5 Weight Gaining Gremlins
If you incessantly check your weight, you may be losing motivation very quickly. Keep in mind, however, that even though your weight may be going up, you could be making substantial progress in the right direction.
It’s usually the case that women are actually losing fat while gaining weight when starting off with a program. Who’s to blame? Water.
You probably know that water can do this. But do you know how the water is getting into your system? Let me shed some light by providing 5 hidden sources of weight gain:
1. The weight of food. Although this sounds simplistic, many women overlook this factor. If you eat a big meal, you’ll instantly gain the weight of that meal. Period. Food has weight, and if the food goes into your mouth you gain that weight. And if the food is loaded with salt expect additional water weight.
2. The hydrate in carbohydrate. Carbohydrates hydrate you because they pull lots of water into your body. How much? Each gram of carbohydrate that goes into your muscle must bring 3 grams of water along with it for the ride. So don’t be discouraged if you gain a lot of weight after a high carb meal!
3. Sodium. You probably already knew this one, but did you appreciate the magnitude of sodium weight gain? Most women grossly underestimate how much water they are actually retaining because of sodium. Too much sodium can make or break an already lean woman’s appearance.
4. Taking a bath. Your skin is a big organ and it can do many things including suck up water. This is one of the main reasons many clueless athletes fail to make their weigh ins. Does this mean you should stop bathing? I’ll leave that one up to you!
5. Lifting heavy stuff. By heavy stuff I mean weights. Weight training teaches your muscles how to hold on to more carbohydrates, and remember that more carbohydrates translate into more water coming in. Does this mean you shouldn’t weight lift? Absolutely not! In the long run you’ll be way better off if you do.
The take home point here is to NOT obsess over the weight scale readings. I see far too many women get discouraged because they are gaining weight. Only if they knew that they were also losing fat!
Katherine Crawford M.S., a Harvard exercise expert and recent flabby arms victim, is an expert on toning exercises for women. Learn how to get toned arms right now by visiting her blog on best arm exercises.