Daily Weight-in, or 8 Lbs per gallon.

One thing that drives me nuts, when discussing weight loss, is when you see someone say something idiotic like, "I lost two pounds last week!".

It is idiotic, because such small amounts of weight are well within the daily variation of body weight that occurs due to water weight gain or loss, as well as food weight gain or loss.

Until you can show a consistent weight loss of five (5) pounds or more over a period of time (weeks or months), it is premature to say you "lost weight" within a period of mere days. You have not really lost weight - you are just dehydrated.

Bear in mind that water weighs about eight (8) pounds per gallon (actually 8.345, but we can round off). That means a half-gallon of water is four pounds, a quart is two pounds and a pint is about a pound even.

So if you go drink a pint of water (not hard to do) you will "gain" a pound right off the bat. If you lose a pint of water (through sweat, urination, defecation) you will "lose" a pound nearly instantly.

So, now you see why I think it is idiotic to claim weight gains or losses of a pound or two as some accomplishment. Want to lose a pound? Go take a piss. Want to gain a pound? Have a glass of water.

And I have tested this, by the way. Just now, I drank a glass of water, and no surprise, when I got on the scale, I was a pound heavier.

Clothing can also dramatically vary your weight. Want to lose 5 pounds? Get undressed. If you weigh yourself, at least do so wearing a consistent amount of clothing, or no clothing, so you have a standard baseline to work with.

This is not to say that weighing yourself, if you goal is to lose weight, is a bad idea. If you can get in the habit of the daily weigh-in, it will help you to remind yourself of your goals. Also, such data, charted over time (you can create a simple chart in MS-WORD using the Charts feature) will help you track your weight trends over time.

Like the price of stock, or your credit card balance, there will be some variation from day to day. But you will see a general trend - upward or downward - over time. THAT is what we are looking for, not day-to-day gains and losses of a pound or two which are worse than meaningless.

In a way, it is like the stock market. People obsess about the day-to-day fluctuations of the Dow, but fail to realize that it is larger trends, over time, that are more important. Whether a stock goes up or down a dollar or two in price on a daily basis is irrelevant. It is merely background noise, not an indication of an overall trend.

So when I see a girl who is dieting say silly things like "I lost a pound last week" I almost want to laugh. A pound is well within the normal daily variation of your body weight, which may vary by as much as five (5) pounds or more.

Why is it silly, or even harmful, to make such pronouncements? Well for starters, it doesn't help you to focus on the overall long-term goals. Like the day-trader of stocks, who obsesses about the market going up or down a point, they miss the overall more important trends. But more importantly, just as patting yourself on the back for "losing a pound" is self-deception, getting depressed about "gaining a pound" is an unnecessary exercise in low-self-esteem.

As I will discuss in a future posting, your emotional health is very important with regard to weight loss. Becoming overweight is often tied to mental depression, and being overweight often makes one mentally depressed. As we will discuss in more detail, it can become a viscous circle of self-recrimination, low-self-esteem, and depression, which in turn leads to more eating. Throw in an ever-increasing spiral of medical problems, and you have a recipe for disaster.

By the way, another reason not to get so excited about small variations in body weight is that most home scales are simply not that accurate. But such scales are more than adequate for the average person trying to lose weight. When I embarked on this project, my partner immediately said "Oh, let's get one of those $99 Health-O-Meter scales with the big dial!" Of course, I immediately nixed that.

If you already have a bathroom scale, that is perfectly fine. A brand-new strain-gauge digital scale can be bought at the local drug store for $15 or so (they advertise it online for $24.99 and sell it in the store for $15, go Figure!). There is no need to spend money to lose weight, and spending large sums of money to lose weight serves only to feed the cycle of low-self-esteem, depression, and self-recrimination.

One way to get a more accurate measurement of weight is to weigh yourself at a consistent time of day. For example, the first thing in the morning, or the last thing at night. Your level of hydration will be consistent, and thus provide a better measure of body weight. Also make sure you are wearing the same or similar clothes (or none at all). Clothing type and amount can vary your overall weight by several pounds.

The first thing in the morning, after you have used the restroom, is probably your lowest weight for the day, as you have not eaten yet, you are likely to be dehydrated, and you have, um, evacuated, as they say. You are most likely to be naked, too. So it is a good point in the day to take a measurement.

Again, water is 8 pounds per gallon, so if you come out of the shower dripping wet, you may "gain" a pound or two, particularly if you have long, wet hair. So get on the scale before that. Less chance of damaging the scale with water, too.

But again, the idea is to spot general trends, not minor day-to-day deviations, which are largely irrelevant. Getting excited about "losing a pound" is ridiculous, as it is well within the daily variation of your body weight.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make, when trying to lose weight, is to try to spend their way to thinness, through gym memberships, purchasing food plans, diet books, exercise equipment, or the like. They assume that spending all that money will be an "incentive" for them to lose weight. In most cases, the purchased item does little to cause weight loss, but the increased credit-card debt leads to more self-recrimination, depression, etc. Don't set yourself up this way by trying to spend money to lose weight.

You need not SPEND money to lose weight. The primary component in weight loss is eating less. So if anything, you should end up spending less, not more, as you will be buying less food.

But getting back to dehydration and water weight gain, you will notice that I have "lost" nearly five (5) pounds overnight, according to my bathroom scale. This large weight loss can probably be accounted for by the inaccuracy of the scale (resolution) wearing different clothes at weigh-in, and also being severely dehydrated this morning due to a minor illness. In general, I do not advise ever starting a "diet" when ill, but here I am going against my own advice.

01/26/10 252.6 lbs

Note: Se my next post on calorie counting. I went back and updated this post retroactively to include calorie data for today. Or was that yesterday?

Breakfast:
Once slice wheat toast 120 calories
one slice cheese 80 calories
five dates, 120 calories
1 apple - 47 calories
Total - 367

Lunch:
Half a cheese sandwich with mustard and lettuce.
One slice wheat toast 120 calories
Once slice cheese 80 calories
Lettuce ~ 0 calories
Mustard 5 calories
Total - 205 Calories

Dinner:
Lentils and Carrots - 80 calories
4 stuffed grape leaves - 160 calories
One Cibatta roll - 130 calories
1 roasted red pepper - 10 calories
1 tsb butter - 100 calories

Total - 480 Calories

Total for Today - 1052 calories
Exercise: Walked approx 3/4 mile

Disclaimer: Before going on any diet or exercise program, consult your Doctor for advice specific to your condition and needs. The entries in this blog reflect my own personal philosophies about weight loss, diet, eating habits, and exercise and reflect my experiences in losing weight. They are not intended as instructions on health, exercise, or medicine for others. The author assumes no responsibility in any way for misuse of the materials provided herein.