Due to the human body’s ability to weigh radically (ok maybe it just seems radical) different weights throughout the week due to retaining excess water, weighing yourself at different times of the day due to food, waste, etc., and even gorging yourself on taco night…which I’ve never done… it’s usually easier for your own sanity if you pick one day during the week at a specific time to weigh yourself.
For me it is Friday mornings after I wake up and empty my bladder; this happens within five minutes of waking up. I don’t eat, or drink anything until I weigh myself. Sometimes I’ll switch to weighing myself once a month. Why? Because weighing yourself can be frustrating if you let it. Especially if you weigh yourself, you drop a pound or two (or gain) and you still look the same with no positive, observable changes. Or, if you’ve weighed yourself week after week and you are just stuck. Afterall, you can be your worst critic when it comes to this stuff (I know I can be), so why do that to yourself weekly if no change is being observed, or worse do it daily. Don’t sacrifice your sanity! If you are overweight, you’ll experience some weight loss for a while but depending on your goals, say for example you are doing strength training, there will be a point where the rapid weight loss will stop, slow down and then plateau for quite a while as your body trades fat for muscle. So don’t let the scale rule you!
I’ll get more into my journey of weight loss and gain (it CAN be a good thing!) in another article coming soon, but just a few quick things here to give you a very rough idea of my weight loss/gain over the last six months.
Feb 2014: 187lbs
March 2014: 189lbs
April 2014: 187lbs
May 2014: 186.4lbs
From Feb to May I was going slow on the bar bell exercises, gingerly working into them as I learned proper form with low weight. Workouts included: Box Jumps, Lunges & Squats (both of these done with kettlebells), Planks, Cable Rows, Bench Press, Pulls/Chins/Negs, Car Drivers. You can see this trend in the tracker I was using previously over at Nerd Fitness, which I linked to in a prior article.
In June I switched solely over to doing compound lifts with the bar bell. My goal is to add strength and power over mass, but with strength and power comes mass to a point, so I embraced it and began my affair with the iron. In June I can’t find a record online of my weight, however, I know I got as high as about 197lbs. In that month of June I gained some weight but also made positive good gains regarding my overall performance working out.
Deadlifts: 40lb gain
Squats: 20lb gain
Bench: 10lb gain
Chins: 3 rep gain
Pulls: 3 rep gain
The scale says 192.2 lbs today, 07/25/14, not bad for a 5’11” / 6’0″ man (depending on if I catch myself slouching or standing upright.) 😉 As you can see, my weight has fluctuated over the last six months but I have effectively put on 5lbs. A picture of me now is definitely different from a picture of me a few years ago at 199 lbs. (Pictures to come in another article)
Going forward, I don’t expect the “Weekly Weigh-In” articles to be this long.
Keep your head up.
Be strong for you.
Be Strong 4 Family.
*the crudley drawn man on a scale was done freehand, from memory, on a basic office paint software program. You’re welcome.
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