The Ups and Downs of Weight

There is no doubt about it.  Once you commit to running, you're going to have plenty of ups and downs.  Not beating my NYC Marathon time in the Ft. Lauderdale Marathon was definitely a down.  But after getting myself organized and getting down to 212 pounds, that put me back on an up.

Then, last week happened.  Ever since I wrote an article about how happy I was to get back to 212, my weight has gone back up.  I have been sticking to my workouts and, generally speaking, booking calorie deficits nearly every day.  But my weight has gone back up to 218 pounds.

I'm trying to explain this to myself, but I can't.  Now, yes... while I have maintained calorie deficits, I have been doing more than my fair share of eating.  I have been averaging between 2,500-3,000 calories per day.  In the past, one of the things that would catch up to me is drinking alcohol.  But I have really not being doing much of that at all.


One potential culprit could be added sugar to my diet.  The Girl Scout cookies have been making the rounds at the office and I'm not one to pass up free Thin Mints.  Still, I monitor my intake and focus on  calories consumed.

Maybe I'm just driving myself crazy for no reason.  How many times have you heard someone say, "Don't weigh yourself every day.  You'll drive yourself crazy"?

I hate that.  If you think about it, the reason people say it would drive you crazy is because weight can fluctuate.  Some days it may be higher than you think, and some days it may be lower.  So let me ask... how in the world does weighing yourself LESS often cure that problem?  If weight fluctuates and you happen to have a bad fluctuation day, then you're only going to catch a brief snapshot of yourself at a bad time.

I say, weigh yourself often.  I weigh myself every day just before I jump in the shower - at the same time, before I put anything new into my body.  I might also weigh myself before and after meals and workouts just for the hell of it.  What are you accomplishing by doing this?  You're learning!  You're learning the value of weight as a statistic.

Some of the things I've learned because of this is that on days after I have a few extra beers, I may dehydrate myself and weigh less the next morning.  Also, on days after eating sushi, I may weigh more the next day.  I attribute this to the high sodium content in the food causing me to retain water.

There is also a difference in short-term and long-term weight.  Long-term weight is a general measure over time.  I used to weigh close to 280 pounds, and I got down to as low as 212.  Those are numbers we can all grasp pretty well.

But at 212, if I drink 32 ounces of water and then weigh myself before going to the bathroom, I'm going to weigh 214.  Put two pounds of liquid into your body and guess what.?.?  You've gained two pounds.  Or conversely, go out for a run in the hot sun and you may sweat off a few pounds.  That's what I see as short-term weight fluctuation.

I think my recent weight gain might be attributable to a combination of 3 factors.  First, the added calories I've been consuming.  2,500-3,000 calories, with more of it than usual being from sugar sources is just not good enough.  Second, I've started lifting weights and having post-workout protein shakes and maybe I just had a brief spurt of muscle growth.  And yes, that's the old "muscle weighs more than fat" excuse, but I'm using it anyway.  And third, maybe some of it is due to short-term weight fluctuations.  I haven't been sleeping as much in recent weeks and I think that may have thrown some of my systems off a bit.

This morning I got up and weighed myself.  Still 218.  But I felt good and had a lot of energy.  I got to the gym and hopped on the treadmill for what was going to be a 12 mile run.  But I felt so good, I figured why not go another 1.1 and make it a complete half.  So I did.  And I PR'd at 2:09:54, which was about 5 minutes faster than my last half.

Now, I don't know if a PR counts on a treadmill, but it still felt like an accomplishment.  And I have a real half coming up at the end of April that I know I'm just gonna crush.

I got home and showered.  I thought back to the first half I ran, a little less than a year ago.  When I finished that one, I could barely walk.  The pain was intense.  Getting home and hobbling into the shower, I remembered the burn from not understanding that anti-chaffing cream has a purpose.

Now, here I was, walking with hardly a problem after PR'ing at the same distance.  The legs were sore, but I felt great.  I got out of the shower and threw on a pair of jeans, the ones with the 36" waist that are now way too big for me so I have to tighten the belt real tight and look like MC Hammer.

Then I briefly looked at the scale and thought, "To hell with that thing."  Yes, I will still use it every day and I will try my best to learn from the information it provides.  But I'm not going to let it assume control over my mood or get in the way of accomplishing my goals.  Today I PR'd.  Today I went for a swim in a pair of jeans that I couldn't even come close to fitting into last year.  Today, I am a winner, whether I've gained six pounds in the last week or not.