Fit-Bullets Friday: November 18th, 2022
Fit-Bullets: How Often to Weigh Yourself, Stress-Induced Weight Gain, and Cardio for Weight Loss
Happy Fit-Bullets Friday!
Here are 3 things I wanted to share with you this week...
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Weigh daily, or weigh never
I've been in a fat loss phase for the last 4 weeks and I've been weighing myself daily.
After I weigh myself, I input my weight into Apple Health so that I can look for an overall trend. Here's my trend over the last 4 weeks:
As you can see from the line I added, the overall trend is down. This is how I know I'm losing weight. I have 28 data points which, when taken together, show me a trend.
But let's imagine I had been randomly weighing myself over the last 4 weeks instead of every day...
What If had weighed myself only on the days I've highlighted below?
As you can see, those 6 data points don't give me any trend. It would make methink that what I'm doing isn't working.
Which would make many people give up.
But when we take all 28 data points, we can see that it is actually working.
And if you look closely, you can probably see a bunch of points over the last 4 weeks where I've been around the same weight.
This highlights the importance of weighing yourself daily. If you don't have the full picture, you won't know what's happening.
Now.
I know that some people have a terrible relationship with the scale. Even though they "know" daily fluctuations are only caused by changes in water retention, an upward spike can still derail them.
Those people should probably avoid the scale completely. To determine weight loss progress, they should instead focus on measurements, the way clothes are fitting, and progress photos.
Just remember: don't weigh yourself randomly. Either weigh daily, or never weigh.
And if you're new to the science of scale fluctuations, my Instagram post will explain more.
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Stress and weight gain
When I get on a call with a client, we don't just talk about nutrition and workouts.
We also dig into other habits - like stress and stress management.
Because how we handle stress will have a huge impact on our ability to lose weight.
Not because stress directly causes fat gain or stops fat loss.
But because stress impacts our behaviour and our ability to make good decisions.
Sure, cortisol (the "stress hormone") can increase water retention and make it look like it's causing fat gain, but it isn't fat gain - that's water weight.
However... chronic stress can lead to the kinds of decisions that will cause weight gain.
If you're chronically stressed, it's going to be that much harder to choose to eat a high-protein, high-fiber lunch. Or work out. Or go to bed early.
And it's going to be that much easier to choose to order a pizza, stay on the couch, and stay up watching Netflix.
Look.
Your issue might not be lack of discipline, lack of willpower, or lack of knowledge.
Your issue might actually be that you're not properly managing stress.
Of course, you'll never be able to completely eliminate stress. Experiencing stress is part of being an adult.
But you should be able to somewhat reduce your subjective stress levels by implementing simple habits such as meditation, breathing exercises, journaling, or walking (or, if it's serious enough, seeing a therapist).
And if that can eventually reduce your subjective stress levels from an 8/10 to a 6/10, that may well be enough to help you make more positive decisions - and see the kind of progress that's currently eluding you.
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Cardio for weight loss
Here's the truth...
You do not need to do cardio to lose weight.
And doing cardio without making any changes to your calorie intake won't result in much weight loss at all. In fact, this meta-analysis concluded that aerobic exercise "is not an effective weight loss therapy" without nutrition changes.
But even when your nutrition is dialled in, you can get the results you want with strength training and getting your steps at a regular walking pace. Cardio isn't required.
However... you should still do cardio anyway.
Why?
Because there are so many benefits for both physical and mental health. Seriously, many of the leading causes of death are preventable by getting your lifestyle habits in place - not to mention the improved quality of life you'll get in old age by dealing with this now.
The cardio doesn't even need to be super intense. Here's how I describe a decent intensity level to my clients:
If you were talking to somebody on the phone while working out, you would be able to continue the conversation without any issue, but the other person would notice you're exercising.
The CDC recommends working up to around 150 minutes per week of the above kind of cardio, in addition to strength training twice per week.
So if you want to be healthier and increase your chance of living well for another few decades, this is what you gotta start working towards.
Just don't think that the cardio you're doing is contributing a ton towards your weight loss results.
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See you next time,
Daniel