Weight Gain Due to Heat?

Below is a response to the question about weight gain (without any dietary changes) experienced during heat/humidity. I found this very interesting. I feel it answers my question of the scale fluctuation over the past few weeks. I have found myself waking up the past few mornings with very puffy eyelids, stuffy nose (swelling in sinus cavity), and just generally feeling like a big ol' fat tick!

That’s not your imagination. A significant portion of the human body is water. When the weather is hot, body weight can go up by several pounds due to increased body water.  In warm weather, fluid-conserving hormones kick in which allow the kidney to retain more fluid…and reduce the amount of salt in sweat, leading to even more water retention. Water retention accounts for many day-to-day fluctuations on the scale. We tell our clients year-round, and especially in the summer months, that a gain is not actually a gain unless the scale goes up 2.5 pounds or more, as daily variances in water weight can account for that much (possibly more).
Have you ever noticed how quickly swelling can happen in warm weather? You might be inside in air conditioning and your rings are loose, and then step outside into the heat and your rings are suddenly stuck on your finger. It’s a natural reaction to the change in climate. Heat edema is a swelling of the extremities associated with exposure to high temperatures (commonly during heat waves or when someone accustomed to more temperate climates travels to a warmer climate).
As a reminder, it’s best to weigh yourself once a week at the same time each week to avoid getting discouraged by any day-to-day water retention variances. And, it’s always good to remember that the scale isn’t your only measuring tool. How your clothes fit, your energy levels, how you’re sleeping and how you’re feeling overall are great indicators of the positive changes that are happening within. We’re glad to hear the program is going well for you…now put the scale away for a while, step into the A/C and relax with a cold glass of ice water.

WEIGH IN - 7/18

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know it's been awhile since updating my weekly weigh-ins. Life seems to have just been such a whirlwind lately.

Let's see, there was no meeting on 7/4 due to the holiday so we were to pick another meeting that week. I weighed in on Saturday 7/7 and was down 0.6. I was feeling pretty okay with that...at least it was down. I carried on as usual and looking forward to the next weigh in, back to my regular meeting time on Wednesdays. So last Wednesday I go to the meeting, slip off my shoes, step up on the scale --- now let me say that I wasn't expecting any big loss or anything; after all it had only been basically four days since the last weigh in. I was expecting to stay the same pretty much -- only to find that I had GAINED two-and-a-half pounds!!! I was astonished, to say the least. How does one gain that in four days? It blew me away and that nasty old "Negative Nelly" started whispering doubt and defeat into my mind. I don't care much for Nelly...and I don't care much for when I allow her negativity to invade my very being.

I went back over my tracker to see what was different or what I needed to change. I honestly saw nothing out of the ordinary except that I'd had more sodium (Crystal Light and/or Diet Coke) than usual. So, I cut those out this week and last night's weigh in brought me right back to where I was two weeks ago. That 2.5 is now gone...again.

Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's stress. Maybe it's _________. I'm just not feeling as positive and goal oriented as I was. That must change! It simply must. I've come too far to be satisfied with staying where I am. (I'm happy with this current weight, but it's not where I desire to stay.)

Onward ho. Forging ahead. Kicking out "Negative Nelly". Determined to stay the course. Time for some positive reminders and reinforcement.

My Cup Runneth Over...literally

Someone please explain to me how one can lose almost 50 pounds and NOT go down in cup size!?

**NOTE:  if you're one of those gals who:  (a) complains about small boobs, and/or (b) complains about "that's where I lose weight first", then just shut your yammers! I don't wanna hear your sob story. Until you've had big boobs (and by big, I mean non-pregnant D cup or larger) you honestly don't have a clue what you're talking about.  *big smile*

I have always, always, always had big boobs. Even when I weighed 100 pounds soaking wet, I was a C cup. And before you ask, yes, I have checked into reduction surgery. Yeah, they kinda want money for that...lots and lots of it. (And the only way my insurance would cover such a procedure would be for reconstruction purposes due to a cancer-related mastectomy. Not something I'd like to experience.) No, they no longer accept a doctor's note about headaches & spine/shoulder malformations, etc.

I went shopping over my lunch hour to try and find a new bra. All of my current bras are lose, with exception of the cup. So I'm glad about having lost inches there. However, bra shopping is not something I enjoy. It is a chore...kind of like ironing or dusting. (And I highly dislike those and don't do them nearly often enough.) Now, finding a bra for the truly full-busted gal is extremely difficult. I can usually find what I think I'd like online, but why on earth would anyone spend that amount of mega-bucks without trying it on? I mean, seriously!

Just for kicks-n-giggles (neither of which actually happened) I tried on one of those balconette styles. The tag said it was for full-busted, so I thought "what the heck". Ummmm...yeah, that did not even come close to working. How anyone with any size breasts could wear one of those is beyond me. I mean I would always be tugging at it, trying to pull it up to cover the top, even though it's designed to be somewhat sexy I guess. THERE IS NOTHING SEXY ABOUT THESE THINGS! (On a side note, I've never understood a guys fascination with boobs...but that's another story.) I then tried on one that promised "amazing lift". Ummmm...for boobs this size the bra would have to be industrial strength and come with wheelbarrows! And how much lift do I really want? I swear my boobs go from the bottom of my neck to where my waist used to be! If they're to be lifted then I would be able to see. :)

Therefore, I did not find a much-needed bra. *sigh* I think Bette Midler got it right in the movie Beaches ("Otto Titsling") --