Brian’s fitness journal after a brain stroke
Yesterday, my wife and I walked around our neighborhood. When we returned, I stepped on the scale and discovered that I had somehow gained about five pounds. In the summer, I have difficulty maintaining my weight because I have too many food restrictions to keep up with my activity level. So, that was unexpected.
My weight fluctuates regularly, so I don’t normally worry about small daily changes. Five pounds, however, was enough to push me above my target range and earn my attention.
Since we generally don’t overeat, sudden increases like this make me think more carefully about what I’ve eaten, particularly how much sodium I’ve consumed. My wife also gained nearly two pounds, so maybe dinner was working overtime.
With my blood pressure and kidney concerns, I’m careful about salty foods even though I take blood pressure medication. Fortunately, short-term changes on the scale can happen for many reasons, so I decided to see what happened next rather than declare a five-pound emergency.
Today was my scheduled 10K. After finishing the run, I stepped onto the scale again. Six pounds had disappeared. Apparently, my scale prefers dramatic storytelling.
That put me right back at the bottom of my target weight range—which means I went from wondering why I weighed too much to wondering how to maintain enough weight in less than a day.
Fortunately, pizza is on today’s schedule. That should move me a little closer to my target range, though I have another run tomorrow, so the scale may have another plot twist in store.
At this point, maintaining my weight sometimes feels less like hitting a target and more like trying to convince a bouncing ball to stay still. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
The scale certainly seems determined to keep things interesting.