Motivational Monday- Losing one pound

 "ONE LOUSY POUND! I HAVE BEEN EATING LIKE A DAMN BIRD ALL WEEK!" This was the response of a  past client that became really upset after only losing one pound. I can understand the frustration, expecially if you have been working your ass off.

What you have to keep in mind is that many different factors can affect your body at any given time.

I generally ask the client about these factors - stress, sleep, and sodium.

Between a job, a newborn, or just a hard to handle situation, our stress levels can really build up. When you are under stress, your body releases cortisol, the stress hormone. This has been linked to a buildup of abdominal fat. It also can cause your metabolism to slow down, so you may be eating the same amount, but just are not burning off as many calories as you used to.

Also, are you getting plenty of sleep? Not getting enough sleep has been known to increase stimulus to eat more food, and increase appetite-regulating hormones. Sleep for individuals will vary, but according to the National Sleep Foundation an adult typically needs seven to nine hours of sleep. 

Did you have too much sodium? Sodium is know to encourage water retention.

Keep these factors in mind, and do the best you can. We live in a fast paced world where we all have to juggle a million things at once, and multitask whenever possible.  I like to tell clients this when they whine about one pound - You were able to burn 3,500 more calories than you ate. This means that you either ate less or exercised more. Either way that is one less damn pound then before! Jump up and down, do a dance, because you are one step closer to your goal!

Sources: http://www.fitday.com,http://www.sciencedaily.com, www.livestrong.com