Why You Might Lose Weight When You Least Expect

So I finally got on the scale the other day after a week long vacation in Maui, a month of limited workouts, zero macro tracking, lots of treats and LOTS of wine. I enjoyed this past Holiday Season to the fullest! I was a little scared at what I would see but ended up being more surprised than disappointed. I had actually lost weight!

WHAT!?!

How is that possible? This is actually something that can happen and here's a few reasons why.

1. Muscle loss - losing weight isn't always a sign that your body is progressing in a positive direction. Losing weight when you know you haven't been strength training as much and have been eating more calories can be due to your body losing muscle. Possibly even gaining fat. I don't know about you but I definitely don't want that! One way to know this for sure is to get a body composition assessment done. That way you can see your body fat percentage compared to you muscle mass which is a more accurate measurement than just the scale.

2. Stress levels were lower - It's no secret that stress can be damaging to your health. Cortisol which is a stress hormone is increased when you are in a stressed state. When your cortisol is increased, your metabolism can be negatively affected and you can gain or hold on to weight. Reducing your stress can help in balancing out your hormones and adrenals which can actually help you lose weight. Not to mention reduced stress means a reduction in inflammation!

3. The body is allowed to fully rest - When your muscles have enough time to rest, they are allowed to fully recover and build back up. Even when we are incorporating rest days into our workout routines, we're typically moving around, doing active recovery, and doing our day to day activities. This could hinder our muscles from getting a full rest. When we're on holiday or vacation we tend to do more sitting or lying around. This allows our bodies to fully rest which could aid in weight loss.

4. No restricting - Letting go of food rules or limiting foods you really want to enjoy can end up helping you lose weight! When we listen to our bodies, allow some of the foods we want to eat, eat intuitively, we are less likely to binge. If we do this often, the holiday season or a vacation doesn't become an all out binge.

Although it might seem counterintuitive, it is possible! Maybe by letting go of stress an allowing a bit more freedom in our diets, we'd end up shedding a few stubborn pounds!