✈️⚖️Yesterday the scales told me I’d gained 4 kg…this morning, they told a very different story ⚖️🌅

Yesterday I shared some thoughts about travel… particularly air travel, and here’s an important follow-up.

After flying, I stepped on the scales and saw +4 kg.

Was it the creamy creamy Guinness in Europe, was it the xmas pudding, was it lack of self discipline?!?!?

NO!!!

Rapid weight changes are rarely “fat gain”. They’re almost always physiology doing what physiology does…especially when flying. Long periods of sitting, cabin pressure, disrupted sleep, higher sodium intake, stress hormones… all drive fluid retention.

Nothing moral.

Nothing broken.

Nothing to “fix”.

• Air travel increases fluid shifts and peripheral oedema due to prolonged immobility and cabin conditions (Hitos et al., 2007 - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1538-7836.2007.02664.x).

• Stress and sleep disruption elevate cortisol, which is associated with transient water retention (Adam et al., 2017 - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28578301/).

So I moved my body 🏃‍♂️

Spent time in the sun ☀️

Hydrated well 💧

Slept properly 😴

This morning… the weight was gone. Exactly as expected.

The real issue isn’t the scales, it’s the story people tell themselves when they don’t understand what they’re seeing.

For someone without this context, that number could easily trigger:

• Shame

• Restriction

• Over-exercise

• “I’ve failed already” thinking

That negative self-talk can be hugely damaging 🧠💔, especially right now… New year, “New you” and unrealistic expectations everywhere.

This is where we need to be super careful. Sustainable health isn’t built on punishment. It’s built on understanding, compassion, and consistency…compass 🧭 not stopwatch⏱️ as I always say.

A better approach

• Zoom out… look at trends, not days 📊

• Expect fluctuations… especially around travel ✈️

• Set goals that are realistic, flexible, and human 🤍

• Learn to speak to yourself like you would to someone you care about

You don’t hate yourself into better health.

You don’t shame yourself into sustainability.

You support yourself through change.

At Essentio Health and Build a Bridge - Live Your Best Life Pty Ltd, this is exactly the work we do… helping leaders understand their bodies instead of battling them. We remind people that self-respect is a performance strategy, not a weakness.

Small, informed habits.

Less noise.

More kindness.

That’s how change actually lasts 🌱