After three days of drinking alcohol nightly and two dinners with non-Paleo foods coupled with no more than 4 hours of sleep three nights in a row, I gained a solid 7 lbs. You read that right; three days of non-Paleo stuff caused me to gain 7 lbs. Did I actually gain 7 lbs of body mass? No, of course not. The vast majority of that weight was caused by two things: inflammation and water retention.
The good part about this type of weight gain is that it goes away pretty quickly with some solid rules following. That’s what happened to me this week, and as of this morning, I’m down 6 lbs. One more to go, and I’m down to pre-weekend levels! Then, I can work on losing just a few more before my trip to NYC next week.
Weight fluctuates daily, and sometimes as much as a few lbs in a single day. That’s why it’s not a good idea to use weight as a sole indicator of your progress in getting healthy. Sure, we all want to lose weight, and weight is the easiest measure of our overall health, but it’s only one data point among many.
While I had gained 7 lbs, I didn’t really feel all that bloated nor did my clothes get tight. It’s weird; everything I know about weight and mass says my clothes should have felt tighter, yet they did not. I did notice a loss of definition on my muscles due to the excess water, but it wasn’t more than just visible. This morning, my abs were showing much better, and the veins in my arms popped out more.
Lessons re-learned:
- No alcohol!
- Eat Paleo foods!
- Get enough sleep (7+ hours)!
As for totals? I’m back down to my pre-Hurricane Harvey weight at 167.5 lbs! That makes me VERY happy, and validates eating a strict Paleo diet and getting enough sleep as a viable method of losing weight on-demand for me.
Paleo Marine 