I joined Sarah Fit’s Diet Bet 4 weeks ago. Everyone who wanted to “play” put in $15 and was challenged to lose 4% of their weight.
For me that was 6.5 pounds. Yes, it was a lot. My weight has been up since January, hence the reason why I wanted to join in the first place.
The bet started on July 18th, a Wednesday. I didn’t weigh in the first week out because I was on my period. Yes, I’m sure you didn’t want to know that, but if you want to know all the rest of my business you’re getting that info too.
Results: I didn’t lose any weight – actually, I gained. I lost 1 pound in 2 weeks, but now am back up 2 pounds. So, according to the scale, I’ve gained one pound from 4 weeks ago.
Dieting over the last 10 years and working as a trainer for the last year and a half, have taught me that the scale fluctuates A LOT. And it fluctuates more for some people than others. If I weighed myself every day for a week it would be different every single day – some days by 3 pounds or more.
I drink over a gallon of water a day and eat a lot of salt (I kinda have to eat a lot of salt given my water intake and I’m happy with that). So, I’m not going to berate myself over it. But, I am disappointed.
I don’t think I “earned” a big weight loss, but I did make a legitimate effort to clean up my diet. I didn’t earn a gain either.
My diet strategy for the 4 weeks was to:
1. Track my food – but not count calories. I just wanted to observe and report what I was currently doing and clean up the junk. <- The not counting calories is obviously dumb if you’re trying to lose weight. I didn’t want to get too obsessive about it, and I was hoping the small tweaks would be enough. But counting is what I would have to do if I wanted to actually lose weight. Shocking.
2. Stop afternoon grazing. <- I was really good about having one afternoon snack instead of eating 4 different things scrounging around the kitchen.
3. Not eat after 8pm. <- I did better on this, when I wanted to eat at night I tried to have cherries or 2 pieces of dark chocolate or something similar.
The progress I made is good and these points are realistic, long term changes – so that’s good! But, it’s not enough for me to lose weight.
Since I was at least writing down most of my food intake I don’t believe I actually gained a pound of fat or muscle or toenails in the last 4 weeks. Logically, I realize it’s very unlikely given my journal.
I do think my thyroid must have something to do with the challenges I’ve been having with my weight. I tested low for my T3 thyroid a while back when I realized I was gaining. My primary care doc gave me a very low dose of a T3 supplement and referred me to a specialist – but I can’t get an appt with him until OCTOBER. Boo.
This morning after I weighed in I got myself to the gym and work out the frustration and had a really good strength session!
Going forward I am going to continue to weigh myself on Wednesdays and I’m going to keep journaling – maybe even with calorie counts, genius right?! (I do still believe in IE, but there is something wrong with the fact that I am gaining weight despite being in my 20s, active and eating relatively healthy. I am not binging, I don’t have “junk food” in the house, I indulge like most other “normal” people.)
I like a mid-week weigh in since I used to do it on Friday and then go crazy on the weekends. Roni has called Wed – “Weigh In Wednesday” for years and reports her weight on her site. Last week she invited others to weigh in with her and I like that idea.
I won’t always report my weight here since there are a lot of people with eating disorders perusing the internet machine. If you think you have an issue please talk with a doctor, therapist, ventriloquist, paleontologist and/or RD. Better yet, talk to all of them.
via Run Eat Repeat http://runeatrepeat.com/2012/08/15/diet-bet-resultsi-didnt-win-or-lose/
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