 Hi friends and welcome back to my channel and a very special welcome if you're new here. My name is Jen. I'm a certified weight loss and nutrition coach and I'm on WW personal points. Happy Friday. It is Friday. It is way in day. We're going to talk about my very, very, very interesting week. I'm also going to share with you all about this week's WW workshop topic. We'll set some goals for next week and I'm just excited to fill you in on how my week went. So if you're excited as well, give this video a big thumbs up. Make sure you're subscribed and your bell notification is turned on because I do a weigh in video every Friday and I do upload five videos a week. Check out the description box down below for nutrition coaching where I offer personalized to you macros and calories. I can't stress enough how important this is. Whether you're on WW or not, you need to know what your personal macros and calories are as well as one-on-one coaching. If you would like to chat with me directly, links, discounts to my favorite things. And lastly, come on over, join our Facebook group. We would love to have you. So let's jump into my week, my weigh in and the WW workshop topic. Happy Friday again, friends. I hope you had an absolutely amazing week. Like I mentioned in the intro, I had a very interesting week to say the least. And when I say an interesting week, it has a lot to do with the scale. The not so friendly evil little box that gives us a number. I had another very, very interesting week when it came to my weight. Now overall, my week went really well. I did my workouts seven days this week and I have an update on my workouts for you. I drank my water. I ate all good food this week. I stayed in my calories. I hit my protein goal every day. In fact, most days I was over my minimum protein goal. So overall, I had a really, really good week. Before I jump into what was interesting about the scale, I wanted to fill you in on what's happening with my fitness routine. So exactly eight weeks ago or two months ago, I hired a fitness coach. Honestly, best decision I ever made because I wandered around the gym aimlessly, not knowing how to operate the machines, what exercises to do to build lean muscle and to build strength. And so hiring her was really good for a workout routine as well as for accountability. And of course, to kind of put me back on track when I get off track with my thinking, especially when it comes to my weight and what the scale tells me. So this week, we are moving into week eight with my fitness coach. We upped my strength training. I was doing three days a week in the gym, lifting weights, rotating between upper body and lower body. And now I am doing strength training four days a week. So I actually strength train Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. And I rotate between upper body and lower body. My strength training has gotten a lot harder. I'm doing much more body weight strength training, things like squats and lunges. And I'm increasing not only my reps, but also my weight, which is great. That's the whole idea to increase, get stronger, build lean muscle. But it's been rough on my body this week. That extra day of strength training is a lot. My legs are sore. My arms are sore. I'm always sore because now I'm actually lifting weights, heavier weights, more body resisting weights four days a week instead of three. Now I know that that will even out as I continue to work out in the gym four days a week. But this week was a little hard on my body. I'm not going to lie. With increasing my strength training one more day a week, I again increased my calories and my carbohydrates. I actually focus on more carbs on days that I strength training because my body needs the energy to make it through my workout. And it needs the extra carbohydrates throughout the day to give me that sustained energy and help rebuild my broken down muscles. So that's actually been really good. And I'm really happy that I'm progressing in my workouts enough to add that additional day, even though it's a little hard on my body. Now let's talk about my weight. I really want to talk about this because it's a question that I get asked a lot. It's comments that I see a lot in my Facebook group. It's DMs that I receive on Instagram. It's even comments left here on YouTube relating to the scale and strength training as well as eating more calories, eating more carbohydrates, focusing on protein. I see the comment a lot when switching over from WW2 macros and calories or making sure you're eating enough calories and enough protein every day. Sometimes the scale can spike up a little bit and that's because our body is adjusting to number one more calories, number two more protein, and just a different way of eating than what we may have done before. A less restrictive, less extreme calorie deficit, we can see the scale sometimes spike up a little bit. It always levels out. Always always. It may spike up for one week, two weeks, four weeks, six weeks, but I promise you it will level out. Same kind of goes for exercise, especially when you start a strength training routine. And I know this. My coach reminds me of this on a very regular basis. I do take pictures and