#intervaltimer

Welcome to day seven!

And it is a Monday, which means it is weigh in day! So… I’m at 270.8.

Well, I’m still losing, so this is good!

As I said last week, we’re bumping up to a 20 minute workout, with 2 minutes of warm up and cool down, so we’re adding about 10 minutes total. Now a 25 minute workout might have seemed insane before we started this, but coming up from 15, it doesn’t seem that bad. That’s only an extra 10 minutes in your day!

Our warm up is just a slow version of our workout, which for now is a slow pedaling. And our cool down will be the same.

So today’s topic is a bit of a grab bag. I’m going to cover a couple of smaller topics that I want to get into before we get too far into this process.

Weigh Ins

So the first thing is weighing in. As you might have noticed, I am weighing in every Monday. And, though you don’t see it, I am NOT actually weighing myself on the other days. Now I have gone back and forth on this, and I have had different schedules.

And “how often you should weigh yourself” is a pretty divisive topic, it seems. I know some people who swear by weighing every single day, and some who weigh themselves multiple times a day, and some who go with weekly or monthly.

I’ve done the “every day” thing myself, and also the “I don’t want to look at it this month” thing. What mostly works for me is weekly.

So I wanted to know if there was a “right” answer. And whaddaya know, this might be why regular Roly Poly people disagree, because the experts can’t agree!

Even when they agree on the results, they disagree on whether or not that is a good thing!

For example, on the subject of weighing yourself daily:

On bodybuilding.com, registered dietitian Paul Salter, said this: “Your weight on any particular day can be impacted by numerous variables, including the previous day's food, fluid, and sodium intake, and even your stress and sleep habits. The swing, both up and down, can be larger than you expect, too. One day you're down. Hooray! The next, you're up—then up again. Yikes! If you're the type of person who feels like you're personally on trial every time you step on the scale, this can be exhausting.”

Jillian Michaels confirms this on her site: “Your weight varies throughout the day. Not only does your weight change every day, it also changes at different times through a single day, so there is no point to weighing yourself every day — and definitely not multiple times a day. This is because of body fluid fluctuations –— you might be retaining water from too much sodium consumption, or you may not have gone to the bathroom yet (gross, but true). All of these things affect your weight. The issue with checking the scale DAILY, is that minor fluctuations can freak people out — or discourage them from their weight-loss efforts.”

But Psychology Today has a different take on that same daily stress: “daily weighing can be a useful strategy to lose weight and prevent regain after weight loss. Seeing a small loss may be rewarding. On the other hand, if there’s been a gain over yesterday’s weight, it’s a reminder that an increased focus on today’s intake is needed.”

Of course, they go on to point out that people who have an eating disorder, like anorexia or bulimia shouldn’t be that focused on their weight.

Bodybuilding.com’s dietitian expands on that idea: “Can daily weigh-ins be done wrong? Definitely. Plenty of people have seen their weight go up a pound and, say, not eaten on that day or made a similarly drastic choice. But with the right mindset, the daily ritual can be a very helpful tool. Just remember that the number itself doesn't matter. Seriously—go buy a scale that's off by 30 pounds, if it helps you to just watch the trends.”

He also cites a study where “Researchers looked to see if there was a link between how often people weighed themselves and their weight-loss results over a long period. They found that those who weighed in daily (versus a group with 1-6 days between weigh-ins, 7-29 days, or 30-plus days) lost significantly more total weight. Those with longer intervals between weigh-ins had a much slower rate of loss and lost less total weight.”

Prevention sums up both the pros and cons pretty clearly: “"Weighing yourself every day, or close to it, is a way to hold yourself accountable," says Mia Syn, MS, RD, a registered dietitian nutritionist in Charleston, South Carolina. "It's factual information that may subconsciously influence your eating habits during the day and prompt you to make healthier choices if you notice you're getting off track with your goals." Of course, there are caveats. If weighing yourself presents some sort of unhealthy trigger—say, you have a history of eating disorders, or seeing your weight prompts feelings of anxiety or depression—step away from the scale, adds Syn. "A better option may be to weigh yourself weekly and look at the long-term trends,"”

The bottom line about daily weigh ins seems to say that it depends on your mental health and your reactions to it. If you can use a daily weigh in to prompt motivation or track trends, then it is a good thing. If you use a daily weigh in to punish yourself for the slightest hormone or water fluctuation, then that’s not great.

And we run into the same problems with weekly weigh ins.

Jillian Michaels advocates for weekly weigh ins, saying “Weighing yourself just once a week will give you a more accurate read — you’ll allow time for the scale to actually show weight loss. The number on the scale will help you figure out if you need to make adjustments to what you’re eating or how you’re exercising.”

Medicine Net doctor Melissa Conrad Stoppler adds that “daily weighing can lead to discouragement and potential diet sabotage if you see a higher number on the scale than you saw the day before. Most diet experts believe that a once-weekly or even monthly weigh-in is a more accurate reflection of weight control progress.”

That said, there are ways to do weekly weigh ins “wrong”. Dietitian Satler says “A study out of Psychological Reports found that weekly weigh-ins, the preferred method of choice for many popular group weight-loss meetings, motivated many people to "beat the scale" by engaging in unhealthy weight-control practices in an effort not to look bad or feel embarrassed. Of course, "beat last week's weigh-in no matter what it takes" isn't an ideal way to make a lasting, healthy lifestyle change. Additionally, having large spaces between weigh-ins may leave weight gain unnoticed, making a single weigh-in feel like a serious punch in the gut.”

So what do we do? Well, it seems that the answer is, “what works best for you,” and that is a complicated process involving several factors, including your mental state.

