BFFM Day 34 Carb Down

Weight : Weight : 15.7% ~ 9.62/51.68 = 61.3 kg
Training : walk
Time : 49 min ~ Calories : 300 ~ AHR : 114 bpm (65%)
Month #1 target : 31 Jan : 14.9% ~ 9.10/52.0 = 61.1 kg

I had a roast vegetable salad from the deli next door yesterday and I don't know what was in it but I have had stomach pain and bloating ever since. May explain the weird numbers today but I don't know. It was also extremely hot yesterday (42 degrees Celsius) so I might be dehydrated. The fact that I have DOMs and TTOM is due in 3 days may also be sending the readings whacky.

It always sounds like I am looking for an excuse but I am actually trying to reframe my beliefs and dispute negative thinking. Instead of thinking I have gained fat after just one item of takeaway food I am looking for other evidence to support a different conclusion.

Thought Monitoring Form [from Change Your Thinking by Sarah Endelman]

Situation: My BF% has increased 1/2% after eating a takeaway meal yesterday
Feeling: Frustration and disappointment

Thoughts: This diet isn't working if just one mystery food item [calories/carbs unknown] can make me fatter. I should go back to my last year's competition diet because I was losing at least 0.5kg a week and I am not doing that now. I can't risk eating any takeaway food. I obviously don't know what I'm doing and basing my results on BF% and not scale weight will not get me lean enough to compete.

Beliefs: I should lose weight every day. Weight loss should be faster. I can't lose weight unless I have someone else designing my program. I won't make my goal in time and will look like a failure.

Thinking error: shoulds, predicting catastrophe, jumping to negative conclusions.

Dispute: Daily fluctuations are normal with either scale weight or BF% and one day's readings don't mean anything in isolation. There are lots of things going on with my body today that could have influenced the spike. I have sore muscles, an upset bloated stomach, TTOM is due and it was extremely hot yesterday and I didn't drink enough water. I am already much leaner than this time last year so even if I have gained 0.5kg of fat in one day [which is almost impossible] I can easily lose that in a week and still be ahead of schedule. Even if I don't make it to the stage in May, I will not be a failure. The lessons I am learning every day from trusting my instincts, being accountable to myself, practicing moderation, and finding a nutritional strategy I enjoy are far more valuable than being in peak condition for one day in May. Slow steady weight loss will help ensure I keep all my muscle size - it is not a race. By designing my own program, which I am perfectly capable of doing, I am taking the next step in building a way of life rather than a goal focused short term fix.

Positive Actions: Today I will make sure I drink more water and give my body a rest day. I will try to limit takeaway food to carb up days. I will look in the mirror and see the changes and work on giving the numbers on the scale less meaning.

You should try this exercise next time you feel bad about something. It really works - I feel better already. Writing it all out makes it seem so sensible and logical.