It's the 3rd week in our April Fool's series and this is probably the biggest fool of them all. Have you ever weighed yourself on a Monday and said "Wow, I ate too much this weekend" or have you been elated because you lost a pound that was with you on Friday? Those two things could occur, but for it to be true weight loss or gain is very unlikely. Let's take a look at the facts.
First of all, calories are not the enemy; they are the energy provided in food. Your body needs energy to work, eat, sleep, and play in your daily lives. We tend to over energize our bodies (aka take in too many calories) but when we see temporary weight fluctuations it's usually not due to calories. There are 3500 calories in a pound so if you honestly think over a weekend you over consumed 3500 calories or used an extra 3500 calories then maybe you did gain or lose that pound. Chances are you are experiencing water weight gain or water loss. Did you know just by urinating you can lose almost a pound (depending on how much fluid you are releasing)? Another culprit for weekend weight gain is consumption of salty foods which leads to water retention which leads to weight gain (on the scale). Flush that out with water and you are back to your weight "normal". Hormones also play a role, but that's for another time.
The same goes for weight loss. If you did not drink the right fluids over the weekend chances are you might be weighing less (dehydration). Once you get those fluid levels back to normal you will return to your "normal" weight.
The moral of the story is...don't fool yourself with false weight loss, yet don't beat yourself up over a weekend pound as we must look at the big picture over a week or month's time. And remember, 3500 calories makes or breaks a pound!
Stay tuned for our final April fool...you aren't going to believe this one! I've heard it twice in the past month...and my jaw hit the ground both times.
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