I weighed in on Monday morning, expecting things to not go well. Even though I had stayed within my daily 1,600 calories, I couldn’t exercise as much because of homework and work, and my scale at home showed that I was up. When I weighed in on Monday I…

Gained/Lost 0 pounds

So basically, I maintained. I was disappointed, but after a good talk with the nutritionist, we pinpointed some reasons. First of all, I’m not really mindful of salt before weigh ins. I always thought it was just hocus pocus that eating a bit of salt would puff you up, but after chowing down on homemade stir fry this weekend (hello, soy sauce!) and a couple frozen meals, apparently  I was puffy (and sure enough, I’m down a pound this morning. Oh well.) Secondly, my nutritionist thinks I shouldn’t eat the extra calories I get from exercise through the My Fitness Pal app. She broke down the math for me and reminded me that I have a slow functioning metabolism – one that theoretically isn’t “broken”, but needs lots of stoking. We also decided I need to amp up my cardio to 4-5 times per week.

These changes are all pretty significant for me, because they point out the thing I’ve been kind of hoping wouldn’t be true for a long time… and that’s that for me to lose weight, I need to be damn near 100% in my efforts. The last time I lost 30 pounds was my last semester in college – when I was working two jobs, serving as an editor on the college paper, attending classes and constantly riding my bike to and from campus. Weight loss seemed easy back then – because even though I was involved in so many things, I was active. I didn’t sit on my butt all day. Now I sit 40+ hours a week, and then I sit some more, after work, when I do my thesis project or go to class.

The increase in cardio is good – while I’ll struggle at first, I know it will help decrease my stress, get me in shape, and most importantly, it will help rev up my metabolism. I like to imagine my metabolism as a squishy little cartoon character wearing a fuzzy robe and bunny slippers, with a perpetual yawn, curling up inside me next to my thyroid like the ultimate couch potato. I want that little metabolism to sweat and start being more productive, and the only way I’m gonna do that is to stop being my own form of couch potato, and move it to lose it, ya know?

 

Source: helpwithweightloss.org via Eldora on Pinterest

One last thing I forgot to mention is I’m moving to bi-weekly weigh ins, because the wise nutritionist thinks it will be better for me to focus on my weight less and my energy and fitness level more. She reminded me that in cases like mine, sometimes you can be doing everything right and your body just takes some time to “prove it”. So yup – next time I weigh in on May 16… 3 days after my birthday!

I’m so glad I have a “weight whisperer” like the nutritionist to help me put some perspective into this challenge of mine that feels like something I’ll never overcome. But I will overcome it eventually – I just have to accept that weight loss is not going to be as simple as driving to the store and picking out a new, size 6 metabolism with a button nose and a love of volleyball. Weight loss is hard – which is precisely why the first three letters of diet are die. Heh. How are you doing this week? How are you feeling? Any revelations about anything?

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