Hi Hayley,
I’m going to give you a little background on my body and lifestyle:
I am a 25 year old woman, 5’7” around 125lbs. I work at an office, so I try to stay moving outside of work.
I walk to and from work daily, which adds up to 40 mins/day, walk (at a brisk pace)or run my dog for an hour every weekday evening, and hike/snowshoe/do other outdoor activities on the weekend.
I’ve also just signed up for a high intensity interval training class that is twice a week for the month of March just to add in something different.
I eat pretty healthy food but believe in everything in moderation (I don’t ever turn down birthday cake!).
I don’t have a scale, so I don’t weigh myself often, but a lot of my colleagues and friends have started new fitness regimens and are weighing themselves daily to mark their progress.
My weight seems to fluctuate by a few pounds depending on what time of month it is, etc…Should I be worried by this and be more careful about keeping track of my weight on a daily basis? Is keeping your weight the same all the time a good thing when trying to live a healthy lifestyle? Should I aim to weigh less or just keep trying to feel good and stay active?
Hope you can help me out with these questions!
Thank you
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There is a time and a place for weight monitoring and it does motivate some in their quest to lose weight. I found myself last year to be quite excited for my weekly weigh in during my quest to lose weight but it soon became an unhealthy obsession and I had to put a stop to it.
You sound like someone who has a handle on their lifestyle. You are getting plenty of exercise, you are sourcing out new challenges, you eat healthy and you do not deprive yourself of the simple pleasures like cake. Why change that? To me it sounds like you would be better off picking a physical challenge to work towards, rather than placing your feet on a scale each morning.
Here is the truth; weight fluctuates. It changes hourly, daily, weekly and monthly and it can move upwards or downwards by five or more pounds. If you are recording your weight I recommend doing it no more than one time per week, on the same day each week and at the same time. If you can handle one time per month you are even better off. It is, however, important to step on a scale every once and a while just to keep tabs on yourself. I am sure that I am not the only one who has blamed a dryer for why my jeans are tight.
This is what I do with my weight: I have a low end and a high end of where I like my weight on the scale to be.
If I notice my clothes are becoming too baggy and my weight is lower than my comfortable low end weight, which is 158 pounds, then it signifies issues I need to change in my life, most likely being an obsession with my nutrition and training where I am working out too hard and not eating enough. The last time I found myself in this situation I tore the ligaments in my ankle on a run because my body was too weak and fatigued.
If I notice that my jackets are fitting small and my jeans require multiple deep squats before I can step out I am most likely sitting near or above my high end, which is 168 pounds, and I am now not exercising enough and I am consuming too many calories. This recently happened to me, and it is not that I am overweight by any means, but the weight on the scale represents poor habits and I quickly made a change.
Moral of the story is be aware of what your weight is but do not obsess over it. Set some perimeters and stay within them but do not make your weight the sole focus of your fitness routine.
Attached – Jeremy Renner leaves the gym.
