Quote:
Originally Posted by SakuraRose
Now my question is (there's actually a few =P), when I weigh myself on the scale, there's a .4 difference in weight. For example I was 263.4 last night, now today I'm 262.8...what on earth does that mean?
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I'm assuming you mean how can you lose .4 lb overnight? Where did it go when you were sleeping?
If you weigh after going to the bathroom in the morning or during the night, that's the obvious answer, but I'm assuming that you don't remember using the restroom after you've gone to bed or in the morning before weighing.
It's quite possible that while you may not remember getting up and using the restroom in the middle of the night, you very well may have. That's actually quite common. You wake up enough to go potty, but not enough to remember it in the morning (It's a bit like sleep walking, some people even are sleep eaters).
Even if you didn't go to the bathroom, you sweat and exhale while sleeping. The moisture in both evaporates, and you wake up lighter than you went to bed.
I usually lose most of my weight "overnight." I do tend to use the bathroom at least twice before my morning weigh-in. Once in the middle of the night, and once in the morning before weighing.
I've lost as much as three pounds between evening and morning. Now if I'd sweated out that much during the night, my sheets and jammies would have been soaked, so that's all from going to the bathroom in between weigh-ins.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SakuraRose
...around 10:00 pm at night, I feel like I'm about to go insane... am I just really hungry and need to eat some protein or drink a shake or something?
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Even the experts disagree on this, but my personal belief is that if hunger is keeping you awake at night, a snack is preferable to poor sleep.
Of course I lost my first 20 lbs only by sleeping better (I was diagnosed with sleep apnea, and although my doctors told me that I'd likely lose some weight without even trying just by getting better rest using the cpap device. I'd never lost weight "accidentally" in my life, so I thought they were nuts. I didn't even own a scale, so I was extremely surprised to find out at my next doctor's appointment that I had indeed lost 20 lbs without trying).
Sleep is also a key component to my fibromyalgia. If I lose sleep, I get sick and tired. So good sleep is a top priority to me.
That being said, I try to keep night time snacks very low carb, and reasonably low in calories (under 200 calories). If I eat too high carb and/or go over 200 calories, it makes it harder to get back to sleep (because of the energy boost), or I feel like I have a "hangover" in the morning.
Personally, if I experience "insane" hunger too often, I tend to get discouraged and frustrated and start feeling that weight loss is too difficult, and pointless. This is the only weight loss attempt in which I've decided to never let my hunger get to that level, and I don't think it's a coincidence that in almost 40 years of dieting this is the only attempt that has been successful this long or yeilded this much weight loss (even though it is much slower weight loss).
Like most things weight loss, there probably is no "best" answer, except in the sense of "best for you." Physiology and psychology gives each of us a different set of needs and preferences. Experimentation is your best source of information. Explore and test your options.