Home, Home on the Range
What does it mean to be at goal weight? If your goal weight is 135, are you supposed to hit 135.0 every single freakin’ time you step on the scale, the whole rest of your life? What if you go on vacation and you come back home 5 pounds heavier? Are you no longer at goal? What if you eat out one evening, and the next morning, the scale says you’ve gained 3 pounds?
Do these gains mean you’re just a complete failure at weight loss? Are you just destined to gain it all back? To always be fat??
Nope. Not even close -- not as long as you’re staying in your range.
You and I cannot stay the same weight every single day. It’s impossible. We’re what? 60%, 70% water? Even small shifts in the amount of water we’re retaining can cause a big swing on the scale. “A pint’s a pound, the whole world ‘round,” my Dad used to say. And it’s true. Let's have a demonstration: step on the scale. Note the weight. Now, drink a pint of water. Step on the scale again. You’re around a pound heavier, aren’t you? Your scale is weighing the weight of your body, plus the weight of the water you just drank.
I can eat a Chinese dinner and gain 3 pounds overnight. I can eat a can of soup and be up 2 pounds. I can also have a day where I don’t eat much in the way of salty foods, and weigh a couple pounds less the next day.
And, it’s not just water. Umm . . . how do I put this delicately? “Colon content” -- yeah, colon content. The remains of last night’s dinner . . . still in your gut, working its way out. Too much of that can also affect your weight. Have you been eating a lot of fiber? Are you feeling a bit, um, backed up? If so, you’re probably a tad heavier than you otherwise would be.
Bottom line is, we don’t stay at a single weight. Our weight swings up and down, usually within a pretty narrow range: call it 3 to 5 pounds.
So . . . If your weight’s swinging up, down and sideways, how do you stay “at goal?” How do you know when to worry? How do you know when to DO something?
Though it may not work for everyone, here’s what works for me: I don’t have a single weight goal. I have a weight range. I also have a red line weight. My weight tends to go up and down about 4 pounds. So, if my red line weight is 134, my weight range is 130 - 134.
If I weigh myself and I’m anywhere in the 130 - 134 range, I’m at goal. It’s as simple as that. But if I weigh more than 134 for, oh, more than a day or two, I know that it’s time to take action. I’ll cut my food portions back a little for a few days, until I’m back under my red line weight again.
“But,” you say, “what happens if I go under my weight range?” Well, if that happens, it‘s a good idea for you to eat a little more, until you‘re back in range again.* Weight loss is seductive. We all remember the thrill of losing those pounds, but there comes a time when further losses are not appropriate. It can be easy to hit a new low and think, “Ooh, I like this weight -- think I’ll try to stay here.” But staying at a new, lower weight can be difficult. You'll probably have to eat a bit less than before. You may feel deprived, and start getting into food mischief. My best advice is: don’t go there. The best goal weight for you is one that is healthy and is easily maintained.
In the long run, staying at goal doesn’t have to all that hard, as long as you don’t make yourself crazy trying to hit a single weight number every time. Relax. Figure out your range. Figure out a healthy, sensible strategy for getting back into your range when you stray above red line. When you return from a vacation and you’re above your red line weight, don’t beat yourself up. Small gains are a fact of life, for everyone -- yes, for “naturally” thin folks, too. Just cut back a little, get back into your routine, and take the weight off again.
See you out on the (weight) range!
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*Thanks, Denise, for this suggestion . . . I only wish I had the problem of "accidentally" going under my weight range, so's I could eat more to gain some back!
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