Beyond the Scale: Elevating Your Wellness Journey Beyond Being Weighed Down
Happy Spring Northern Hemisphere, and Happy Fall Southern Hemisphere! Here in the Northwest USA, flowers are blooming, bees are doing their magic, summer wedding season is just around the corner, and this is the time people start to see tips on losing lots of weight fast at the store checkout (or online pop-up). Here’s the problem, it’s mostly water weight, and some muscle along with a little fat, maybe.
Body weight is actually made up of a huge number of different things in large categories; it includes bones, muscles and tendons, the fluids in and outside of all yourcells, your organs, and your skin. When people talk about losing weight they really want to focus on the fat tissue, also called adipose tissue, but the problem is that with quick weight loss you aren't losing the adipose tissue!
Here's the thing that you really need to know. Inside your liver and your muscles your body stores what can become blood sugar in its storage form called glycogen. It's a series of all those glucose, or blood sugar molecules, in a nice long row that can be liberated at a moment's notice (Viva la persona!) to help keep blood sugar level. When the human body has fewer calories from food/drink, or does excessive amounts of exercise these fantastic processes go to work to liberate that sugar, keep you alive and going, and produce water in that process! That water is eliminated with your urine, and the “weight” of your entire body is lower but nothing has changed with your fat cells.
When this is continued for a longer period of time the next thing the body will is lose fat and/or muscle at either the same rate or a little bit more one or the other depending how your metabolism is working. Unfortunately without complex body composition analysis tools you have no idea where that weight loss is coming from. If you feel more tired and have a hard time doing things, or find it just a little bit more difficult to complete your exercise, it may be because you don’t have the same level of glycogen stores.
Instead of focusing on weight I take a whole-life inclusive, I believe well-rounded approach, to looking at how can you live better right now so that not only will you feel better at the time when you're getting into your clothes for that wedding or summer event, but that your motivation and excitement for feeling good continues and you don't ever fall off the “wagon” - because you are the wagon, you have the knowledge with skills to apply it, and you are the one moving forward in the best interests of your own health and wellness at the right pace for you.
If this sounds intriguing consider setting up a 10 or 15 minute exploration call to see if coaching and I may be right for you and if I'm a good fit for your wellness targets.
This week's tip: skip the scale and focus on one aspect of life where you can easily make a shift without too much change to your schedule but that will enhance your well-being. Consider choosing one of the items below:
Get a proper amount of sleep for at least a week and see how you feel. This means you fall asleep at about the same time each day and you wake up without an alarm knowing that your body got the rest that it needed. Most people need eight to nine, sometimes ten hours of sleep (not just time in bed) every night.
If hydration is a challenge, consider having a little something to sip on every hour through the day and slowly increase that quantity. For example some people find it helps to start with increasing their hydration intake by only four ounces each day for a full week, and then increasing another four ounces each day for the next week, until they reach their personal target which is often between 60 and 100 fluid ounces. Keep in mind that hydration comes from not just water but coffee and tea and soups etc.
Focus on moving your body every single day. Do you stand up and move around at least once every hour? Or at least once every two hours? Pick whichever is easiest for you and see about making a scheduled plan to stand up and just move (dance, walk, hobble - whatever!).
Add one serving of a fruit, or a vegetable, or a whole-grain, or a bean or legume to one meal three or four days each week for the next month. See how you feel with just focusing on including only one more than you normally would have.
Pick one of the above or make up something for yourself. As you do this and get into the habit it will be easier to continue!
