You are More than the Number on the Scale
For years, I was in a dysfunctional relationship with my scale.
I would stand over it with a pit in my stomach then step on delicately so not to anger it. The number would appear and for the rest of the day my entire mood, outlook and belief about myself was a reflection of what I thought that number meant.
When it showed me my 'skinny weight', I was on top of the world, confident and happy. When it showed me my 'fat weight' I was deflated, felt like a failure, obsessed over every little thing I was doing from my workouts to my diet. My punishment was to workout more and cut calories. Or out of sheer frustration I would go the opposite direction and binge because what I was doing wasn’t working so might as well.
SOUND FAMILIAR?
If this is you, read on as I share my tips on how I finally broke up with my scale. And hopefully you will be able to as well.
First, understand what that number means.
Body Compostion:
· WATER this accounts for most of our body weight 50-65% is the normal range.
· DRY LEAN BODY MASS: Muscle, bones, organs and tissues
· BODY FAT MASS
Factors that influence our weight:
· Carbohydrate Intake
· Sodium Intake
· Resistance Training, studies have shown that lifting weights increases the amount of intracellular water in our muscles.
· Hormonal fluctuations
· Digestion
As human beings we are mostly made of water. Even after you have indulged in a burger and fries that weight gain the next morning is not fat! For every gram of excess carbohydrate you consume, you retain extra molecules of water. So that extra weight is water, and if you hydrate, get back to your healthy eating routine, exercise, get plenty of sleep, the water retention will normalize after a few days. However, if you continually consume excess calories especially in the form of carbohydrates, that surplus will eventually be stored as fat. Remember short term fluctuations are water, but if you are seeing weight gain week over week, it is likely you are in a caloric surplus and it could be body fat mass.
Additionally, our bodies are made of bones, organs, tissues and muscles. If you are working out regularly especially lifting weights, the scale will not drop as fast as you would like it to that is because your body is hard at work retaining muscle. Which is the BEST thing you can do for it. If your “skinny weight” is 125lbs but your muscle mass is low you are actually less healthy than if your body weight is 130lbs with a high muscle mass. Having a high muscle mass will give you a leaner appearance, make you stronger and increase your metabolism.
Finally, weight loss is not linear. In fact, the weight on the scale will look like a bit of a rolling hill from one day to the next. You can be up 2lbs, down .5lbs, down .8lbs, the up 1lb. This is due to the many factors (some of which can be beyond our control) listed above. The key is to look at the big picture. If your goal is to lose weight your fluctuations should stay within in a certain range with the overall hill trending down.
Second, ask yourself how often you need to weigh yourself to feel healthy.
When I was trying to break my unhealthy relationship with the scale, I went from every day to once per week to my current schedule of every 6 weeks. That is truly the amount of time you will see changes in body composition not just weight.
When I do weigh myself I with an In Body scale. It measures my full body composition- water, lean body mass, muscle & fat. I pay particular attention to my body fat percentage and muscle mass. If I see that my weight is up but my muscle has increased and my body fat percentage has maintained or gone down then I know I am on the right track. Before when I would just weigh myself on a regular scale without knowing these numbers, I would go into a downward spiral if my weight was up.
A certain weight should not be your primary goal. Instead your goal should be optimal body composition. Your dream weight could be 125lbs but you could be at an unhealthy 40% body fat percentage with low muscle mass which puts you at risk for many health issues like diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease, PCOS, and many other chronic illnesses.
An optimal body composition is one that is a healthy body fat percentage & high in muscle. This varies by age and sex. A healthy body fat range for active women ages 35-55 it is between 22-28%, for men 12-21%. If you are an athlete, those ranges will be lower.
I highly recommend weighing yourself either weekly or every 6 weeks instead on a body composition scale. If you are doing it daily, it can be obsessive and I would hate for you to start your day off feeling bad or good about yourself due to the number on the scale. If you are doing it weekly, as I mentioned before it may not be a true picture of your efforts because you it could be on a day where you are up slightly. Keep in mind if you are being consistent with your nutrition, hydration, workouts & sleep then the number on the scale should be secondary to these other more important signs of progress listed below.
MEASURES OF PROGRESS THAT YOUR SCALE WON’T TELL YOU
· How your clothes are fitting
· You have more energy
· You are lifting heavier weights
· Your can run farther/faster
· Your cravings have decreased
· Other people are noticing a change
To be honest, I still have moments of anxiety when I step on the scale. I think that is something I am going to be working on for a long time, However, it is not the same hopeless feeling that I used to get. The numbers are information to me now and as long as I know what to do with it, I feel so much more in control.
If you are curious about your body composition, book a call with me and schedule a consult! I offer full body measurements with the state of the art In Body Scale.