send them to her every week. She has sent me side by side pictures with just one or two week difference and there is a drastic difference in my body. I know all of this, but I am still in the mentality that I want to see the scale go down. I have a weight loss goal in mind. As you guys know, my goal for 2022 was to hit my goal weight. That is something that I've really been striving for for the last couple of years, especially the last year when I really got serious about my weight loss. And with implementing strength training, my weight really hasn't changed a whole lot. My weight loss has definitely slowed down and there are times where my weight spikes up and stays up. There are times when my weight plateaus and stays the same for days and days on end, sometimes for an entire week. And then there's weeks where I lose weight. Well, this week was quite interesting. If you watched last week's weighing, you know that I lost two pounds coming off of the week previous of maintaining my weight. That's great. I was thrilled to be two pounds down. Literally the next day, Saturday when I weighed in, my weight spiked up about a pound and a half. And then it went back down about a half of a pound and then it kind of stayed there for the majority of the week. And then on Tuesday, my weight spiked back up again another pound and a half. So by Tuesday, I was up in weight almost two pounds from last week's weigh-in. So basically, I was back to maintaining that weight that I was the week prior. I'm not going to lie. Like, I'm going to be honest with you guys. It kind of freaked me out a little bit. Now, I know that with an extra day of lifting weights, of course, my body is going to be sore. It's going to be inflamed. It's going to retain water to rebuild my muscles. I'm also eating more carbohydrates, which retain water. So I understand all of that, but it did freak me out a little bit because that was one of the highest weights I had seen on the scale for quite some time. But I had to remind myself that what I'm doing by strength training and eating more calories and eating more carbohydrates has really made a big difference in my overall body shape, how toned my body is. And honestly, in my clothing size, I am down an entire size of clothing after losing only five pounds. That's pretty unheard of. Generally, you need to lose between 10 and 12 pounds to change a clothing size. I was able to do that by only losing about five pounds and really focusing on reshaping, toning up my body and building some lean muscle. So I knew that that spike on the scale was an actual fat gain. It was impossible for me to gain fat because I'm in a caloric deficit. I'm moving my body. I'm drinking my water. I'm doing all the right things. But like you, I'm human. And when I see the scale jump up like that, it really kind of freaked me out. As the week progressed up until I weighed in this morning, my weight did a lot of this. Now, was I still at that high weight? No, it did level out, but my weight definitely wasn't dropping this week. It was doing a lot of up and down, which again can be frustrating. Even though I know what I'm doing in the gym is what's best for my body. The pictures don't lie. The pictures speak of volumes. It still plays a little bit of a mental game with me. And I know that the scale isn't everything. I mean, I tell you guys that all the time. And I know that for myself, my fitness coach reminds me of that every week and still play a little bit of a mental game with me. And I was a little nervous about what was going to happen when I weighed in today. Before I jump into my weight though, I want to share with you guys the WW workshop topic, because again, it's a really, really good one. And this is how to grow your personal points budget. Basically, how do you eat more and still lose weight? Brunch with friends, a weekend getaway, a vacation, or maybe a pizza night is sometimes hard for us to squeeze into our points to squeeze into our week. It's important to have these things. It's important to have food freedom and to enjoy special occasions and to indulge in our favorite food sometimes. We just have to figure out a way to add extra points to our budget so that we can indulge in our favorite foods. So here's some tips from WW and some things to try. Number one, pick one healthy habit to focus on this week, whether it's drinking more water, moving your body more, or eating non-starchy vegetables. These are all ways to earn back points on WW. Then think about how you'll actually make that happen. So let's focus on drinking more water. Guzzle a glass of water as soon as you wake up or while you're waiting for your coffee or tea to brew. Spawify your sips, add cucumber slices, fresh fruit, and more. One of my favorites is lemon and fresh mint. Make drinking water with lunch and dinner a non-negotiable. The only question you might have is regular water or sparkling water. Maybe you want to focus on moving more. Listen to walk, talks, or a podcast in the WW app while walking through your neighborhood. Maybe you even listen to YouTube or your favorite content creator. Invite a friend to check out a new workout class with you. New workout classes are much more fun with