Monday, January 28, 2013

1-28-13 Repeat after me: Ignore the Scale

This past week, I logged an average of 5 miles a day walking in addition to my around the house movement and ramped down the calorie count to 1200 or less each day. I can feel my muscles tighter and stronger in just one week. Even in the mirror, I can see the slightly tighter outline of my thighs and butt.

And the weekly weigh in?

I've gained four pounds.

Yeah, I can say the scale doesn't tell the whole story, but it doesn't change that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you work all week and see that number go up.

The reality is, I may well have lost 3 pounds of fat and gained 7 pounds of muscle.

And for you visual learners out there, here's a reminder of how much less space 5 pounds of muscle consumes compared to 5 pounds of fat:


I took some comfort here: Fat Girl, PhD: What 60 Lbs Looks Like in Mismatched Undies
She points out that between the second and third photos from the right, there is no weight loss. Since my current silhouette is pretty similar to her second to last photo, this is encouraging.


And so instead of diving head first into a stack of pancakes and sitting on my still too large butt pouting, Evan and I set out on another walk. Endorphins plus Colorado morning sunshine and air actually taste better.



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