Shouldn't I be LOSING weight?!

This morning I stepped on the scales before I had consumed anything or did any activity - well it was 185.6. Which is a weight gain of about 0.5 lb!!!  What the heck?!

I think most people have been on a diet or healthy lifestyle change and had a week(s) were there was no weight loss.  So what the heck happened??

Well - many contributing factors can happen but here are a few:
1) Most important - weight loss should happen about 1-2 lbs per week.  If you are following my blogs, you may know, I lost over 6 lbs in the first week.  By losing so much weight in the first week, I was actually setting myself up for failure because the next week I was likely to gain some weight back or have no weight loss recorded.  Because the body is not able to adapt very quickly to weight loss, a loss of more than 1-2 lbs per week is easily gained back.

2) Calorie count. If your weight is not changing in the way you feel it should, start writing down everything you consume.  This applies to food as well as beverage.  Then use the internet to calculate the amount of calories consumed each day.  The number of calories you should consume each day can differ based on gender, age, activity rate and other medical conditions.  Here is a good reference.

3) Physiological condition.  There can always be a true physiological reason for weight loss and weight gain.  Everything from the endocrine system (hormones & enzymes) to serious illnesses such as cancer.  If you have any questions about unexplained weight loss or weight gain please contact a physician.  Going over a nutritional consult including a thorough history can help explain a weight shift and can even save a life.  If you have experienced a weight shift of over 5 lbs in one week without much of a change in your lifestyle, please seek a physician's advice.