Eliana - I would LOVE to be as close to Onederland as you are! Think of all you've accomplished!! You've lost over 32 lbs! That's awesome! YGG! You are doing all the right things. I think you should take a rest day from exercise every now and then. I usually take a rest day once a week or when my body says I need to. You're doing FABULOUS!! I'm inspired by your success and dedication!!

Gosh thanks. Reason enough to power on.

Please don't get obsessive about weighing yourself. Your new and healthy diet and lifestyle should not lead you to obsessive behavior. It could undermine your moral and eventually lead you to quit. I'll tell you, I don't know the statistics, but the majority of the people who start on a health/diet/exersise routeen for a new years resolution do not usually make it until Spring. It's better to try to be "natural" about it and not expect magic or quick action. I honestly would not weigh myself more than once a month. I would set up goal objects like a pair of jeans one size smaller, or a nice dress in the size you want to be eventually. I would also conjecture that water weight gain can possibly account for a small amount of weight gain or loss depending on how much you drink, TOM and other
considerations.

Perhaps when a person exersises heavily they literally micro-tear muscles (pain and heat) and one of the first steps in healing is WATER RETENTION-- which we normally would call swelling. The body does this in order to move various chemicles and cells where needed, In other words you might have some muscle building going on. Every exersise book or article I have ever read has said to rest for a day between heavy exersise. That is why you are supposed to design your routeen to do upper/lower or weight/cardio every other day. At the least you have to exersise only every other day. The human body was not designed for intense exersise each and every day. Please check this idea out and perhaps look at designing a program where you have plenty of rest periods in-between your activity.

I think it would be hard to go from being a daily weigher to a monthly weigher. If you're having trouble with daily weighing, though, which it sounds like you are, I would go to weekly weighing and not work out the day before. That will minimize post-workout bloat and help you not focus on the minute fluctuations.

Also, what kind of scale do you use? I know for me, a minor move of where the scale is on the floor can change my weight. Do you have access to a balance scale at the gym or something? I would try and use that instead of a floor scale.

Eliana- I am just like you, I weigh myself in the morning and at night. Which I know I shouldn't but it's a really bad habit, I just haven't found away to break it yet.

I had my first workout with my personal trainer on Monday and the next morning I went from 239.00 to 237.00. I was so happy. I went back to the gym yesterday and worked out on my own, sweated my butt off and thought I did great and got up this morning and it said 238.00. I was like WHATTTTT I just worked out heavy duty and ate good and I gained a lb. Like everyone else said I guess it's just retention from not being use to working out. Believe me girl I am new at the high intensity work outs too. I think it's just going to take time for our bodies to realize what's going on.

And my personal trainer also told me muscle weighs more than fat, so sometimes your weight might go up, but your actualy body fat has gone down. The more muscle the better, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn throughout the day.

Keep with it girl, you're doing great, don't give up, you're so close to onderland.

I think the right times and amounts to weigh are where it doesn't make you crazy. I would humbly suggest that weighing multiple times a day is making you crazy, and that you need to reconsider what might work better. Probably not once a month, maybe not even once a week, but perhaps once a day? Maybe....

I would also try to make sure you are tracking other things (which I know you are!). How about setting up a spreadsheet where you can track clothing sizes, measurements, staying 100% on plan for eating and whatever other variables you can think of. Scale weight is just one piece of the whole, so don't give it more focus or power than it deserves.

Eliana, Do you remember a post from a few weeks back...when you became convinced to start exercising based on the comments of two people who wore some pretty small sizes even though their weight was not so low...if I remember correctly, those were the comments that really motivated you to go ahead with it. If the scale is making you unhappy now, give it up for a while...you are now where you wanted to be...so don't lose faith.

I had to shut my scale up in the closet this morning after I realized it was making me mental. No weigh-in for me until Monday, no exceptions! If I find myself too tempted to break my promise I will take it to my sister's house and leave it there, for real. The scale obsession is just distracting. I hope you can find a way to break it too.