In addition to water, if you have been working out lately to speed along your “weight loss” (you mean fat loss, right?) progress you probably have gained some muscle doing so. This gain in muscle can also affect numbers you see on scale. Muscle is also more dense than fat.

You may be wondering how you are going to measure your progress now that scale doesn’t mean as much as it used to. Well, there are several methods to measure your body fat percentage. None of these methods are 100% accurate, but they will be much more useful than use of a scale.

One of simplest ways is to use a caliper. You can usually find these at your local sporting goods/fitness shop. If you can’t find them locally, you can order them off internet. Calipers measure thickness of a skin fold on your triceps. Then there are directions that come with caliper that show you how to use number you get to derive your body fat %.

If you don’t want to go out and buy some calipers, there is a body fat % calculator on my website. The calculator uses circumference of several parts of your body and then plugs them into a formula developed by U.S. Navy to derive an approximation of your body fat %.

You can find this calculator here: http://www.weight-loss-resources.com/calculators/bodyfat.html

There are also much more accurate ways to measure your body fat % like buoyancy testing or use of special lasers.

If you insist on knowing your progress by weight loss and want to use a scale, try to weigh yourself at same time everyday. Probably best time would be right when you wake up in morning and before you do anything.

So, your new goal should be to shoot for fat loss and not weight loss. Don’t necessarily trust scale all time as it can be deceiving - your weight is affected by more than just how much fat you have gained or lost. In addition, it is almost physiologically impossible to gain or lose a pound of fat in one day.

High Fat Conversion Foods

These are some common foods with their glycemic index numbers, that are especially high on this index, and thus stimulate fat storage:

Common sugar (sucrose)—92 Macaroni and cheese—92 Potatoes (mashed—100; French fries—107; baked—121; potato chips—high) Corn—78; pop corn—79; corn chips—105; corn flakes—119 Pizza—86 White rice—83; brown rice—79 White and wheat bread—101 Cold cereals (most). E.g. Life—94; Grapenuts—96; Cheerios—106; Total—109 Cooked cereals (e.g. Cream of Wheat—100, oatmeal—87 (steel cut is less) Bananas—77 Most juices and all drink mixes and soft drinks (97) Desserts (ice cream—87); donuts—108 Fat-free bottled “lite” dressings (due to added corn syrup and maltodextrins). High fructose corn syrup—89 Maltodextrins—150 (added to many foods, but deceptively not counted as sugar!)

Did you notice that some of these foods are worse than pure sugar? It is wise to eat these foods sparingly. And when you do eat these foods, balance glycemic index for whole meal by eating low index foods with them.

Fat Burning Foods

Here are some of foods that are rated as having a low glycemic index:

Fructose—32 Trutina Dulcem (a fruit sugar fifteen times sweeter than regular sugar) “Super sugars” (glyconutrients) Stevia—though not “approved” by FDA as a sweetener, it is often used as such High protein foods (e.g. fish, meat and eggs) Most vegetables including sweet potatoes and yams Beans—40 Salads—low Avocado—low Stone ground bread and sprouted grain—low Barley—36 Rye—48 Most pastas—varies; spaghetti—59 (but very low nutritional value) Berries—low Cherries—32 Apples—54 Oranges—63 Peaches—60 Pears—53 Dairy products; whole milk—39 (there are other concerns mentioned previously) Soy milk—43 Seeds and nuts—as low as 21 (peanuts) Butter (in moderation—far superior to margarine) Olive oil Soy beans—25 Celery—very very low

There is one other huge advantage to using low glycemic foods besides weight control: longevity! According a study by T. Par entitled "Insulin Exposure and Aging Theory" in Journal of Gerontology - 1997; 43:182-200, high insulin levels, which result from consuming high glycemic foods, promotes accelerated aging. Both calorie restriction and a low glycemic index diet appear to be important for longevity, BUT a diet of low glycemic foods is even more effective than calorie restriction for longevity.