This Week

This week just seems like an epic fail. Every day I have gotten on the scale and every day I have gained weight.  I am up two pounds from Sunday.  I am not discouraged but I am frustrated.  I've been eating a lot of sodium lately in the Lean Cuisine and I am wondering if the weight gain is due to water retention.  I've also been working out three times a week so maybe some of it is building muscle mass.  Whatever it is, it needs to stop. I need to see some progress to stay motivated.

I don't drink water.  It's just something I am not in the habit of doing.  Today I started out by drinking 20 ounces of water.  I will keep increasing that to 64 ounces but for this week, I think 20 ounces a day is good.

I suppose I can be proud of the changed behaviors like logging my food, drinking water and exercising three times a week.  I can even be proud of trying to make better nutrition choices but all that just doesn't seem enough without the weight loss.

Every night I feel like a child on Christmas Eve eagerly going to bed so that in the morning I can get on the scale and receive my present that I have worked so hard for.   

If you don't drink water, what have you been drinking?

Lean cuisines typically have pasta or potatoes in them... I'd avoid them personallly

I always caution daily weighers. Even without surgery weight fluctuates by as much as three pounds day to day for myriad if reasons. 

That sodium will get you every time if your body is not used to it. I know after eating something with sodium in it my wedding ring is always tight. I'm not keen on water either but I try and drink it often adding a slice of lemon or some flavor drops. Keep doing what you are doing, hang in there and maybe only weigh yourself once a week. It is stressful doing it every day.

Lean cuisines are junk food. You need to be eating protein. You cannot gain weight by building muscle mass unless you are eating more calories than you burn. Sodium does cause water retention, but it also sounds like you could work on making better food choices. My suggestion is to avoid processed foods as much as possible and opt for more natural whole foods.

Are you pre-op or post-op?   Because my response will differ greatly depending on the answer

Pre-op: Keep on working on tha****er and wean yourself off Lean Cuisines.  They are sodium disasters.  The less water you drink and the more sodium you take in, the more your body will hang onto every ounce of water it gets.  Those Lean Cuisines can be little carb bombs too.  Which type of are you eating?  Avoid any of them with pasta or potatoes - they are crap. 

Post-op: this will be a LOT more harsh.  You MUST get in a minimum of 64 oz. of water a day. No exceptions or excuses. Water is more important than food if you are post-op.  At 20 oz. a day you are going to end up in the hospital and maybe in kidney failure.  No exaggeration...no joke. 

Lean Cuisines? Kick them to the curb.  You need to focus on lean protein and it's easy enough to make yourself.  Carbs in the form of pasta and potatoes shouldn't even be passing your lips at this point (and those frozen dinners are full of 'em).  

And while you're kicking stuff to the curb you might as well take your scale.  If you are going to pin your happiness and mood on what the scale says every day then you're in for a very bumpy road on this journey.  The scale is the WORST indicator of your success at losing fat.  Fat loss is what we want, not weight loss.  I can lose 10 lbs. of weight by cutting off my arm but it won't make me any less fat, right?  

Focus on what's important - fat loss.  That's going to show up in your belt size, your shirts getting loose, etc.  I've known people to drop 2-3 sizes and stay the exact. same. weight.  I dropped an entire pant size without losing an ounce.    

Every word you wrote is pure truth. Thank you for being honest and unyielding. It has helped inspire me and my day.  

^^^ What Tracy said.

Ditch the processed foods.  They're packed with sodium and carbs.

If you don't drink water, you will have problems.  

Definitely what Tracy said. Don't obsess over what the scale says or doesn't say day to day, stay true to your Drs plan for you & the weight will come off. Not sure if you're pre or post op but either way, up your water intake. 20oz is way too low in either case. I also eat processed foods & it does have a lot of salt. Often I try to up my water intake past the 80oz whenever I eat those kinds of foods.

Don't think of getting on the scale & seeing the numbers go down as your Christmas present. Think of all the NSV's instead, the scale fluctuates, but your NSV's are likely to stay constant, that's your real present. Good luck to you in your weight loss journey.