Why the scale lies

We've all been told that weighing yourself every single day is a bad thing and that the mirror should be your measure of success in your weight loss and fitness endeavors. But, we don't really like to listen. For me, I like the instant gratification every morning of stepping on that scale and seeing how my hard work pays off. But sometimes it doesn't. And when you are working so hard and eating so well yet you have hardly lost a pound, the ben and jerry's in the freezer sounds just too good to pass up, because if you aren't losing anything, why keep yourself from the delicious, emotional consolation Ben and Jerry have to offer? I'm going to provide you with actual facts in hopes you can "get it" and be more successful in your journey.

We are going to consider water our friend and foe, our "frenemy" so to speak. Water rocks because it helps our body remove waste by sweating and doing our bathroom duties (It helps with constipation as it helps keep the stools loose), and flushing waste through our liver and kidneys. It does other things like regulates body temp, cushions joints, and acts as a vehicle in your body, transporting oxygen and nutrients to parts of our body. Oh yeah, and to top it off, drinking water helps with appetite as it can leave us feeling more full!  Pretty much water helps keep our body functioning efficiently. When you don't drink enough water, your body holds on to what is has with a deathlike grip, and unfortounately it can't be as efficient for all of the above, so you might actually gain weight on the scale. But those nasty fat cells also distort our true successes with water.

A biologist at Berkeley (full article below) explains here: "Fat cells are resilient, stubborn little creatures that do not want to give up their actual cell volume. Over a period of weeks, maybe months of "proper dieting", each of your fat cells may have actually lost a good percentage of the actual fat contained in those cells. But the fat cells themselves, stubborn little guys, replace that lost fat with water to retain their size. That is, instead of shrinking to match the reduced amount of fat in the cell, they stay the same size! Result - you weigh the same, look the same, maybe even gained some scale weight, even though you have actually lost some serious fat." This is why many people will stress the importance of body measurements as a lot of people will lose inches when doing 30 day shred or P90X type workouts. For me, I will not notice a single pound of weight loss, then one day I lose 3-4 pounds. Why does our body do this? It's actually a defensive biochemical process to keep our body from changing too rapidly. Sadly, this process can take weeks or months and so by then, most people throw their hands up in the air and eat 2 big macs like they just don't care. The process takes longer when you are a frequent passenger on the weight loss rollercoaster. 


And we all know about big bad sodium. Except, it's actually not that bad for you. Sodium actually helps regulate the amount of water in your body. Too much sodium causes water retention. However, most of us consume way too much of it in its table salt form. The experts generally agree that 2000-3000 mg should be the daily limit for consumption. Foods that are sodium hoarders can be condensed soups, some canned vegetables, canned soups, frozen and pre packaged meats (for example, a single chicken breast can contain 1200 mg of sodium), and foods like chinese food (Example: One pint of fried rice contains roughly 3200 mg of sodium and one entree averages at about 2500). So buying fresh is best, and seasoning your meals with garlic or onion powder, pepper, the Dash! brands, or the varied Indian spices is preferred. And if you do consume a lot of sodium when its just unavoidable, try to drink lots of water.


Oh, and another thing I just have to add in here. Sometimes we might indulge at a friend's house and eat over our recommended amount of daily calories. The next morning, guilt in the forefront of our minds, we step on the scale and gained 4 pounds. "WHAT?? All my hard work for nothing, just because I couldn't keep my willpower in check. If I can't even go one night without cheating then I might as well not even try." Okay, let me break this down for you. To gain a pound, you have to consume 3500 calories over your BMR. So to gain 4 pounds, you'd have to consume 14000 calories. That's roughly 26 big macs. So chill out and realize it's probably water retention, your dinner, and glycogen. Get over it, drink some water, and acknowledge that it is completely normal to have a cheat meal and that is why the bad-for-us food is okay in moderation. 


In conclusion, if you are going to be a scaling warrior, just understand that if you are doing everything right and not losing as much as you'd like, good things comes to those who wait. Like it's been said a million times, you didn't get 30 pounds overweight overnight, and the reverse won't happen as quickly either. Measure yourself, and if you don't want to do that then take pictures for measure. And if you don't want to do that either, then just realize that because of all your exercise progress, you will live longer if a Zombie Apocalypse hits planet Earth, because you'll be able to outrun all the people who just didn't want to try or gave up when the going got tough.


References:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical/IM00594
http://www.everydayhealth.com/water-health/water-body-health.aspx
http://www.medicinenet.com/electrolytes/article.htm


http://forum.lowcarber.org/archive/index.php/t-346933.html