The second thing that happens when most people get to the point where they are so carbohydrate depleted, is that they tend to look for foods that are processed carbohydrates. In all the years I have been doing this work...I have yet to hear someone tell me they binged on asparagus, or on brown rice, or on quinoa! It's always the packaged foods, or it's something from some sort of restaurant.
And the worst binges always seem to happen over the weekend, when people are out of their weekly routine, they're tired, they're with friends....all their defenses are down and it's easy to go for the tortilla chips in the basket or to say, "Yes, I'd like fries with that!"
The important thing to remember about processed food, is that it is higher in sodium compared to the "clean" eating you're trying to pursue the rest of the week. And it can take some time for your kidneys to process and eliminate all of that sodium. While all those molecules are waiting in line to get out of your system, they're hanging around with water molecules. That's just how it works...where there is sodium, there is water.
Think about the head game you set yourself up for if this is what you've done and you're a little obsessive with the scales.
Your weight looks pretty good on Friday morning, and about 3 pm on Friday your co-workers talk you into joining them for Mexican food at the joint down the street from the office. Saturday morning, one margarita, two baskets of chips, and a chimichanga later, you wake up feeling a little bloated. You get on the scale...and it's 4 pounds heavier than it was the morning before!
Talk about demoralizing! It's enough to throw you into a weekend-long "what's the use" binge.
Here's a little tip that can really help get you out of that obsessive cycle.
Remember, we are creatures of habit. Our Mondays are more like Mondays than they are like Wednesdays or Fridays. What we eat on Mondays...doesn't really vary that much. So it makes no sense to compare a Monday weight to a Wednesday weight.
If you tend to go out on Fridays, you are likely going to carry some water weight related to the sodium intake, for a couple of days. Even if you eat the amount of food you intended to.
It's best, if you're someone who is obsessive with the scales, to compare Monday weights to Monday weights, and Friday weights to Friday weights. Comparing Monday morning's weight to the past Friday morning's weight...is sure to set you up for head games and unnecessary bingeing.
Part 3, later this week...will be about hormones and weighing in.
1 comments:
I can't believe I am only now discovering this blog and your group. I've had PCOS all my life, although it was only diagnosed fairly recently. I've been on birth control to help the symptoms and recently I've been really trying to lose weight and get healthy. I know how hard it is going to be to get pregnant when my husband and I are ready in a few years, and I want to be physically in shape before then.
This post really struck me, because I just experienced my first real set-back. I've been using the site myfitnesspal.com to keep track of my eating, and have been using my Wii Fit just about every week day. I have lost 15 pounds since January.
Then, Easter. I decided that for one day, I wasn't going to keep track. Holidays don't come around that often with all that good food! Even though I wasn't keeping track, I ate a LOT less than I usually do on holidays. Instead of multiple pieces of bread I had one. Instead of tons of Italian cold cuts, I had 2 pieces of mortadella, 3 pieces of salami, and only 1/2 a piece of prosciutto. I had little pieces of dessert and didn't try everything (even though I wanted to!). And for dinner, I didn't eat more ham than I'd put on a sandwich and had 2 spoonfuls of green bean casserole (I could easily eat half an entire casserole on my own!).
I knew that it was going to hurt me, but I was shocked when the next day, I discovered that I had gained 3 pounds back. I certainly didn't eat THAT much food! And the day after, I had gained another 1.5 pounds back, even though I went back to eating healthy! Today, it stayed the same, no loss or gain.
Is it really possible that it could be water gain from all the sodium? (Obviously, just about everything that I ate was packed full of sodium!) It has been so discouraging because I didn't really think that one day would hurt me so much. I know now how much of a difference that can make and I will be more cautious in the future, but for now, I'm bummed.
Anyways, it has been so great finding your blog and being able to read through your entries. Sorry for the extremely long comment! It is good to find an outlet with people who know about PCOS and have help and suggestions!
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