This week… three more pounds have joined the four that decided to hang out last week.

That’s a seven pound gain in two weeks. Food? Nope. Water.

My body hangs onto water.  Perhaps yours does, too. Because I track my weight, I can even see the cycles in which I gain water; within a couple weeks, I lose it, plus a few more pounds.  Some folks call this a “whoosh”, and while I like the sounds of that, the facts are that my body likes hanging onto water.

One article I read suggests that when you “fad diet”, your body is burning through both carbs and protein, which bind water.  As a result, your body over-compensates by retaining water as a means of protection.  I think it’s more likely, though, that the cycle of my own body tends toward retaining water, and if I don’t make sure I have enough water intake, any weight loss is masked by water weight gain.

The last couple weeks, I’ve been a slacker.  I’ve been just coasting along in my efforts.  I haven’t done what I know works for my body.  I hit these times of mental barriers, where I fight doing anything constructive when it comes to weight loss.  I’m trying to figure out why; I have had good successes, and I’m making progress.  What I’ve been doing, when I’ve made a full and complete effort, is working.  It’s been easy, in fact.  So why am I doing this to myself?

This is the exact reason why I started this blog.  I don’t yet know the answer to why my brain is currently misbehaving, but I know that coming here and talking myself through it is a lot better than just trashing my efforts and letting myself slide back into old habits.

For the next week, I will do the following — because they work:

• Drink enough water every day.  Currently, for me, that’s at least a gallon.  If you’re not sold on the reasons why water is good for your body, read here: http://www.shapeupshop.com/weightloss/water-weight-loss.html
• Exercise.  Exercising helps relieve water weight, in addition to assisting weight loss and fitness.
• Pay attention to what I eat and continue to record it.

Next week, with all those things in place, I am confident that at least some, if not all, of the water weight I’m holding will have left.