9th Rule: Weight Loss Doesn't Occur in a Straight Line,

                  

Written by: Tony Schober,

     Think back to how you put on weight in the first place. Did you put on

the weight in a straight line from point A to point B? It's highly unlikely.

What is likely is that while your weight trended up, it was interspersed

with small periods of weight loss. If you were to graph it out, you would

see a zig-zag that had an overall upward trend.

     If you put on weight in this matter, why do you think you can lose it

differently? Many people religiously weigh themselves, and they set an

artificial ceiling on their weight. They absolutely freak out if it goes

above this number. When this happens, emotions spiral out of control.

You want to give up. You question whether what you're doing is right.

Fear takes over.

     One thing is fairly certain when it comes to weight loss, and that is you

will never be at a lower weight every single day you weigh yourself.

That being said, it is much more likely that you have linear fat loss.

What does that mean? It means that it's possible for you to

continuously lose fat on a day-to-day basis. How likely that is can be

up for debate, but it certainly isn't impossible.

     Now, weight and fat are not always one in the same. The biggest

variable in weight fluctuation is water. It's estimated that 60% or more

of the human body is water. For a 150 pound person, that is 90 pounds

of water. Is it that hard to believe that your weight could fluctuate

drastically on a daily basis?

     Intracellular water, subcutaneous water, water in your food, water you

drink, carbohydrate intake, and hormonal cycles will all contribute to

fluctuations in water weight. The average person can store 500 grams

of glycogen. Glycogen is the fuel your body stores from glucose (think

carbohydrates). Along with every gram of glucose, your body stores

about 3 grams of water with it. If you do the math, that's 4 pounds of

water right there. It's also 4 pounds of water stored inside your muscle.

This is what you want!

     However, people see that number on the scale creep above their

artificial ceiling, and they don't care. They are so obsessed with that

number, that anything other than "lower" is unacceptable.

     I can't emphasize enough that people with a weight obsession stay off

the scale during their transition to a healthy lifestyle. Have faith that

what you are doing is working. Measure your body fat and take

progress pictures. Notice how your clothes fit. Are people commenting

on how you look? All of these things will keep you motivated. The

scale? It shows you how crazy you really are.