got on the scale this morning for the first time since October and had gained six pounds.  When she did the calculations it worked out to just about one glass of wine and half a cookie extra each day in those three months to gain six pounds.

One glass of wine and half a cookie does not seem like much but if she had just 230 extra calories everyday all year she would gain twenty four pounds in a year.  Now how does that wine and cookie sound?

I like to get on the scale every morning.  I know there are people who say they only do it once a week or once a year at their physical exam, but I need a daily reminder so that I don’t have that extra 230 calories for a couple of days in a row.

If I was not very good the day before not getting on the scale is not going to make it disappear. Accountability to myself means that I have to face the music, and dealing with it right away rather than three months later is much easier.  If I ate 400 calories more than I should yesterday I can eat 200 fewer for the next two days and at least get back to a zero sum game.  One pound gained is 3,500 calories more than you needed.  That is fairly easy to do.  3,500 less than you need is really hard.

That same accountability is what I need for exercise.  That is why keeping count of my steps has been a huge boon for me.  Carter wanted to go horse back riding today.  I said I would take her and get my steps in then.  I also brought Shay Shay for a good walk for her.  Of course it started raining as soon as we got to the barn.  Carter said I could sit in the car, but she did not understand this was the allotted time in my day to get my steps.  Since I am not a runner walking 10,000 steps takes some time.  Time is a luxury.

Shay and I circled the farm traipsing through horse you-know-what in the rain.  When we both looked like wet rats covered in poop we went to the car and stripped down. Carter volunteered to give Shay a bath when we got home which seemed like a fair trade. Tomorrow I am going to have to do a through cleaning of the inside of my car.

Just like calories in, walking, working out or other exercise is already calculated in my day.  Without working some of the calories off, and I know that my totally efficient body does not work off half as much as the exercise machines predict it is burning, I could easily stop losing and start gaining.  Those tiny amounts add up quickly.

If your resolution is to get in better shape, take note of how hard it is to get those pounds off.  The worst thing is to lose them only to find them again, soon and quickly.  Trust me on this, I am an expert and I would love to save you the yoyo heartache.