You wake up in the morning, you look in the mirror and you you just feel crap. We’ve all been there. Nine times out of ten, nothing has changed from the day before, but you just feel a bit fluffier, a bit softer and a bit, well, fat.
The most annoying cases are when you’ve eaten really healthily the day before, you had some successful workouts through the weeks, and yet you still feel like you’ve gained weight. Surely you don’t deserve this? You’ve been so good! The more understandable situation is when you’ve had a bit of a blowout the day before… you swear you can almost see that sticky toffee pudding protruding from your mid-line.
But it’s all in our heads. Yes maybe you ate a ridiculous amount of food the day before, but rest assure it’s not going to miraculously turn into fat within 24 hours. Usually what’s happened is that you’ve eaten a lot of carbs and salt and your body’s holding onto a bit of extra water so you are probably a bit puffier than the day before but it’s not going to last.
And in the case where you’ve been really ‘good’ with your food choices, you’re probably just a bit bloated. Whatever food you eat will affect how flat your stomach is regardless of whether it’s a pizza or broccoli. And vegetables and fruit are all fibre-tastic and can cause your body to bloat as it slowly breaks it all down. But temporarily again.
I’ve had my fair share of fat days. In the past I’ve stood in front of the mirror and picked and prodded different parts of my body, allowing myself to get down about it and vowing to eat “clean” for the rest of the week. If you let it bother you, it can really put a dampener on your day and your confidence, but now I’ve just learnt to deal with these days in a more positive way.
In fact I hate the term “fat days”, despite using it throughout this post. The word “fat” is not a particularly great word.
And in reality, you’re not fat on fat days. You just feel like you’ve put on weight – whether that weight is actual fat or not is almost a moot point: you believe you’re appearance is worse than it was yesterday.
Here are some tips I find helps me get over those annoying fat days:
- Move away from the mirror. Stop poking, prodding and staring. Accept that you’re not happy with how you look but stop dwelling on it.
- Focus instead on what you are happy with that day. When I have a fat day I try and make sure I have a good hair day for example (I know this sounds like such a stupid thing but it works for me!)
- Wear an outfit that makes you feel good. I have a pair of jeans I don’t go anywhere near when I’m feeling heavier. Instead I’ll wear a pretty dress or something that isn’t close-fitting. It’s got to be comfortable and make me feel good.
- Eat normally. Don’t vow to never eat a cupcake again. Don’t miss out on breakfast. Just eat what you normally would. Enjoy good nutritious food and lots of water. If you are holding onto extra water because you had a big salty meal the day before then the extra hydration will help wash that out and help readjust your body to how it was before.
- Don’t weigh yourself. Your body’s weight fluctuates every single day. My weight goes up one or two pounds and that’s just life. Hormones, food, exercise, hydration, stress… it all affects how much you’ll weigh in any given day. And if you think you’re heavier just ignore the scales because it could just put you in a worse mood about yourself – however realistic that weight is to normality.
The best piece of advice I always give myself is: look at yourself like your best friend, mum or partner looks at you. They don’t zoom into your thighs or supposed muffin top. They look at the whole of you and see only the good stuff – because really there is more good stuff than anything else. Only you know your flaws and only you focus on them. I guarantee if you mentioned your “fat day” to someone they’d have no idea. But regardless of whether other people notice or not, you still feel it and it can affect your confidence. Just don’t let it drag you down. It’s a transient thing. If you are trying to lose weight, just see it as a hurdle in the road. Use it to keep motivating you forward to make healthy decisions but again, don’t let it consume you or make you think you’ve failed. Progress is not a linear line after all.
Just a few of my thoughts today, when I’m having a fat day myself 😉
Have you ever had a “fat day”?
Are you confident about the way you look?
How do you boost your confidence?
That quote is just brilliant- everyone should stick that on their fridge (or somewhere that the see regularly).
I have put my scales into the airing cupboard because I have decided to not weigh myself any more as it would just make me stressed if the number wasn’t ideal. I reality I can tell by the way my clothes fit what is going on. I also don’t have many mirrors at home- I have one for doing my hair (it’s too high though so I have to stand on tiptoes) and then a full length one tucked behind the wardrobe, so if I want to see what an outfit looks like I need to get it out and prop it up somewhere- this works well as I used to sometimes see my reflection in passing (and that could be good or bad) , but now I have to actively get it out. I mostly have the attitude now that I don’t have to look at myself, so I try not to worry about what I look like- I try to focus on how I feel rather than looks.
Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…Tring parkrun in the mist
I think we all know intuitively when we’re a bit heavier or lighter without having a number glare at us from the scales. It’s not really that helpful I think.
I don’t mind mirrors (except those ultra close up ones…who needs to see their face THAT close??) and have a long one in my bedroom. But this is generally because I have limited fashion sense so need to check I look acceptable to society before leaving the house!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Eye update and Halloween adventures
“Have you ever had a fat day?” – bwahhahahaha! All.The.Time.
I do as you recommend – I don’t look into the mirror for longer than is necessary to put on make up and clothes, and I just keep calm and carry on. It’s in my head. And when it’s not in my head, I’ll just stay away from sugar and bread again and fat days will be less frequent.
Yes exactly. I think people who do a lot of fitness are quite in tune with their body to know what’s a real fat day and what’s not. I’ve definitely had a few weeks of a few two many eating outs or treats and know when to reign it back a bit and be a bit more sensible. It’s just balance at the end of the day.
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Eye update and Halloween adventures
Great post Anna, thank you! It’s so true that we tend to be way more critical towards ourselves than we would to a friend.
On another note, any tips on how to wake up early in the morning? Now it’s dark when I wake up I’m really struggling but I think you get up even earlier than I do for your gym sessions!
The struggle is strong, I assure you. I have everything laid out ready to go and make sure the room is warm when I wake up (a cold room is not conducive to leaving a warm bed!). I’m also more of a morning person so when the alarm goes off I’m awake and ready to go. It is hard though. You just have to make sure you have everything sorted – like clothes ready and the plan for what I’m going to do in the gym. And have a goal – know exactly why you’re doing this to yourself!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Eye update and Halloween adventures
I am having a lot of days like this at the moment, but I also know that I will lose about 10lbs instantly in about 9 days haha.
I have always loved that fingernails quote too.
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy recently posted…Comment on Learning To Enjoy Time Off by Elsa Eats
You’re pregnant and are absolutely allowed to have real or fake fat days!!!
Today, I cannot really comment on anything as
a. I didn’t drink enough yesterday and effectively gave myself a hangover this morning despite going nowhere near alcohol
b. I then forgot to eat breakfast this morning and found it after I came back from my lunchtime run.
However, I have found that it’s a bad idea to stand and look down at my thighs from any angle. They are not meant to be looked at from the top down. Going and applying bright lipstick is a much better thing to be doing…
Jane recently posted…In which I vow to get back on track
I wish I could pull off bright lipstick (or lipstick in general really!).
If I’m having a ‘fat day’ I like to do my hair and makeup to feel a little better about myself. I used to be ruled by the scales but it hasn’t been that way for a long way now and other than feeling guilty if I make poor food choices, my bad days tend to be when I compare myself to others and have ‘ugly days’ instead.
Being female can be pretty rubbish at times, huh?!
Mary recently posted…Recovering from a Caesarean: day four onwards
Being female royally sucks. But I think it’s mainly because we do put more pressure on ourselves. I doubt if any men notice us having a fat day at all!
AnnaTheApple recently posted…Eye update and Halloween adventures