Did you know the average female arm weighs 7 pounds?

It may be a bit gruesome (Happy Belated Halloween?) to think about that, but I looked for the answer to the question of what part of our body weighs 7 pounds when I was reminded recently to think about how I lost 7 pounds overnight.

Not once, but twice.

In both instances, I had been trying to get “healthy,” which meant exercising more and eating less. I had been “trying” (that’s a whole other blog post) to make better choices for my body for weeks or months and was feeling frustrated at not seeing the number on the scale decrease. While my overall body felt better, I just wasn’t seeing the weight change I thought would accompany my return to better body habits, especially after my own historical experiences. I mean, I had always been able to lose weight whenever I wanted to. What was going on?

The first time the 7 pounds overnight thing happened, I thought it was a fluke. I know that sometimes I can work really hard, be diligent, and still see slow progress when I scowl down at the scale in the morning (because putting on my glasses may have a HUGE impact on that number, right?) for some time. I know, as a practical matter, than I can lose fat and gain muscle, which can equate with … staying at the same number on the scale despite an improvement for my body and health.

So the first time I got on the scale and saw that I lost 7 pounds overnight, I had two thoughts:

1)     The scale can’t possibly be accurate; or

2)     The work just caught up with me all at once and that’s weird, but ok, whatever… it happens….

I filed it away in my brain and decided to track the number daily for awhile just for fun.

That evening, my then-significant other got on the scale then cheerily got in bed, seeming perfectly content with the number he saw.

“I think the scale is off,” I said. “It was 7 pounds lighter this morning than I expected, so I wouldn’t get too excited if you had the same experience.”

“Oh. Well, I’m not trying to lose and it was exactly the same for me yesterday. I don’t think it’s off.”

(Yeah, he’s a runner – the only time he tried to lose weight was in the early days of our relationship when we were spending many nights together eating out and trying all the beers at the local breweries that had popped up like mushrooms in the forest and he put on a cool 10 pounds evenly distributed throughout his body. He’s one of those. He’s lucky. It’s ok.)

His experience suggested to me that my 7 pounds overnight weight loss may have been an actual weight loss.

I thought about what else may have caused it.

The night before the 7 pound loss I had decided to make a staffing change in my business. I had someone working for me who just wasn’t able to deliver what I needed at that time. I decided to let that person go. It was a tough decision and one I had been considering for months. After trying to make that situation work, I realized that it was time to let the person go on to do more of what they were good at with someone who would be lucky to have them.

That was the best I could come up with at the time to explain the drop.

“No way…. The two things couldn’t possibly be related….”

So I thought.

Flash forward a couple years or so and the aforementioned runner and I had, well, run our course together. It was time for us to be grateful for the experiences we had, appreciate the collective growth we experienced, and go on our separate ways. That was a much more difficult decision than the staffing one.

But at one point, we both knew it was time.

Guess what happened the day after?

I lost 7 pounds. Again.

I’ve learned over the years that random occurrences often have an explanation. Repeated ones probably have a reason.

I’ve shared this story with a couple of people, including some of my one-on-one coaching clients.

One of them did a deep clearing one day during a session, acknowledging an old belief, an event that impacted her life for years, and decided to let it go. Decided it had served its purpose.

She didn’t lose 7 pounds, but she did lose a couple overnight. Enough for her to share it with me the next week.

I was intrigued.

Now, this last story I am about to share with you is one that told me “I REALLY NEED TO SHARE THIS AGAIN.”

My son is 16 and has been dealing with what I think is heavier than usual 16 year old stuff. A lot. It affects him, his sister, me. It’s not easy some days.

I know I won’t just let him drift along without getting the right kind of help. I’ll try anything so long as he is willing to give it a shot.

Last week it was a visit to a counselor/shamanic healer, fire walker, and all around pretty cool dude who definitely does some energy work.

He did a deep meditation connecting with the spirit of the things that are affecting my son. I could feel the difference in the kid’s energy when we left the appointment. You know when you walk in a room and you can feel that something just happened before you arrive? It was like that.

My son was calm, cool, assure of himself. We had a totally amazing lunchtime conversation and I had the best veggie burger ever.

A couple days later, my son asked if I could get him some protein powder. He said he felt he needed more protein because he’s been working out and he lost 10 pounds overnight.

10. Pounds. Overnight.

“Literally?” I said.

“Yes.” He told me he weighed himself the morning of the appointment and the day after and he lost it literally overnight.

What does this mean? Perhaps it means that the weight we carry around may not be just the product of the food we eat and the calories we don’t burn. Maybe it means that the emotional baggage we carry with us, the unexpressed emotions, the thoughts that impact our daily lives in ways we don’t even see anymore because we’ve carried them around for so long, and the energy we clamp down into our body may actually impact our physical selves.

I don’t have any other explanation.

There’s plenty of science out there to support the idea that we have so much going on around us and inside of us that we simply do not understand right now. Perhaps this is one of those things.

So, if you’re struggling to lose some weight, perhaps take a look at what is going on in your life. What things are you ready to let go of? What heaviness do you no longer need?

Then let that sh*t go….

And let me know what happens! 

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