Scale Boycott

June 15, 2010

After yesterday’s disaster on the scale, I made up my mind to boycott it for a couple of weeks. Trainer Rob looked at my food journal and it seems to be in order. “Aunt Flo” isn’t in town, so it’s not that. When I got home from work, I noticed that my legs and feet were really swollen. I am retaining water like crazy. Especially in my legs. As the day goes on at work, it gets worse. Not even my 1 gallon of water per day helps.

This morning, I woke up and my water retention hadn’t been relieved. I got on the scale (I know, I know…) and I was up ANOTHER pound from yesterday, so 7 pounds from last week’s weigh in! CRAZY.

Instead of being super upset about it as I was yesterday (in tears, I hate to say…), I called the doctor. My doctor has seen me at my lowest weight (not-very-low-215) and at my highest weight of 455. He has been my doctor for years, and knows me very well. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to go see him.

I told him about my workouts, my food, water intake, etc. He took one look at my legs and feet and said “yep, you have pitting edema.”

My blood pressure was normal and I had no symptoms of anything else, and he frankly didn’t seem surprised at all at this swelling. He said that at my weight, it is really easy for the body to just want to hold onto the water, even when activity increases. He put me on a diuretic and a potassium pill and told me that in 5 days, it would help my body “regulate itself.” He drew blood for liver, kidneys, thyroid, etc, but I had that done a couple of years ago and he said he bets nothing has changed, and to keep on working out and doing what I’m doing.

Can you say RELIEF? For one, the edema isn’t pleasant. You get a permenant case of cankles. Legs are a little sore all the time. I am so glad he didn’t think it was a big deal either- just one of those things!

I appreciate all the encouragement you guys left for me in yesterday’s post. Very much appreciate it. I wanted to let you know that I am not going to be weighing in for the next 2 weeks. Next weigh in will be June 28.

So, in other news, today is the start of the Plus Size Bloggers Summer 15 challenge. Bad timing for me, but I’m going to do it anyway. Basically, the goal is to lose 15 pounds by September 7 (12 weeks). I am going to say my official starting weight is last weeks non-water-inflated 394, despite me having weighed in today at 401.

That’s all for now. Just got back from the gym.

How are you doing on your exercise and eating so far this week?

Tagged as: edema, plus size bloggers, scale, weight loss

  • http://diaryofcurvyjones.com CurvyJones

    Hmmm. I am intrigued… I want to do some real work in the next 12 weeks…. I'll look into plus sized bloggers. The next two weeks will be great for you, just concentrating on working out and not worried about how much you'll lose. It'll be great!

  • Brittany

    I'm glad you were able to figure out what was going on! I bet that was a huge relief!

  • http://www.skinnyemmie.com skinnyemmie

    Thanks Brittany! It is a huge relief!

  • http://www.skinnyemmie.com skinnyemmie

    Tonight is the last night 2 enter the plus size bloggers contest- so check them out asap if u want to get in on it!
    I'm looking forward to concentrating on my workouts and food without stressing over the scale. I'm tired of measuring my worth by the scale. Blah.

  • Schelinski

    Thanks for sharing about your swollen state. I've been the same way and am starting to have leg cramps. Maybe need some potassium and a chat with the DR too!

    Hang in there! You are on the right track!!!!

  • http://diaryofcurvyjones.com CurvyJones

    I decided not to join. I do Healthy You and that's probably the most group involvement I can do right now. I psyche myself out too much to do group weight loss. I hope you do well! I'll be here to cheer ya on!

  • debbidoesdinnerhealthy

    I am so glad you found a reason for the weigh gain! Holy cow those legs are swoolen! You're right to stay away from the scale for a couple of weeks. You'll be pleasantly surprised in 2 weeks. And thank you for linking me to the Summer 15 challenge, I just joined up!

  • Suzy

    Glad you took the time to visit your dr. and get some answers.
    Even better that you have a dr. you can trust and who treats you well.

  • Anonymous Fat Girl

    Being swollen does suck. Thank goodness I only had to deal with that during pregnancy though. As far as eating goes, I'm doing well this week. Exercise fair. I've got a head cold I've been getting over so that has limited some of my exercise. Can't wait until my nose stops running constantly! LOL

  • Debbie

    Ooooh – that's not fun! I get that when I'm pregnant – and its really uncomfortable! I'm in on the Summer 15 challenge – so it'll be good to work through this together! Hopefully the meds get you back on track and the water will fall right away!

  • http://shesarunner.wordpress.com/ shesarunner

    Hi Emmie, I just found your blog and I think you are an inspiration. I know it's kind of cliche to say that, but it's true. I'm happy that you were able to find out what was up with the water-weight…it must be a relief to know that it is water and not actual weight gain. I hope that the potassium, etc helps you out with that and I look forward to reading more about your journey. -Lauren

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