Why a "Gain" is NOT Always a Real Gain: Weighing After "Cheat Days"

Good Morning!

Or should I say, "Bad Morning"?

Because although nothing much is different in my life today as compared to the day before, I have to be honest, and admit that the scale is affecting my mood. After several days of losses in a row, I hopped on the scale today to see a THREE POUND GAIN. However, though it was unpleasant to see thay higher number, I am using this blog post to explore what actually is happening in my body, WHY it is happening, and to reframe this in a healthy way that serves my weight loss goals.

A gain is not always a gain. A loss is not always a loss. Weighing every day has it pros, but it certainly has its cons too.

I had a friend in high school (let's call her E) who was a compulsive overeater, a dieter, and generally a messed up person when it came to food...just like me! At one point, when she was weighing herself every day, and was alternating between days of semi-starvation and days of gorging and fast food, she proudly proclaimed to me, "I've figured it out! The more junk food I eat, the more I lose weight!"

"How can that be?" I asked her.

"Well, when I eat normally for a day, eating 3 or 4 meals and avoiding junk, I will get on the the scale the next day and then see a gain. But, when I don't eat all day, and then just have one philly cheesesteak or one Big Mac all day, and lots of coffee, I will see a loss the next day. But if I go back to normal eating or eating fruits and veggies I gain again..."

Shaking my head at her logic, I would try to explain, "E, you don't really 'lose' or 'gain' in a single day; you are seeing fluctations in water, food, or even how much poop is in your body! The weird things you are doing with your food, going back and forth all the time, is making the scale jump around...but you are not really gaining or losing. It takes time. It's not one single day of undereating or overeating that is gonna make or break you..."

She of course refused to understand. Her disordered thinking and eating used to make me crazy. Even though I myself have many of the same food issues, and perhaps BECAUSE of that fact, being around other compulsive overeaters acting out can be very agitating to me. 

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I relate this story because, like most people, it is easier for me to give advice or lectures to OTHERS than it  is for me to heed that advice myself.

Fortunately, I have NOT been doing to unhealthy behaviors that E was doing. However, I *have* been falling victim to some of the flaws in thinking and attitude. Case in point: seeing that scale go up today.

I know exactly why it happened: after several days of staying within my calorie range, and eating very lightly in the evening, yesterday was a bit of a "cheat day", where I ate about 2500+ calories, a good number of those consisting of the homemade spring rolls I downed at 9pm, right before going bed.

Gee, why would the scale be up today?

All this is good news, though. Good news because I totally know WHY it happened. The higher number on the scale today does NOT mean I gained actually fat (or muscle) onto my body...it means I ate a bunch of (relatively healthy) spring rolls right before bed, and they are literally still inside my body. I ate almost a thousand calories MORE than I normally would yesterday. The "gain" I am seeing today will quickly and easily come off after a couple days of normal eating. To tell the truth, having the "cheat days" was not really worth it, and I would probably do it very differently next time.

I am in this for the long-haul. Not the daily ups and downs. Nothing can derail me.