If you’re the kind of person who can weigh yourself daily and use that to track long term trends, or motivate yourself, then great! Do it daily! If you’re the kind of person who would feel like the scale is ruling your life and even the slightest increase is a cause to fast or whatever, then daily weigh ins might do you more harm than good.

Conversely, if you’re the kind of person who can weigh yourself weekly and see those trends, and feel like you aren’t stressed, then go for weekly weigh ins. But if you’re the kind of person who fixates on that “weigh in day” and purges or restricts before, or follows other unhealthy habits on that weekly schedule, then that’s not great either.

Whichever schedule you keep, you should just do it in a healthy way.

Now one of the reasons I wanted to look into this, is because Roly Mama and I have this disagreement. I’m the kind of person who stresses about daily weigh ins, and much prefers weekly ones. And I don’t purge or over workout the day before. Roly Mama, on the other hand, weighs herself every morning, which always felt obsessive to me, but it motivates her. And I wanted to know which of us was wrong.

Turns out, neither of us was wrong! We are just wired differently, and are doing our different styles in our own different, healthy, ways.

And overall, most of the experts I’ve cited today also note that the scale isn’t the most important part.

Prevention’s dietitian Mia Syn says, “You might also pay closer attention to the fit of your clothes rather than the number on the scale as a gauge of your weight and shape fluctuations."

They also cite dietitian Angela Onsgard, who notes “that if your weight-loss plan includes a muscle-building component, it's important to not put too much emphasis on the number you're seeing on the scale. [...] Simply looking at your weight doesn't show you that you may have gained 5 pounds of muscle and lost 3% body fat."

Bodybuilding.com’s dietitian Satler agrees. “The thing about weight is that it's really just one piece of the progress puzzle; it's not the piece. Exercise performance, appearance, measurements, energy level, body-fat percentage—all of these things indicate important changes, but you can't measure them as readily as weight. [...] If weight loss is your goal, then sure, weigh yourself. Two or three times per week should be sufficient to give the benefits of the daily weigh-in without the stress of the weekly one. But know this: Sometimes the scale won't budge for days or even weeks, even though important changes are happening in the realms of body composition and athletic performance.”

Medicinenet’s doctor agrees: “Cues other than the numbers on the scale are equally important. How do you feel? Are your clothes getting looser or tighter? Do you feel stronger, healthier, leaner? Your own perceptions can be the most valuable tools to help you track your weight control progress.”

So the bottom line appears to be: don’t *never* weigh yourself, but pick a timing that fits your situation. The one that stresses you the *least* And keep in mind that the scale isn’t the only metric you should look at.

So, with that in mind, I’ll stop bugging Roly Mama about how often she weighs herself.

Interval Timer

So, topic two! My lovely little timer app!

There are a number of timer apps, and many of them have specific reasons, but “Interval Timer” is a generic one that’s kind of do it yourself. It has options for a simple set of intervals, or a complex one.

It lets you create a warm up and a cool down, and also lets you create intervals in the workout itself. You can use these to switch from high to low intensity, and I also use them to remind me to drink water. You set a interval and then you say how many reps of that you want to do.

If you are creating a complex routine, you can set different types of intervals with their own timing and reps and cycle through them. There’s a lot of flexibility!

You can pick different sound effects for each change, and you can color code the intervals, so you just need to glance at your phone to know what you should be doing!

It is also compatible with listening to music, and includes those controls at the bottom, so you can pause or skip through your workout playlist.

Also, there’s a pause and stop button for the timer itself, so if you need to pause for some reason, you can. When you finish, it asks if you want to log that routine, and you can, so you can keep track of how often you worked out with it.

And you can name and color code the routines, so if you have different things you are doing, like a short walk, a jog, and a peddler routine, you can save each of them!

So Interval Timer is a handy, free, little app that is super intuitive to use, but also great to help you keep your workouts on task. So check it out!

Road ID

And another quick app. If you are doing any kind of outside workout, like Roly Mama and I do with our No Zero Day May walks, you should check out the app, Road ID.

You can use it to track your timing and route, but more importantly, it is a safety feature. I used to use this when I lived further away, and Roly Mama got worried that I was going on walks at night after work.

You can pick an emergency contact, and it alerts them when you start and stop your routine. If you use the ecrumb option, they can also follow you on a map.

You can set your lock screen so that if something happens to you, it displays your profile and information to call your emergency contact. You can also set it with a stationary alert. With this, if you stop moving for 5 minutes, it will start a one minute countdown, with this loud beep. That’s your clue to get moving again or to cancel it. And if you don’t, because you can’t for whatever reason, it will alert your emergency contact that you’re in trouble.

There are a few other settings you can customize, and you can tweak the stationary one. But the great thing is that, if you’re walking or running or biking or otherwise outside of your home or gym, you can make sure that someone else is aware of where you are and what you’re doing. And if you get hurt or in some kind of trouble, you can get help.

So that’s a fantastic little app I want to make sure you know about.

You should also check out their website, for other ID and safety things. Very cool.

And with that, we are done for today!

Interval Timer | NSN 6645-01-377-2553 | PN 122862-600

Fast forward a couple months and its mid-February. 9 weeks to the same tri I did last year. Funny how so much more relaxed I am this year about it! I decided I could do 10 weeks of training and be still be in fine form for it, and so far so good. My latest investment is in an interval timer app for $4.99. Remembering all those different intervals for all the different plans on different days was becoming tedious, too much for this “senior”! I chose a highly rated app called “Seconds”. It has some really smart features like voice to text prompts and countdown, color coding and customizing. It’s already made my run today easier to keep track of.