Staring at the Scale

I did today what I'd surreptitiously scolded others for doing: I kept standing naked on the scale wishing for a lower number, when patience is actually in order.

My scale said 260, then 260.5, then fluttered back to 260.0. My digital scale turns off for a brief moment, calculates body fat, and then returns with the numbers: 260.5 and 36.0% BFat. Go back to sitting on the toilet, praying for more "departure." This is nonsensical behavior on my part. Because I'm eating ~2,000 calories per day on average, and I'm riding 80 miles a week and swimming once a week I'm losing weight. I also realize it's not at all smart to try to measure weight loss day-to-day. . . way too many variables for it to be at all accurate. [Better to measure quarter-to-quarter or month-to-month.] Even better is to keep a moving average of the past 14 days of weight (I did this before).

Otherwise, one ends up heading to the scale 5 times per day. . . the hour-to-hour measure is clearly out of bounds: It simply doesn't matter. One's body takes on water, let's it out, takes in food, processes it, and let's it back out.

FOODSTUFFS

I've noticed a few interesting things about what I'm eating these days. Two rather large salads these days (often with black beans, since the beans are served hot on the salad with salsa it makes it more tasty). So, I'm going through lettuce pretty quickly, but not eating as much fruit.

I know in the past years I think I committed a basic mistake: I think I basically ate whatever I wanted, but also ate what was "required": Several servings of fruit a day, plus some veggies, plus some protein here and there. So, now, I'm trying to fit the fruit and veggies within the ~1,800 calories (+/- 200 cals) allotment I've given myself. Since I've taken off about 5-10 pounds, it must be somewhat accurate.

k