THE SCALE DEMON!
Is the scale the best, most effective tool for tracking your progress?
What does that number even mean?
Scientifically speaking, your weight is the sum of all your parts, head to toe:
Your organs, tissues, muscles, bones, ligaments, fat, muscle, water, etc…..
Yet, how many times have you decided to “call it quits” or “start over” after stepping onto the scale and feeling disappointed, frustrated and that what you’re doing just isnt working?
Nod your head if this has happened:
You start making a valiant effort to do ALL the right things: you start exercising and eating better. You step on the scale, expecting all your hard work to show and then womp, womp: it’s totally not what you thought it would be.
Seeing the number on the scale has 2 outcomes:
- You feel defeated and convinced what you’re doing just isn’t working.
- You feel more motivated and determined to keep going!
Not only am I a coach, but I am human and FULLY understand your frustration when you step on the scale and don’t see the number you expect (been there, done that meltdown).
It absolutely makes you question what you’re doing and, if you’re going about weight loss the right way.
Feeling disappointed by the scale can lead you to to crash diets and quick fixes – which DO NOT WORK!
As a coach with 20 year’s of professional expereince, I am here to tell you the scale is only a teeny tiny portion of the equation when it comes to tracking assessing and understand your progress and results.
The number on the scale does NOT reflect your strength, muscle mass, ability to use heavier weights, do more work with less rest, how your clothes fit, your waist measurement, your energy levels, your happiness, or your confidence!
The number on the scale does NOT reflect how you can perform daily tasks with ease and without pain: picking up kids/grandkids, pushing strollers and grocery carts, carrying laundry baskets up the staris, walking the dogs, playing catch with the kids, going on hikes!
Are ya catching my drift/seeing where I am going with this?
If you ONLY focus on the scale, you are missing the big picture stuff that is more important when assessing your overall health, progress, and results.
You are more than a number, and it’s time to shift focus away from the scale.
Today’s blog is teaching you 5 effective tools for tracking and measuring your progress so that you know you’re on the right path to feeling your best, looking your best and getting results!
5 TOOLS FOR TRACKING PROGRESS
1. Feeling Satisfied:
Have you noticed your excessive hunger is now gone? Are you no longer shoveling in meals to feel full?
Congrats! This is a great indicator you are eating more nutritious foods that fill you up and keep you satisfied longer.
This is also an indicator you are paying more attention to what you’re eating and how you’re feeling. This helps your brain and your belly work in perfect harmony so you stop when full. Making small changes to your eating habits leads to the very best results!
Like exercising, improving eating habits, understanding how to eat healthy, and learning what foods your body needs to feel its best is a process BUT, a very important piece of your results.
Regardless of your goals – weight/fat loss, strength, more energy, less aches and pains – your nutrition habits dictate your outcome.
Maybe it doesn’t feel like a big deal now but trust me, nutrition is a tricky thing to navigate. This level of progress will pay off tenfold both on and off the training floor.
2. Feeling Energized: Do you wake up refreshed and no longer need the 2pm caffiene pick me up? Do you have more energy to play your kids / grandkids?
Congrats! This means you are learning how to properly fuel your body with essential nutrients.
Eating real, whole foods provide you with a constant, steady all-day energy rather than a brief rush followed by a crash (hello sugar and energy drinks!). This surge in energy also directly correlates to your physical activity/exercise. The more you move your body, the less tired and sluggish you feel.
Think of how you feel after sitting all day, a long road trip, or a few hours on an airplane. TIRED AF!
Now, think of how your energy level changes throughout the day when you incorporate exercise. Sure, you may feel super tired immediately after BUT you have more energy to burn in the long haul.
3. Sleeping Like a Dream: Are you now falling asleep with ease, staying asleep and waking feeling well rested and refreshed?
Progress! These are all signs of restful, quality sleep! You might be asking, how does the food we eat help or hurt sleep?
Eating fresh, whole foods containing adequate amounts of protein, healthy fats, and fiber keep you satisfied for longer periods and stabilizes your blood sugar levels and the hormones required for good, quality sleep.
Notice how much easier you fall asleep and stay asleep after exercising. Sleep is underrated and most of us don’t make the effort to improve our REM cycles (another blog for a different day) BUT, lack of sleep or shitty sleep puts you at a higher risk for chronic disease, impedes your workouts, and makes you more prone to eating/craving processed foods.
4. Feeling Super Strong: Are your workouts feeling easier than when you first started? Are you reaching for heavier weights? Able to do more work and take less rest breaks?
Holy strength, you are building and maintaining muscle mass which is super important, especially as you age:
- Strong bones = resilient bones to prevent broken bones and fractures (falling becomes increasingly more common and dangerous with age)
- Building + maintaining muscle slows the onset or progression of osteopenia/osteoporosis.
- Being strong makes performing daily tasks easy and pain free: walking, getting out of bed, bending over to put on shoes, carrying groceries, picking up kids/grandkids, etc.
- Having strength improves coordination and balance (ya need both just to stand up + walk)
- Being strong means you can lift heavier weights = the BEST results: leaner, more ‘toned’, less body fat.
Please don’t mistake strength and lifting heavier weights with “bulk”. You are NOT going to get bulky by lifting weights but you are going to get stronger, leaner, and more “toned” (more on this below).
5. Getting dressed feels ah-mazing: Fitting back into your fave jeans? Clothes feeling ‘loose’?
All signs of major progress and again, may NOT be reflected by the scale. Remember, even if the scale doesn’t change or change much, your body can still be reshaping and changing! that does not mean your body is not changing.
Check out the picture below: Muscle is denser than fat meaning, it takes up LESS SPACE as shown buy this image.
Five pounds of fat weighs the exact same as five pounds of muscle. The difference being, fat takes up MORE space, leaving you feeling and looking “fluffy” or “bulky”.
Comparatively, muscle takes up LESS space, leaving you feeling “toned”, “tight” and lean.
As coaches, we often hear “I want to be more toned and defined”.
How is this accomplished? By having MORE muscle and LESS fat!
How do you increase muscle and decrease fat? Strength training!
Strength training is for everybody, all ages and all fitness levels. Think of it as functional fitness because what you do during your workout makes life outside the gym easier and more enjoyable!
For this reason, strength training is the foundation for all workouts at Results Fitness.
When it comes to weight, muscle mass, and body fat, here’s what you may not know: You can lose body fat and build muscle without losing a single pound.
Don’t beleive me? Look at the image below: this individual weighs the exact same in each photo but she visibly looks different.
In this example, her weight remained the same but her body fat decreased (what the scale does not tell you!).
So, you can go down a clothing size, become leaner and more toned all while that pesky number on the scale doesn’t budge (it may even go up).
Key Takeaway: if you’re only using the scale to track progress, you cannot get all the vital data to understand how else your body may be changing in terms of muscle and fat mass.
This is why taking body measurements and progress pictures are two highly effective tools for tracking progress; the photos capture your physical transformation and you have measurements to confirm results.
Parting advice: I am not telling you to never step on a scale again.
If weighing yourself (within reason) helps keep you accountable then by all means weigh yourself now and again. Just do not let that be the end-all-be-all of measuring your progress and hard work.
