Obsessed with the numbers...

Fitness · Nutrition

If you are someone who is stepping on the bathroom scale every morning and holding your breath as you await for it to settle on a number, beware that you may be becoming obsessed with it.

Sometimes, we need to step back a little and just smile… live… enjoy life while putting efforts into living healthier… if you think you gained a couple of pounds since last week, you probably did.

The scale is an unanimated object unable to reason the numbers; it just throws them out at you without an explanation or mercy… this device measures not just changes in body fat, but also changes in body water and intestinal content. Yup, you heard right… so if you can’t go or are going too often… this will affect your overall weight.

So, for example, do not expect your body to consistently weigh precisely 140 pounds… instead expect to dial within a range, such as between 138 and 142 pounds. Many factors will impact the amount of water weight in your body. Some of these factors are:

· Eating salty foods
· Hot weather
· Stress or lack of sleep
· Overeating carbohydrates

When you eat an ounce of carbohydrates (pretzels, pop-corn, cookies, bagels, etc.) you will store three times as much water in your muscles along with it… but don’t be concerned, not only is this natural, it is not permanent.
If you are indeed obsessed with weighing yourself every morning, I recommend that you start to back off to every other day, and then once a week, and then stop altogether. It is not worth the trepidation…

Instead, go by feel. Enjoy the way your clothes feel, your skin feeling suppler and hydrated… if you put in the “right” efforts in your nutrition and exercise, you will be healthier and as a byproduct, your body fat will decrease. This joy of being healthier is not only immeasurable, it is also priceless!

Alex

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