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In theory, with my activity level as it is, I should be losing weight steadily. Since I'm not, I can only conclude that I am either over-reporting the activity times - or my baseline burn is not as high as other people's - or maybe I'm eating more than I realize (portion control more likely than self-delusion or sleep-eating :)). I don't measure everything I eat. I don't time my activities to the minute. I haven't gone to the trouble of meticulously reporting everything I do for a week or two to get a baseline of my tendencies. I don't really need it. The data that is showing up in the diet calendar demonstrates that something is off:
On November 1, I weighed in at 188.2. Today I am 188.6 - a 0.4 lb gain over 16 days. My reported calorie deficit for those 16 days is 8768 calories - which is supposed to be 2.5 lb of fat... So, in 16 days, did I replace 2.5 pounds of fat with the same amount of muscle? I doubt it. I would like that, but I don't think it's possible to gain that much muscle in 2 weeks. I am lifting, so some of that is muscle... maybe as much as 1 lb.
So that leaves almost 2 pounds of questions. And the answer to where it came from is probably less important than the answer to what I'm going to do to correct it. And that answer is... nothing! I won't do anything different, other than maybe make sure I'm recording the correct times for my workouts - don't give myself an extra 5-10 minutes to round it up to a half hour. And make sure I'm not giving my exercise a higher intensity ranking than it deserves (like reporting light calisthenics as heavy). I will also try to remember that And in two more weeks, I'll compare my weight and calorie deficit again, and, based on the numbers, I'll drop my RDI to give the calorie deficit numbers more meaning in the future.
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188.6 lb
Lost so far: 0 lb.
Still to go: 18.6 lb.
Diet followed reasonably well.
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Diet Calendar Entries for 16 November 2013:
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2735 kcal
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Fat: 108.87g | Prot: 141.50g | Carb: 281.29g.
Breakfast: Kraft Natural Shredded Mild Cheddar Cheese, Colorado Proud 2% Reduced Fat Milk, Safeway White Whole Mushrooms, Kroger Break-Free Real Egg Product, Private Selection Black Forest Ham. Lunch: Kroger Aged Swiss Cheese Slices, King Soopers Bolillo White Rolls, Private Selection Black Forest Ham, Traditional Spaghetti Sauce. Dinner: The Melting Pot Dessert Plate For Chocolate Fondue, The Melting Pot Dinner For Two. Snacks/Other: Kroger Jelly Beans. more...
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2892 kcal
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Activities & Exercise:
Yard Work (gardening) - 3 hours, Resting - 13 hours, Sleeping - 8 hours. more...
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gaining 4.2 lb a week
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 Comments
Google "why the scale lies" for insight in to water weight fluctuations. When you exercise (especially lifting), your muscles retain water to help them heal. This can show as a temporary gain on the scale, no loss or smaller loss than usual. You are probably losing fat but the scale isn't showing it yet because of the water fluctuation. It eventually evens out. It does take a lot longer to gain an actual pound of muscle. Read the article for insight.
16 Nov 13 by member: Suzi161
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If this was a day-to-day fluctuation, yes, the water weight would likely be the prime mover. Over a two-week period, however, that fluctuation largely cancels itself out in the averages. And I don't really worry about the day-to-day movements (even if I bitch about them :)), but I do worry about trends. I really hate the title of that article, by the way - but it does highlight the fact that so many people put way too much emphasis on that one number. Weight is an easy number to get, but it's not the be-all, end-all...
17 Nov 13 by member: zebdavison
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I forgot to say why I hate that article's title - the scale doesn't lie (if it's accurate), it just doesn't tell you as much as you think. So the problem is not the scale - it's you.
17 Nov 13 by member: zebdavison
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