Weight Fluctuations? What Gives?

What I hear:

I gained a pound this week! What am I doing wrong?

My weight stayed the same this week! This is not working.

I only lost two pounds this week! I want to quit. 😦

I lost 5 pounds in 10 days – woohoo!

What I say:

What you should do at this point in time… RELAX!!!

You did not gain three pounds of fat overnight – it is impossible, and you did not lose three pounds of fat overnight either.

Body Weight Fluctuations of 1-5 Pounds a Day are Perfectly Normal.

1. Sodium: Think of your body like a pendulum scale. If you eat more salt than usual one day, your body will react by trying to balance the scale by retaining more water. Eat less salt than usual, and you have the opposite affect.

2. Alcohol: This diuretic causes dehydration in the body, which leads to water retention. The water retention is a result of your body wanting to make up for the difference in water levels drinking alcohol has caused.

3. Carbohydrate Intake: The body turns the majority of eaten carbs into glucose for immediate energy. Glucose that is not used for immediate energy, turns to glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the muscle tissue and liver, which is stored with water. Eating a low-carb diet often leads to weight loss as you use up your glycogen stores and the stored water is released. In the long run, fatigue can set in as your quick energy source (carbs) is depleted and not replaced.

4. Strength Training: Lifting weights or doing body weight exercises causes trauma to muscle tissue. This is how the muscle rebuilds itself and makes you stronger. But in order to rebuild the muscle fibers, your muscles retain water to help speed up the process in the cells.

5. Restroom Usage: 1-3 pounds a day of body weight change can be seen by using or not using the restroom. I’m not going to go into detail here, because I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.

6. That Time of Month: Most women are probably familiar with this one already. Experts believe that water is retained when hormones fluctuate, especially about one week prior to your monthly visitor. Once your cycle is over, the water is released.

7. Stress and sleep: High cortisol levels affect water balance in your body by regulating anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). ADH tells your kidneys how much water to hold back and pump back into your body.

PRO tip: Don’t stress about the number on the scale. It does not define you (up or down). Subtle changes are normal and should not affect you emotionally (for help with body image click here).  As you can see from the above, daily weights are mainly fluid shifts within your body. If you’re trying to lose weight, don’t think of it as a quick process (quick means fluid). Think of it as a long term goal where you slowly see progress over many months. You will see ups and downs along the way. This is totally normal as it’s not a linear process. Stay the course because your consistency is what maters most.

Hydration 101

(Repost from Real Spotlight)

I live in a very dry climate and I crush my water intake in the summer, rarely needing to remind myself to drink more. However, sometimes in the winter I forget how dry it is here and end up going a few days until I realize I’ve been slacking.

A few Facts on Water: 1. Water has many essential functions in the body such as regulating body temperature, keeps muscles and joints limber and keeps blood flowing to the kidneys to flush out waste. 2. Water makes up 40-60% of your body weight. 3. You can’t live more than a few days with water.

A good rule of thumb is to take your body weigh in pounds and divide it by 2 to find out how much liquid (in ounces) you need in a day. This does include all liquids such as coffee, tea, juice, soda and water. Of course, filling up the majority of these ounces should be with water.

Another good tip is to drink to quench your thirst. If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. If you exercise (especially in heat) or are at a higher altitude you need even more water. Exercising while dehydrated can also impair your performance.

If you exercise greater than 1 hour and are sweating, you’ll need to replace electrolytes as well. This can be accomplished with eating a snack such as yogurt and fruit with a handful of nuts while drinking water (or turn this into a smoothie) or drinking a sports drink.

Finally, monitoring your urine is another good way to know if you are drinking enough water. Your urine should be a light, yellow color. If it is darker than that, is a sign you are dehydrated. If it is more white, you may be drinking too much.

Other signs of dehydration include:

Dry mouth

Eyes stop making tears

Sweating may stop

Muscle cramps

Nausea and vomiting

Heart palpitations

Lightheadedness (especially when standing)

Weakness

 

PRO tip: Take 2-3 days and keep track of how much water you drink and monitor your urine color. Anyone conscious of their health, does this, I swear 😉 If they don’t, they should 🙂

The Buzz on Energy Drinks

(Repost from the latest Real Spotlight)

Energy drink companies market their products to adolescents and young adults who are looking for a quick energy boost.

The drinks contain caffeine, herbs and other ingredients that are marketed to also improve concentration, performance and metabolism.

Possible side effects include headaches, anxiety, sleep problems, nausea, seizures, cardiac abnormalities and sudden death. There are also possible drug-herbal interactions with these products that can alter the affects of medications.

In reality, energy levels are affected by nutrition, activity level, and sleep.

The best advice to improve energy levels is to focus on healthy food habits, including physical activity most days of the week and adequate sleep. When people don’t follow this advice, they try to use energy drinks as a band-aid for a quick fix energy boost.

Caffeine is safe to use in moderation. This single ingredient stimulant is safe up to 400 mg per day in most healthy adults. That’s equivalent to 4 cups of coffee each day. Kids less than age 12 really shouldn’t have caffeine. Teens can have up to 100 mg. Energy drinks can have between 70-240 mg of caffeine.  It’s a wise choice to do your research on these drinks if you or your family members consume them.

Adults and kids have varying levels of sensitivity to caffeine, which can linger in the body for four to six hours. Be aware of the symptoms (restlessness, insomnia) of too much caffeine. Be a good role model and talk to your kids about caffeine as you would smoking or drinking. Practice moderation.

Chicken Veggie Ramen Bowl

Oodles of Noodles (aka Top Ramen) was one of the first meals I remember cooking on my own when I was a kid! I made this recipe from Pib and Ebby this past weekend that reminded me of it.  It has a little more prep time and cook time than the original meal I made back in the day, but still took less than 30 mins to whip up. And….who doesn’t think slurping up long noodles is so fun!

I like these Rice Ramen noodles you can also buy at Costco. Or these are a nice wheat Ramen version without the extra additives.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 8-oz. package mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 48 oz. chicken stock
• 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
• 2 packages Ramen noodles

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add mushrooms, broccoli, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, or until veggies are fragrant and begin to get soft.
2. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes. Add chicken and Ramen noodles and simmer for an additional 5-7 minutes, or until noodles are cooked through. Serves 4.

Kombucha Brewing Kit

Have you tried Kombucha? Kombucha is in the fermented foods family, along with sauerkraut, kefir, miso, and tempeh. Kombucha is full of probiotics, B vitamins and antioxidants.  The drink is made from bacteria and yeast mixed with black or green tea and sugar. The sugary tea turns into kombucha with the help of a SCOBY—a.k.a. “a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast”. These bacteria can help keep your gut healthy, fight inflammation, boost immunity and aid in digestion.

You can buy Kombucha at a grocery store or you can make it yourself. I got this Kombucha Brewing Kit as a gift and I bottled it up this past weekend. I left a few plain and was surprised that they taste really good! I flavored two bottles with mango and 2 bottles with lemon and ginger. If you have any bottling or flavoring tips, let me know!

Update: the Mango was awesome! Just a few tablespoons of diced mango really added some yummy flavor. The lemon ginger had a subtle added flavor too. I love ginger so it’s a winner!