Tag Archives: fat

Officially Weigh in Once a Week Maximum

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Weighing yourself on a weekly basis can give you a good idea of the progress you’re making.  It will help motivate you if you’re making gains or motivate you even more if you didn’t make your mark that week.  Weight also fluctuates naturally over time, so you’ll want to maintain a consistent schedule. Remember too, that you won’t see the results of today’s diet and workout until 4-24 hours later, so if you weigh in ever day, it’s most likely you won’t see today’s results until tomorrow.

Weight Fluctuates Greatly Over Time

Weight can fluctuate throughout the day or week.  Depending on your current weight, it might fluctuate up to five pounds or more.  Things like bowel movements, hydration, and food intake can all affect your overall weight. It can be off-putting to work hard and eat right, only to gain 2 lbs. because you’re more hydrated and feel better than you were last time you weighed in.

Weighing yourself at the same time on the same day each week will remove a lot of the variables mentioned above.  I prefer to weigh myself on Wednesday mornings before my morning shower.  This is before I’ve eaten, but after I’ve gone to the bathroom.  This mean’s I’ll be the lightest I can be, only weighing my natural body weight. I also avoid the unpredictable nature of weekend meals.

By all means, weigh yourself on Sunday evening after you’ve eaten. It’s all about consistency. If you weigh yourself at the same relative time, you’ll be able to get accurate relative results. When selecting the time you weigh yourself try to select the time of week with the least variability in your diet and water intake.  You won’t be doing yourself any favors if you weigh yourself today when you’re lightest and then tomorrow after a big dinner.

Results from Today’s Exercise Won’t be Visible Right Away

Whether you’re trying to gain muscle or lose fat, it doesn’t hop on or jump off as you’re exercising.  Sure it might look like you lose weight after an exercise because you didn’t drink any water and sweated out 3 pounds, but that isn’t real.  It can play the opposite way too.  Maybe you sweat out 1 pound and drink 2.  That means you just gained a pound that won’t stick around.

As your body synthesizes protein during muscle repair and burns fat for energy your weight will change.  That doesn’t happen during the workout for the most part. It happens in the 4-24 hours afterward when you go to the bathroom.  You’ll also want to give your body some time to normalize it’s water balance after a workout. If you’re anything like me, you’ll drink upwards of 60 ounces of water during your routine.

Stay Motivated with Consistent Returns

If you don’t know where your weight really is it’s hard to know if you’re gaining or losing.  Giving yourself consistency during weigh-ins gives you a really good idea of if you’re gaining or losing ground in your efforts.

If you don’t know where you are, it’s hard to feel good about the results.  If you don’t feel good about your results, there is a good chance you’ll slip. When you meet your goals, celebrate in a healthy way, and when you don’t, try harder for next week.  You only have seven days to meet your mark.

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Ups and Downs of Carbohydrates

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There are a lot of theories about how carbohydrates affect your fitness.  Basically they are complex sugars and usually occur in baked products, but also occur naturally in fruits and vegetables like potatoes and bananas.  This doesn’t mean you should shy away fruits and veggies, because there are different types of carbs.

There are simple carbs and complex carbs, and the complex ones are the ones you want to watch out for, because they’re converted to fat the easiest.  Fruit and vegetables tend to contain simple carbs, while baked goods like pizza and bread tend to be made of complex carbs.  Stepping back your complex carb intake can drastically affect the amount of hydrated fat on your body.

Cons

There are various diets out there, like the South Beach Diet, which prohibit the intake of carbs to lose weight.  The Atkins diet is another take on that same theory.  The basic idea is that if you don’t take in complex carbs they can’t be converted to body fat.  If your food can’t be converted to body fat, you won’t gain weight.  That’s not entirely true, but it kind of works.  I’m not saying it’s healthy though.

Alcohol is probably the most common carb out there and is the biggest culprit for gaining weight.  There is a reason they call it a “beer gut”.  As you drink beverages with higher and higher alcohol content the carb ratio goes down, but it never goes away.  Also remember the alcoholic drinks are very high in calories.  Some shots of liquor can have upwards of 150 calories!

Pros

Carbs and sugars also provide you directly with energy.  That’s why you see people who run marathons taking in a large amount of calories, most of which are carbs.  If your body is using the energy, they are the easiest form of food to convert.

When you’re going to the gym, if you eat a carb heavy diet about three hours before you go, you’ll feel more energized and probably perform better while you’re there.  It’s good to eat a larger amount of them in the morning and cut back on them at night.  This way you’ll have the energy for your day, but not convert them to fats while you’re sleeping.

The Take Away

Basically you need to remember that carbs aren’t as bad as some diets make them out to be, but they can be bad if you don’t moderate them.  Remember that they are in most foods and beverages – especially alcohol.  The easiest way to lose weight is to cut alcohol from your diet.  For some people it’s also the hardest thing to give up.

There really is a lot of science that goes into figuring out how many to eat and when you should eat them.  When you combine something complex like the science of consuming carbs with the science of drinking water or other consumption habits, it’s easy to get confused.  We’ll try to break down those barriers for you and make it simple.

Need more help figuring out all of this?  Just hit us up with your questions.