“When you start living the life of your dreams, there will always be obstacles, doubters, mistakes and setbacks along the way. But with hard work, perseverance and self-belief there is no limit to what you can achieve.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Man, this morning sucked. I went into my usual weigh-in time with a skip in my step knowing it was a good week weight-loss wise. I was expecting the scale to show I had lost at least 3lbs. I have been 100% protocol since day one, and I knew it was going to be kind to me.  Such a good feeling knowing you kicked butt all week and were about to be rewarded.  I stepped on the scale, and the scale showed a 3.1lb loss. Yay I thought as I put my shoes back on. Way to go! But as the coach started to look at my print out showing fat percentage and lean body mass, she said, “Uh what happened this week?” I was shocked not understanding what she meant.  It was a good week I was thinking while she explained that I had lost 4.9lbs of lean body mass and GAINED 1.8lbs of fat. Somehow in my great week of eating well, I GAINED 1.8lbs of fat. How in the heck is that possible.  I got the look of “what did you cheat on” while I poured my heart out explaining that I ate perfectly.  She asked to see my food log . . . I replied with “ugh, I didn’t do it, BUT I swear I ate well.” Dang it, should have logged.  I do well logging for a few weeks and then get lazy.  It was a lazy logging week but wasn’t a lazy eating week.  I worked hard, I swear.

Tears welled in my eyes as I left my weigh-in and they poured as I sat in the front seat of my car. I was crushed.  I still lost 3lbs but it wasn’t the right kind of loss.  How does this happen?  The old me whispered in my ear saying “Screw it, you have been so good, you deserve to feel better and need some Easter chocolate” and new me battled back thinking that it would only make me feel worse in the long run and then I would have to fess up next week. Not gonna happen. I decided I needed to really think about what could have occured.

When I got home I pulled out all of the printouts from when I started at the end of January and wrote down each week’s weight, body fat and lean body mass. I decided to also write down when I started my period each month, because Lord knows that hormones play a role in all of this (sorry TMI fellas). And I found some interesting info. Every week after my period, I have a big drop in lean body mass and either lose very little or gain body fat.  I am not sure why that happens, but so far, for two months I see a trend. Does it explain the large loss of lean body mass and gain of fat this past month? Not really . . . but for now, it makes me feel better. Maybe it was just my hormones this week?

Needless to say, the old me would have sat on the couch with chocolate wrappers strewn about, feeling terrible. “Setbacks” happen, but today I made the choice to not go that route. Today I made the choice to still keep fighting and investigate.  Will I do this every time there is a set back? Hopefully . . . but not guaranteed. I am seeing small changes in myself, lets hope it sticks . . . but lets hope that stupid fat doesn’t.