friends. Or work your green thumb by weeding or doing other yard work or maintenance. This is a great way to burn calories and earn back points. And lastly, maybe you want to focus on eating non-starchy vegetables. How about building your dinner around an in season or new to you vegetable? Grill veggies for a perfect caramelized finish. One of my favorite ways to eat vegetables is grilled, or you can add extra chopped veggies to your AM omelet. Think about ways that you can get in more water, move your body more, add in more vegetables to build your points budget. And lastly, write a detailed action plan to help you follow through. Without a plan, we're bound to fail. So for water, tell yours right down. I'm adding sparkling water to my shopping list so I can start drinking it with lunch and dinner. As far as moving your body, I'm signing up for tomorrow's cardio class, texting a friend to join me and picking out my favorite workout clothes right now. Maybe it's adding in more vegetables. I'm going to hit my farmer's market to discover a new vegetable and use the WW app. What's in your fridge for recipe inspiration? And PS, don't forget to track. In order for you to earn back points, you need to track the vegetables, the movement, and the water that you're drinking throughout the day. And remember with 64 ounces of water, you earn one point. With every cup of vegetables you eat, non-starchy vegetables, you earn one point and you'll earn points back based on activity. Now this is going to be personal to you based on your height, your weight, your age, the activity. This is going to vary from person to person, but you still earn points back with activity. Being able to add back points increases flexibility. And being flexible in whatever plan you're following to lose weight or maintain your weight is essential. If we don't have flexibility, if we are forced to only do one thing, it's something, it makes it so it's not something that we can stick with. So by having the option to add points in for special occasions or indulgences, this makes the WW plan way more flexible. There's also a bonus of adding in extra points from vegetables, water, and activity. And this is that you're building healthy habits. You're making sure you're hydrating your body with water. You're making sure you're moving your body and that you're choosing healthy foods like vegetables with every meal. Working this angle can really lead to weight loss success. I really like this topic. It really focuses on living a flexible lifestyle, which again is essential for not only losing weight, maintaining your weight, and really sticking with whatever plan or program you're following. So make sure that you are focused on earning more points so you can eat more to lose weight. So now let's jump back in to my weigh-in for the week. Like I mentioned, my weight did a lot of this. It did a lot of this this last week. It was a very interesting week on the scale. And like I said, I anticipated this adding in that fourth day of strength training, eating more carbohydrates generally leads to the scale not going down. So when I weighed in today, I actually was down on the scale. I am down 0.2 this week. And listen, I'm taking that as a huge win. The fact that my weight was up all week and when I stepped on the scale today, it actually went down. Hallelujah. I was absolutely thrilled. Now I know 0.2 isn't a lot, but like I always say, point this and point that add up to a pound. I'm really proud of myself for sticking with working out, sticking with drinking my water, sticking with eating the right foods, reaching my protein goal, even though the scale wasn't showing my hard work. And this happens a lot. We can get really down on ourselves when the scale doesn't represent how hard we've worked. But we have to remember that our body is changing. We're fueling our body with healthy foods. We're drinking our water. And eventually the scale will move in the right direction. I promise eventually all of your hard work will pay off. And this week was sure a reminder of that for me. So now I want to hear from you guys. Let me know how your week was. If you are someone who's implemented strength training, what happened with you on the scale? I have a feeling it's pretty similar to my situation. Let us know down in the comments. And if you're on the fence of strength training because of the scale, don't be. Let me tell you how beneficial strength training is for our, for our health, as well as reshaping our bodies, helping prevent loose skin, toning everything up. Don't let the scale scare you off from adding strength training to your routine. Don't forget to give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Subscribe if you're not. And make sure your bell's turned on so you never miss a weigh in or any of the other videos that I upload every single week. Don't forget to check out the description box down below. Take advantage of nutrition coaching. I cannot tell you enough how important your macros and calories are. Links and discounts to my favorite things. And don't forget, come on over, join our Facebook group. We'd love to have you. Happy Friday, friends. And I'll see you all in tomorrow's grocery haul. Bye.