Get rid of the scales, or at least put them in perspective
I hate scales. Well I don't hate them, they do have their place. I just hate it when they become the be all and end all of fitness results.
I understand why people put stock in the scales. It's something that has been practiced over decades so it's a tough behaviour to change. But I'm suggesting that we do. Let's throw away the bathroom scales, or at least keep the weight in perspective.
When training a client who wants to lose fat I make sure that they don't weigh themselves daily, or sometimes even weekly. Why? Because weight is incredibly changeable. It changes based on the time of day, how much water you have consumed, whether you've been to the bathroom recently, if you just ate, and a hundred other reasons. It also needs to be said that muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are putting on lean muscle, the scales could go up too.
I'm more interested in trends. Yes I do weigh my clients, but I look at other numbers too. When I weigh them, I measure them also - any number of measurements but the standards are chest, hips, waist, and thigh. I also ask them subjective questions too.
I then look at all of this together - current and past numbers, as well as the subjective things such as energy levels, how their clothes fit, how they feel in themselves and more. Taken as a whole, this is a much clearer picture of health and fitness than a solitary number on the scale.
Look at it this way. Say you've been following your nutrition plan to the letter, getting all of your workouts in, resting well at night, and drinking lots of water. You jump on the scales for your regular weigh in. Nothing's changed since last month. Depression sets in, the sky clouds over and you stand on the scales under your own personal storm cloud.
But what if I then measured you, all of your measurements have gone in the right direction, oh and by the way, the jeans you couldn't fit last year you just wore out on Saturday night. Do you still care about the scales?
Try letting go of the weight numbers if you can, they can be damaging to your motivation more than you think. Instead look at your health from a more rounded point of view. It may just clear that storm cloud from overhead.
If you have any questions about how best to measure yourself, or anything else fitness related I'd love to hear from you so just get in touch.
_________________________________________________________________________
I understand why people put stock in the scales. It's something that has been practiced over decades so it's a tough behaviour to change. But I'm suggesting that we do. Let's throw away the bathroom scales, or at least keep the weight in perspective.
When training a client who wants to lose fat I make sure that they don't weigh themselves daily, or sometimes even weekly. Why? Because weight is incredibly changeable. It changes based on the time of day, how much water you have consumed, whether you've been to the bathroom recently, if you just ate, and a hundred other reasons. It also needs to be said that muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are putting on lean muscle, the scales could go up too.
I'm more interested in trends. Yes I do weigh my clients, but I look at other numbers too. When I weigh them, I measure them also - any number of measurements but the standards are chest, hips, waist, and thigh. I also ask them subjective questions too.
I then look at all of this together - current and past numbers, as well as the subjective things such as energy levels, how their clothes fit, how they feel in themselves and more. Taken as a whole, this is a much clearer picture of health and fitness than a solitary number on the scale.
Look at it this way. Say you've been following your nutrition plan to the letter, getting all of your workouts in, resting well at night, and drinking lots of water. You jump on the scales for your regular weigh in. Nothing's changed since last month. Depression sets in, the sky clouds over and you stand on the scales under your own personal storm cloud.
But what if I then measured you, all of your measurements have gone in the right direction, oh and by the way, the jeans you couldn't fit last year you just wore out on Saturday night. Do you still care about the scales?
Try letting go of the weight numbers if you can, they can be damaging to your motivation more than you think. Instead look at your health from a more rounded point of view. It may just clear that storm cloud from overhead.
If you have any questions about how best to measure yourself, or anything else fitness related I'd love to hear from you so just get in touch.
_________________________________________________________________________
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