Down 4 lbs. over last week. Thanks to constantly tracking, I was able to pinpoint the problems that caused my weight gain August 4-16.
After two consecutive weeks of gains, I’m down 4 lbs. this week. I’m officially at my lowest weight since starting college. It feels pretty dang awesome.
So what was the difference? Thanks to tracking my food and activity, I noticed 3 things that lead to those two weeks of gains. Because I tracked, I was able to course correct for two of those things and experienced a sweet weight loss.
- Wine! — The Nectar of the Gods is one of my 10 Known Kryptonites (yes, I need to do a post on this). During the weeks I gained, I was drinking one too many glasses. This week I kept wine at bay (with the help of the husband) by drinking unsweetened ice tea when we went out for dinner.
- Sore Muscles — My trainer is pushing me hard lately. As a result my quads, hamstrings, glutes, triceps and shoulder muscles are more sore than normal. So my muscles were holding on to more water than normal as I upped the intensity of my workout.
- Lots of Bloating — For the last few months I’ve struggled on and off with constipation. Not a fun topic, but it happens when you’re trying to lose weight eating low carb. The last few weeks it’s been particularly bad. I’ve tried eating more greens to up my fiber but it doesn’t seem to help. Now I’m trying to add a bit more fat back into my diet and cut back on protein. For a short-term solution I’m picking up some magnesium citrate today — something the paleo folks swear by. Basically it’s a saline laxative similar to what you take to empty your bowels before a colonoscopy.
When I talked to my doctor about it back in March, he recommended I start taking a probiotic. Did it work? You bet. But for some reason I stopped taking it. Mostly because I ran out and never picked up another batch from my local Vitamin Shoppe. D’oh! So guess what I’m doing today.
My hope is this will be an easy fix and nothing more serious is going on.