Focusing on the scale
Hey Guys,
Today I wanted to talk briefly about people using the scale as a measure of progress.
Most people use the scale when it comes to judging just about everything when it comes to fat loss, weight loss and muscle gain.
Now if you are a weight class athlete then you simply have to keep an eye on the scale. There are plenty of people out there who have believed the poor advice 'just eat healthy and you won't gain weight', only to step on the scales after a few weeks to find out that they have ballooned up beyond recognition.
However for most people, they just want to look a bit better when they are on the beach or by the pool (vanity is always first, health second. It's the way of the world).
Today I wanted to talk briefly about people using the scale as a measure of progress.
Most people use the scale when it comes to judging just about everything when it comes to fat loss, weight loss and muscle gain.
Now if you are a weight class athlete then you simply have to keep an eye on the scale. There are plenty of people out there who have believed the poor advice 'just eat healthy and you won't gain weight', only to step on the scales after a few weeks to find out that they have ballooned up beyond recognition.
However for most people, they just want to look a bit better when they are on the beach or by the pool (vanity is always first, health second. It's the way of the world).
Now the main mistake that these people make is that they confuse weight loss and fat loss. For most people, they want to lose fat. They don't really care how much they weigh. I always ask clients "If I had a magic wand that could give you the body of your dreams but you would weigh 1000 pounds every time you stepped on the scale, would you do it?"
Most people say yes.
So if this is the case, why do you measure your progress by just the scale?
If you want to have a lean, healthy, muscular body, then the best way for you to judge progress is to use photos, the mirror and the tape measure. This will give you a good indicator of progress and stop you getting bummed out when you see an unexpected jump in the scale due to many different reasons that include,
- Stress
- Lack of sleep
- Digesting food
- Water retention
Plus a load of other things that make your weight go up and down throughout the week.
If you only focus on the scale number going down, then you're applying a very one sided (and unfair) view of your progress. You are also inevitably setting yourself up for a negative experience ass the scale isn't always going to come down!
So what happen when the scale doesn't come down?
Well people generally do one of two things. They either,
- Reduce calories
- Add in more activity (extra training sessions, more cardio etc).
Now in some cases this can be a good strategy depending on what the rest of the plan looks like. However after a certain point this just does more damage than good! Quite a lot of clients come to me in this position. They have been trying to cut fat for a while, hit a road block and decided to drop calories right down.
So what happens when people do this? How does it impact them?
On Wednesdays blog I will look at what happen in that situation and a few tips to avoid it!
Stay healthy,
Mike