SCALE OBSESSION 

In this photo, all women are the same weight. You may have seen my prior post on the difference between a pound of fat and muscle. Muscle is denser, so when you’re looking to change your physique, and you’re replacing bodyfat with muscle tissue, the scale may not change drastically. However, your circumference and size will shrink and you will appear leaner and tighter. When you lift progressively, eat the appropriate amount of calories and macros (which is also difficult if you’ve been focused on weight loss), the body composition changes, and muscle replaces fat! This is very difficult for some women to accept because they have spent their lives focused on a scale number, or BMI, or a clothing size. 

What’s good about a scale? 

  • It can be a measure of progress IF you weigh in the exact same condition each time 
  • It can help you identify inflammation (if the scale is up you may be inflamed or holding water) 
  • It can show you that you’re losing weight (which may be positive, dependent upon goals) 

What’s bad about a scale? 

  • It doesn’t paint the entire picture about what is happening inside your body 
  • It will fluctuate throughout the day (2-5 pounds or more!) and based upon what you consumed and what your exercise was the day/evening prior (even if you weight yourself in the exact same condition as the day prior) 
  • It can cause you to obsess about progress when you could be focused on other components of the journey 

Don’t be frustrated when the scale fluctuates or stays the same! You may be experiencing a recomp, which is exactly what you want – to replace bodyfat with muscle tissue. In place of scale obsession, use progress photos, circumference measures, body comp testing (which is not full proof!), make notes in a journal about how you feel, how your workouts are, etc, check how your clothes fit, and focus on your progress in the gym! By focusing on your progress in the gym, and making sure your nutrition is adequate, you take that focus away from the scale. Focus on lifting progressing in each lift – how you FEEL 🙂 when you accomplish that goal – and make a point to improve upon this each time you lift. This will draw your attention from the scale, allow you to minimize the stress (and keep cortisol in check) and before long you’ll start realizing that your clothes are a bit looser, you feel more energetic and you’ll realize the benefits of what you’ve been working so hard at.  

 

IF you have questions, or are looking to reshape your body and elevate your life, contact me at -> [email protected]