My mom built us a family habit over the years, to weigh ourselves everyday first thing in the morning. Despite it being the most accurate net weight can be tracked down after resting overnight, it is also less fluctuated by the amount of water and food we consume during the day.
However, does weight really matter?
The progress – Yes.
The absolute number – No.
Numbers are meaningless when there are no comparisons, the weight trend serves as a daily reference guide of our activities, rather than the biased ideas of “fatter or thinner”. It is also a ceremonial ritual to start the day and self-observe: “How am I today.”
Ever since I started working out from home, I did more research with more observations towards the weight patterns:
-The Muscle vs. The Fat: our muscles have higher density than fat, once we have started a new workout routine, weight gain is to be expected, especially if losing weight is not the ultimate goal, but to get toned or build strength.
-The Healing Phase: according to research, a new exercise regimen puts stress on our muscle fibers. This causes small micro tears, also known as micro trauma, and some inflammation. Those two conditions in muscle fibers are the reason we may gain some water weight, our body retains fluid there to try to heal it, for up to 8 weeks.
-The PMS Weight: women are likely to gain weight one week before a cycle, commonly due to symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. Research suggests, after ovulation, the decrease in oestrogen and progesterone leads to a decrease in one of the brain’s neurotransmitters, Serotonin. Serotonin in charge of our feelings, while the brain tries to stimulate its release and uplift the mood, carbohydrates and sweets are their choices to accelerate the production of Serotonin.
-The Dinner Weight: if you have heavier dinner than lunch as a lifestyle, it is relatively harder to observe true net weight, as we drink more water after heavy meals to quench thirst from flavorings. At the same time, our body naturally keeps more water overnight to digest heavily seasoned food.
Monitor weight to observe what you need, yet it is not always all about the weight.
a little twist. 