Originally Posted by
howsteepisit
My brain knows that there are days when my weight will inexplicably go up a bit, and I thought I was prepared to deal with that, but between yesterday when I felt so weak I abandoned my planned interval session, and this AM when I was up a pound without any change in my eating. After weighing in, I am feeling low.
The rational facts are that I had not missed a day of riding in 2 weeks, and I do three hard interval sessions a week. I have been tracking my calories by measuring and entering into a program called Calories 3. Weight has been dropping nicely, 4.5 pounds in a week, which I know is too much and probably water balance. so the last two day, I was the same then up a pound. And rationally thats OK and not unexpected.
But I feel bad and slightly depressed about it. So how do you emotionally deal with the ebbs and flows of weight loss and plateaus?
Honestly, I ignore it. My weight can fluctuate by anything up to 7-8 pounds within a couple of days, presumably based on my hydration levels and whether I need to take a monstrous great dump.
A single pound is trivial. A pint of water weighs more than a pound, so how full your bladder is could make a difference of a pound or more in weight.
If you're cycling a lot as well you may also be laying down extra muscle. Muscle is heavy, heavier than fat. So you could be getting smaller while gaining weight. If the scale says you haven't lost weight but the clothes that used to be tight are now loose, you're doing something good.