hanna.r.foster

no grit. no pearl.

What the Scale isn’t Telling You

I am a firm believer that when it comes to out health and fitness goals, we need to have a way to hold ourselves accountable. When it comes to losing or gaining weight, most of us turn to the scale to give us a way to track our progress. A scale, especially an accurate one, is an awesome tool to use. But, I have seen and heard about too many people getting discouraged when the numbers aren’t moving or are moving in the wrong direction. Here’s my secret; the scale isn’t telling you everything. 

A scale that only gives your weight is only telling you part of the story. Not every scale can tell you all of the important measurements that you should be aware of when trying to change your weight. Plus, there are some everyday things that can effect your weight from day to day, or even hour by hour.

What the Scale Isn’t Telling You

Body Composition

One thing that a general scale doesn’t tell you is your body composition. Body composition refers to how much of your body is fatty tissue and how much of it is lean tissue. In this general two component model, lean tissue is not just muscle mass. Instead, it includes everything that is not fatty tissue. This means that it is looking at muscles, organs, bones, skin, and water.

It is important to remember this when you are only using scale measurements to track your weight goals. If you’re trying to lose weight and you see that they numbers on the scale haven’t moved, you shouldn’t get frustrated right away. Without looking at your % body fat and % lean mass, you really won’t know if you’ve been making the progress you want to. Especially if you've made healthy changes to your diet and exercise habits. If you’re losing fatty tissue, but gaining muscle mass, the numbers on your scale may move up, stay the same, or move down. Every body is different and needs different stimuli and a different number of calories to reach its goals.

Appearance

A scale also can’t tell you if you are noticing changes on your body. Or if others have noticed that your hard work is paying off. If you notice that the waist band on your pants is loser or that you’ve reached the last notch on your belt, that is a success no matter what the scale says. Maybe you’ve moved beyond what your original goal weight was for your leg press, or you can now say “welcome to the gun show” with some muscle to show off.

These are accomplishments. Great accomplishments. And you don’t need the numbers on the scale to be in any certain place to be able to notice these things. Check yourself out in the mirror, take that gym selfie, and smile because you are beautiful and working hard.

Feeling

Standing on scale also can’t tell you how much healthier, stronger, more energized, more confident, etc. you feel. In fact, it may even be able to convince you otherwise. Maybe you don’t hit that afternoon slump anymore. Or maybe you feel like you could conquer the world after your workout. Noticing emotional and energy related changes from healthy choices is just as important as you physical changes.

What to Focus on Instead

Body composition

Look into getting a scale that does tell you your body composition and track that instead of weight alone. This is a good idea because it can expose changes in your body that scale weight alone can’t. By tracking body comp you can also figure out if you are giving your body enough energy. If you see %BF going up and %LM going down, but you’re watching what you eat, you may not be eating enough. Learn more by checking out my post about cutting calories to see how this can happen.

Appearance

Find other numbers to track and focus on than your scale weight. Try using a tape measure to measure your biceps, hips, waist and thighs to get a better picture of your progress. Pay attention to how your clothes fit and when you’re shopping, don’t be afraid to pick up a size down ad see how close you are. You never know, you just might surprise yourself.

Feeling

Take some time each day to stop and notice how you and you body feel. Lay in bed for a few extra minutes and wiggle your toes, roll your wrists and ankles, flex those hard earned muscles. See how well rested you feel after a good nights sleep on a day with a killer workout. See how much energy you have in the afternoons when you take your walk. Pay attention to how you're feeling mentally, physically, and emotionally and use those positive changes to keep you motivated. Any negative changes? Use those to alter your training schedule, food intake, food choices.

No Grit, No Pearl

Remember what I've shared with you in this post as you continue on your health and fitness journey. When the scale isn't moving the way you want - examine the what to focus on parts of your life and practice your grit. Stand tall and keep working hard. Make changes if you need to, but remember lovely - no grit, no pearl.

Hanna

what the scale isn't telling you girls
what the scale isn't telling you workout

5 Lies About Losing Weight

Over my time in the health and wellness world between school, working part time as a personal trainer, working in a gym, and now working for a corporate wellness obesity management company, I have noticed that there are a few myths that many people who are working towards living a healthier lifestyle are under the impression are true. I want to debunk some of the most common misunderstandings when it comes to losing weight and I hope that you leave with a better understanding of how to get to your goals the healthy way.

1. If the number on the scale goes down, that’s good

To some extent this is true. If the scale number has gone down, it means you’ve lost weight. But a scale doesn’t tell you where that weight loss has come from within your body. In most cases when someone is looking to lose weight, they really want to lose the weight from the fat within their body. When the number on the scale goes down, that weight loss could be from the loss of fat, or lean tissue, or it could even just be because of your fluid fluctuation that day.

2. You have to cut your calories in order to lose weight

Sometimes cutting calories can actually cause you to gain weight and not lose any. When we cut calories without taking into consideration how many calories you expend on a typical day, then you can unknowingly put your body in a situation where it is not getting enough calories to function on a daily basis. When this happens your body thinks that it is being starved and will then begin to lower your metabolism and store more energy for future use. This storage of energy can cause an increase of fatty tissue under the right conditions.

3. You have to cut out carbs in order to lose weight

Cutting out carbohydrates certainly helps some people lose weight. But it’s hard for them to keep that weight off once they reintroduce carbs to their diet. Carbs are your brain’s fuel source and your muscles preferred form of energy. You have to eat them. Feel free to limit the simple carbohydrates in your diet, things like white bread or other refined flour products, sugary cereals, and candies. But be sure to eat some complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain breads, brown rice and lots of vegetables!

4. You have to cut fat in order to lose weight

This one makes sense at first. If you want to lose the fat in your body, why would you continue to eat any of it? One issue is that fat helps your body metabolize many important nutrients and vitamins. Another problem is that all of those manufactured low-fat and fat-free foods have something else in them that hinders weight loss for most people, sugar. Food companies found that when they removed the fat from their products it removed the flavor. Their foods now tasted awful and they knew they wouldn’t be able to sell them as they were. In order to make their foods taste good again and to keep people purchasing their products, they added in sugar. But when the body is met by an onslaught of sugar several things happen that hinder weight loss and can actually cause weight gain.

5. Low calorie/artificial sweeteners are going to help you lose weight

This point really piggy backs off
of the last one. Some people think that if they switch to low calorie or
artificial sweeteners they will be able to stop some of the effects that real
sugar has on their body. But some studies have shown that the artificial
sweeteners effect the body in a similar way, but more intensely. This means
that blood sugar levels often get even higher and the crash afterwards is even
lower. These more extreme reactions are actually worse for the body in terms of
blood sugar regulation and insulin resistance.

When it comes to losing weight, many people are misled by quick fixes and one step methods. The most important thing is to examine your daily life and look at sustainable ways you can make healthier choices in your diet and daily activity. These choices will lead to a true lifestyle change that will then lead to success on your health journey.

Find out why these 5 lies about losing weight are holding you back
5 lies about losing weight