Tuesday Tip : Gained Weight Heatwave?

Tuesday Tip : Gained Weight Heatwave? 💦☀️

At this time of year there’s a lot of frustration from my clients who feel they’ve been ‘good’ and stayed within their calorie goals but the weight on the scales has gone up!

It’s very common, but before you panic or decide that a calorie deficit doesn’t work and it’s time to give up, just remember that it’s totally normal.

Hot weather can make you heavier, without you gaining any fat.

When it’s hot, your body naturally holds onto a little more water to help regulate your temperature and maintain blood volume. So you retain a lot more fluid. On top of that, your blood vessels widen to help you lose heat, allowing more fluid to move into your tissues. This is why during hot weather feet and ankles look puffier, hands may feel swollen, rings feel tighter, your trousers may feel tighter and you feel a bit ‘squishy’.

The scales can easily go up a 2-3 pounds because of it. It’s not fat. To gain 3 pounds of body fat, you’d need to eat roughly 10,500 calories more than your body needed. If you’ve been consistently eating in a calorie deficit, that simply hasn’t happened. And yes maybe your calorie tracking is off (and that’s another discussion) but it’s unlikely to be that far off in such a short period of time.

So don’t panic, don’t slash your calories, or try to do a tonne of extra workouts and definitely don’t think you’ve failed and give up. Instead, stay hydrated and drink plenty of fluids, stay consistent with your eating, and keep moving and doing your usual exercise. Once it cools down for a few days the extra fluid will be excreted and the scales will

go back down.

The scales only tell you what you weigh today, not how much fat you’ve gained. Sometimes they’re measuring the weather more than your progress!

Happy Tuesday! 🤗

Xx