I figured it was about time to talk about the thing we all hate to talk about, or just generally are scared to talk about. Weight, weight fluctuation, weight loss, weight gain, water retention and how that all applies to different workout routines and heavy lifting.
I’m no different than you. I have spent 4 weeks in silent terror as I’ve seen the scale jump as much as 12 pounds in a week. I am a habitual scale weigher (not a good trait, but yes I weigh myself every morning and this is always something that I am always told to stop doing but never can seem to break the habit).
The entire journey this far has been really exciting but truthfully I’ve been terrified because of what has happened on the scale. I weighed in when I started at about 128 pounds (I’m 5’4 1/2″) and at that time I was thinking I should lose about 8 pounds to jump and weigh in at a really good 120 pound weight. That was my goal prior to starting this journey.
Within the first week, I lost 4 pounds. The second week, I jumped 10 pounds (for a gain of 6), the third week I went up and down and weighed as much as 142 pounds. Right now i’m sitting at about 134 pounds and that fluctuates anywhere from 3 – 6 pounds depending on the day and the level of training. After leg day, I jumped 4 pounds. Today I’m sitting back down again at 135 pounds. Its a struggle because in my head I want to see that scale go down, but the advice, the support, Teresa Bragado, the team she surrounds herself, my private support group of Kinesiologists, nutritionists and other athletes have given me the ability to check in, share my fear, talk about my eating.
I can’t say I am totally comfortable yet with this whole weight fluctuation process, even though I’m told its normal, its a part of building muscle and losing fat, it’s a long term process, shredding the fat happens when you eat right.
Don’t worry, they say (easy for them! not so easy for me)
So, yes, its still a constant struggle. Even though I see massive changes in my body shape in 4 weeks, even though I feel much more energized, even though I have truly started wearing smaller clothing by at least 1 size … it is still a struggle.
Like you, I have been tempted to cut calories (a no no) or tempted to just not eat as much (a no no) … but because of the support I have had, I have not.
Trusting in the process comes easy when it applies to the lifting and the exercise. Trusting in the process when it comes down to the scale, is hard.
This journey is not just about lifting weights. It is about inspiring you to eat a little better. Inspiring you to eat real food, to move a little more to add a little exercise into your life. And at the same time, I want to be very honest and candid and tell you that I know its not easy. This is just as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one.
I would love to hear about your journey through eating a real food way, adding real activity into your life and you are more than welcome to connect with me on Facebook, follow along on our CRAVE IT Instagram page, watch all our daily motivation through Teresa Bragado’s amazing workouts she has me get through each and every day.
I hope I inspire you to make a small change in your diet and healthy living lifestyle to be the best version of you! Remember, what you want is up to you! You don’t have to shadow a body builder to make a few simple yet powerful steps towards healthy living! My journey is one to show hard work, commitment and dedication to being the best version of me!
Ciao for today! I leave you with my smaller self photo with my smaller shirt and smaller workout pants! (It was a proud Coach T moment! and it made me smile)
Love and Hugs
Jenn @ Do You Bake
Co-Founder Do You bake? & Founder of CRAVE IT
I share your struggles…..although I train people every day as a PTS and have given them the “trust the process” speech when they want to understand why the # on the scale hasn’t gone down, I personally still find it hard to “trust the process”. I can train like a beast, follow any regiment of cardio and weights and macros etc., when I weigh in every week I shudder when I don’t see a smaller number on the scale. There have been weeks where I would gain 5 lbs yet feel tighter. Despite the smaller size of my body that darn number on the scale wasn’t telling me the same story. The reality when I do an accurate body fat calculation was that, for one particular week I actually had a 4lb fat loss with a 5lb lean mass weight gain for a net affect of 1lb gain on that dam scale. This is not a sport for the faint of heart, it takes alot of mental preparedness and determination. It can be a mind f@ck if you let it get to you….surround yourself with like minded driven people to support you and trust in those that are there to get you to where you want to go….cheers
Heather! thanks so much for sharing your struggle. I think its more common than we realize and I think its one of those things no one likes to talk about and we all live in this silent fear. I think we sometimes focus too much on the scale (I do, still to this day) and we fail to realize that all ‘weight’ is not created equally. I am much healthier and look much more proportionate as I gain weight / muscle mass than as compared to when I started and I am still approximately 6 pounds heavier than when I began this journey. I am glad you shared your experience because I think the more we talk about it, the more I truly hope other women (I yes say women, because I think we are the ones that live in this silent fear more often) can learn from all of our shared experiences and know they are not alone.
Cheers!
Jenn