3 Reasons To Step Off The Scale
If you have a scale in your bathroom, you possibly use it every day or never. There is not a lot of in between when it comes to using a scale. A standard scale will tell you how much you weigh, in pounds, kilos, stones…what have you. Some scales will even give you percentages of body fat, muscle mass and a couple of scales say they can measure your hydration levels.
A scale is a tool used to help measure how much something weighs. Scales are seen as marketing tactics to help people lose weight even though I believe there is nothing helpful about them.
In my perspective, if you are on a weight loss journey, scales usually are seen as negative tools. This is because a lot of my clients don’t have good relationships with their scales. I too have had a love-hate relationship with my scale in the past. Stepping on a scale became addictive for me. Standing on the scale and waiting (hahaha get it? Pun intended) for that number to show was the first I did in the morning and it would impact on my mood during the day. I wanted to see the number to get lower and lower, and I would forget the bigger picture. The big picture was my health and happiness.
Think about how much you use your scale? What is the relationship like? I believe if you step off the scale, you will lose more weight. Below are three reasons to step off your scale.
1. Weight Fluctuates Throughout The Day
To step on the scale every day at the same time of day with the same time lag after your last meal, your last drink of water and your previous workout with the same amount of sleep in between as well as wearing the same clothing is hectic, to say the least. This is extreme but illustrates everything that happens throughout a day to see if you lost any weight. Some people go to these extremes, and instead of being a positive highlight that they lost weight, the figure showing on the scale becomes a number that is never enough.
The number on the scale is dependent on so many factors that weighing yourself every day is more unhealthy than helpful. It becomes a mind game which can bring about bad habits such as skipping meals, over exercise or can create a negative mindset.
Weight is dependent on how much energy you consumed versus how much energy you used in a day. When we eat right and work out, we usually use more energy than we consume. Therefore, a result of weight loss.
Instead of stepping on the scale, I would encourage you to take some progress photos. It is said that we can feel our healthy habits take shape after four weeks, see our results after eight weeks and friends will notice after twelve weeks. This is a guide, but something to show you that upfront pain is long-term gain.
What a scale doesn’t show you in how you feel. The way you feel during your weight loss journey is essential, which brings us to the second reason.
2. Scales Don’t Tell You Everything
Some people get confused along their weight loss journey and hope that their extra weight or their ‘fat’ will turn into muscle. Muscle and fat are two different things. The most important part of losing weight is how you feel and if you are shrinking.
To be on a healthy weight loss journey, you want to be feeling great and losing your excess fat. Depending on what your goal is you will either want to maintain your muscle or gain lean muscle.
Muscle is a fibrous tissue that helps provide movement in the body and maintain the position of the body. The fat that you are trying to lose is adipose tissue. Adipose tissue is made up of visceral fat and subcutaneous fat. Visceral at is stored within the abdominal wall while subcutaneous fat is stored beneath the skin. We can have subcutaneous fat above our visceral fat as well. Healthy fats that are necessary for a healthy lifestyle and are found in foods such as avocado, nuts and fish. These fats are not the same as that fats I mentioned above.
Unless you have a very high-tech scale, your scale will not tell you the difference in muscle and fat. Your scale will tell you your overall weight but not your fluctuation between losing fat and maintaining or gaining muscle. Muscle also weighs more than fat and therefore, when you are trying to lose weight, seeing the number on the scale rise makes you feel more inadequate, and you feel further away from your goal.
If you want to track lose during your journey, take monthly progress measurements to give you a confidence boost that your body is changing.
The scale never tells you how you feel. Being mindful of how you are feeling along your weight loss journey is important. Feeling happy, motivated, determined and supported by those around you keeps you moving forward. A scale cannot remind you of how good you have been feeling throughout the day or week or since the last time you weighed yourself which brings me on to the third reason.
3. The Scale Shouldn’t Define Your Weight Loss Journey
A weight loss journey is so much more than weight loss. It is getting back in touch with who you are. Your weight loss journey will bring you energy and happiness that you will put back into hobbies and tasks that you enjoy. Your weight loss journey will leave you loving yourself and accepting yourself for who you are.
A scale cannot help with this, only hinder it because the scale revolves around a set number that doesn’t provide you with the full storey. The scale is a black and white tool with no grey area to it even though reasons one and two above spoke about the grey areas of scales.
If you are feeling healthier, lighter and happier, then the journey is working. You might have lost centimetres over a week but gained muscle and felt like a million dollars. Your weight might be staying the same because of your fat and muscle offset, but your pants are feeling looser and more comfortable. A number on a scale cannot tell you these feeling.
Please put your scale away. If you are seeking a happier, healthier lifestyle, then start by making small lasting changes that will help your excess weight fall off. We all know that water, the right nutrition of whole foods and exercise is essential. Also, just as important are your mindset, morning routine, sleeping habits and the relationships you surround yourself with.
If you are interested in a healthy lifestyle, sign up today for a free Weight Loss Breakthrough Session. Click this link and make some time for you today.
