Hooray for Friday

In my household that can only mean one thing – it’s washing day. At least it will be washing evening. We don’t have a washing machine at our house at the moment since we are in the middle of renovating, so we pop over to my Mom’s house each Friday evening to do a load while they are out to dinner. Sad? Yes I know.

The other appliance that my Mother has that I don’t is an electronic scale. So recently, Fridays have also become ‘casually step on the scale’ days. This may or may not be the perfect way to start a weekend, but it has certainly provided lots of laughs while I have experimented with rapid weight loss. I’ve learnt some truths through these experiences that I am compelled to share, not because they are funny but because I’ve come to realise how inaccurate the scale actually is. Like they say, the best judges of weight loss are your clothes.

So to get to the point, shortly after putting the washing on the first week, I jumped on the scale, you know, just to see if I was making any progress with my conscious eating. I was shocked, that little number that hadn’t changed (much) in previous months had dropped by over 1.5kg! I was so pleased that by the time the washing was done, I had to check just to make sure I had read the scale right. To my stunned surprise, in the space of time it takes to do I load of washing I had dropped another 0.5kg.

The following week, I proceeded with the same exercise, except in the space of the hour I actually gained 0.5kg. Now that created a conundrum since I couldn’t work out which to use as my ‘official’ weight.

Third week in and I repeated the exercise with the best results to date, I could drop a whole kilogram in one hour! I did mention I was trying to lose weight slowly right? The trick to my magic weight changes?
1. Go for a walk and sweat a lot – 0.5kg
2. Drink over half a bottle of mineral water in 1 hour +0.5kg
3. Bowel movements – 0.5kg
4. Removal of clothing – 0.5kg

Ok, the clothing is obvious but it is summer here so I wasn’t exactly cuddled up in a winter jacket and woolly socks. But combine all the other factors together and how can you actually gauge if you have dropped a kilo in a week or not? More importantly, it raises the biggest question of what then becomes your official weight? Is it fair to weigh yourself after a bowel movement or is that cheating? Is dehydration prior to stepping on the scale a good idea?
Yes, I’ve pondered these questions and I really can’t help but laugh at myself. It is just a touch obsessive is it not? In any case, I haven’t come up with any answers to these but I do know, that no matter what, the scale is lying! Have a great weekend :-)