Weight loss fluctuations

ik126

I think this one of the hardest parts of weight loss, sticking with it past through the ups and downs on the scale. I will share my journey so far in the hope it will be helpful to others through their down moments, I'm a qualified counselor ironman coach yet needed much counselling myself, literally positive self talk and visualisation. I have been on a nearly 4 month consistent training and calorie deficit and intermittent/dry fasting journey. Starting at 90kg 185cm with good muscle but my goal was based around building a body of triathletes who exist at my height which was in the 65kg region. I've gone through countless down moments for various reasons and learned many things and have not yet succeeded in my 1st goal which is reaching the desired weight. The 2nd being doing power/strength which may add weight which is fine. So morale down moments have been linked to life stress events, travelling, unplanned social eating events, fatigue both mental and physical. I used to fear the scales and hated calorie counting and never used to write my feelings or ideas about fluctuations. I realised after 45 days into what is now almost 120 days that logging fluctuations I.e what you normally weigh before and after food is good, as it naturally explains to you what your normal is for me it could range between 2-7kg as I could do lots of fasted excerise and eat most if not all my calories in one meal. Water and food will pass eventually in what I term equilibrium which may take from 1day up to 2 weeks depending on your activity levels and how much you stick to the calories restrictions and exercise. I encourage everyone to try to stick with it because eventually the body will let go of what it's holding on to and your efforts won't be wasted. It's important to enjoy your food and allow yourself to sometimes not be in deficit or even over without going into panic Stations we are human. I've been guilty of this so many times, I'm getting better but still need to remind myself. Weight loss is not a straight diagonal line down there's ups and downs but mostly attributed to the weight of the food and liquids rather than anything 'wrong' you've been doing. I've seen an all time low weight in my adult life and my weight fluctuated from 71.4 to about 79.5 then 71.7 in three days, lots of exercise in-between but I was calm, however I ate when 74kg on the brink of further reaching my goals on two family gatherings when I wasn't hungry and when I eat its normally a big meal, this set me back and the mental and physical fatigue kicked in and for 4 days or so I've semi been eating more frequently than before, whilst trying to keep counting calories, not trained properly for 2 of them and 1 not at all. Can 100+ days be ruined by 3-4days , I think not but I'm trying to convince myself and move forward as I've done before and reaching out to others. I had a headache real excuse last 2 days but will fight on, equilibrium of food is not in our hands completely so we need patience, easier said than done. Also if we don't feel like eating need to be stronger with kindness to stick with it. Listening to your body is one if key things to do on this journey, I.e. to eat, sleep and train accordingly, obviously try to push through when you feel your body is just being lazy or negative, try you best to manage and dictate to it what it should do when your feeling close to 50/50 in doing something. If the feeling much more I.e 70% not to do any activity give it a bit of time and or stimulating I.e coffee or a power nap then see if it remains high. I managed to get up to 83kg this morning but haven't had proper bowel movements for about 36-48 hours which is unusual. I believe my weight is somewhere between 74-77kg. I will try to gain back the lost momentum which happens and be stronger for it which I hope you all will too. Feel free to reach out or share your own stories or strategies. Wish you all the best.