Vacation Weight GONE!
Weight is weight. I weigh myself every day. I log it every day, up down, stall, no matter, it gets logged unless I am away from the scale, then I log it like the same weight as the day before. Then when I see big fluctuations (up or down) I can look to see what I did right/wrong. Glycogen is sort of a crutch for some people. I even used it early out. "I ate a slice of pizza to replace my glycogen stores" I was immediately put in my place. I probably do deplete my glycogen stores every day now and I do eat a few more slow carbs on the days that I have two really hard workouts or a run. It takes a fare amount of physical exertion to deplete glycogen stores. Bottom line...weight is weigh****er is bloat, so it may look bigger than fat, but for us we want it to keep going down.
My vacation weight was probably mostly water. I ate a lot of southern cooked foods which means lots of salt and I did not get the amount of water I needed, so I am certain I was retaining. I do have a machine that can measure fat loss, but I only do that about every 7-14 days. What you want to see when you weigh every day is not necessarily a loss every day, but you should see the end of your week less than the beginning of your week. Too many people freak out about the scale and they need to look at it for what it is, just another tool in your arsenal. Its not the number that matters, its the trend that matters.
Most people who say its jus****er weight have no idea what they are talking about. They are the same people who say a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat. You have to keep in mind that what you do today does not necessarily show up on the scale tomorrow, it could take a day or several days. You just have to watch where the scale is going. It takes patience and control over what you are doing. You can't beat yourself up for a slip up, but you do need to mental keep yourself in the game.
When you are on the road, water and walking are the two key things. The walking is more crucial for keeping constipation at bay than water, although you will not retain water if you drink enough, so try to be conscious about it. I wasn't.
Body Building and any WLS do not really go hand in hand. I wish I had hit the gym a year before surgery because to really put on muscle you need carbs. Lots of them with protein and low fat. To lose fat, you need protein and fat and low carbs. So my gains have not been significant. In terms of water/fat loss, gain. I have actually seen my overall weight go down, muscle down and body fat go up. This happens when you do not get enough protein. Your body WILL burn muscle and it has no shame when it does. I have gone to eating several protein bars and several shakes a day in addition to my meals. If you do not supply your body with a steady stream of protein and you are exercising at even a moderate level, you will lose muscle and gain fat but still lose weight.
Switch things up a bit. Try some intermittent fasting or carb cycling. I know when you are this close to the prize its scary to start playing with what got you to where you are. But your body is used to all of your tricks. If you are not doing any kind of weight training/muscle building, you should start. Lean muscle burns more calories. The problem with where your body weight is, is that your resting metabolic rate has also dropped to about as low as it can go. As your body weight goes down, so does the calories you burn during the rest of the day and at sleep. To improve that you need stronger muscles. In fact I would say cut out any cardio you are doing (or reduce it significantly) and focus on muscle/core development. I will bet that 9lbs drops off in less than a month.
