When the Scale Moves in the Wrong Direction

Aug 01, 2010

No matter how much we understand that the scale is not necessarily a true barometer of how "good" or "bad" we've been, there's nothing like seeing your weight go up to get your head spinning 'round. Midweek I weighed myself and saw that I'd gained 6 pounds.Yikes! By today (Sunday is my "official" weigh in day) I was down a few pounds from midweek, but, at 209.5, still 3.5 pounds above a recent low weight of 206.

Why? If you've ever struggled with your weight I bet one or more of these rationalizations that have visited my brain this week will ring true:

• I've been bad. Ate too many nuts, too many carbs, not enough protein, too many calories. Maybe it was skipping two workouts this week.Maybe it was eating nectarines.
• I've been good. I started Couch to 5K last week and the next day, hiked to the top of Mt. Livermore on Angel Island. So my body retained water and held on to it.
• I am not eating enough calories so my body went into famine mode. Maybe I need more fat.
• Maybe my pouch has stretched and I am eating way too much volume. I have ruined my surgery
• The scale isn't working. Who knows? At one point it even registered 216, them dropped down to 209.5. I never trust the scale. Hop on and off until I see a number at least twice.
• I am retaining water. Quick gains and drops usually mean that.
• I have a mental block against losing more weight--maybe I am afraid to break below 200 to 199...
• Nothing is wrong, if I am thinking rationally I know that I didn't eat 3 or 5 new pounds worth of calories, so it's just an anomaly... it will correct in a week or two. It's the mystery of a body losing weight. I doesn't always make sense.
• It's the dreaded 'bounce.' I lost at a pretty good clip the last few weeks, so my body is rebounding. Kind of like one of those horrible relationships we get into after a breakup.
• I didn't get enough sleep. I know I need sleep to recharge and metabolize, and I had several nights this week where I didn't get enough hours to accomplish that.
• My body is "rearranging" muscle and such and so it's pausing for a while, but I'll drop a size soon. That's what some of the experts say, anyway.

So it's been quite a cacophony of voices in my head, shouting above each other for primacy. And you know, of course, that the craziness of all those opinions is worse in some ways than the weight gain itself. I have been focusing on giving myself rational pep talks, and not going down the deep dark hole of "I'll never lose the weight" but I'd rather not have the conversation at all.

The biggest fear of any weight loss surgery person is regaining the weight. That a stall means weight loss is over, and a gain means we'll soon be ballooning up to our pre-surgery weight or beyond. So one part of me will be white-knuckling it until the scale moves back down significantly. 

But a more rational and patient examination of the situation leads me down another path. I don't have the answer to "why" this happened or what is going on, and I need to live with that ambiguity. I may need to recommit to measuring and tracking EVERYTHING every day and every meal. I may need to get religious about my commitment to movement and exercise, and try new things to mix it up or return to a routine that I know worked a few weeks ago. This is a time to be patient and avoid freaking out.

It's difficult to be dealing with this after several weeks of happy & good news to report but I promised you an "intimate look" at my path, not a sugar coated one. Here it is.

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