As you begin (or continue
with) an
exercise and healthy eating program in an effort to lose weight
don't step on the scale for at least a month. In contrast to what we've been
conditioned to believe, the scale is a lousy way to measure changes with the
body.
And regardless how many times
I encourage people to "stay off the scale", they always jump on to see how
much progress they've made in the past day, week or month. What's worse, if
we aren't happy with what the number reads, we become deflated, and many
times give up. Don't do it. Don't weight yourself; the scale will not give
you an accurate measurement of the improvement you're making.
Your scale can only tell you
how much you weigh in total, but it just simply cannot tell you if you've
lost body fat. And on the journey of developing a lean, toned, energized,
highly functionally and healthy body, you're going to add some necessary
things to your body that the scale will record as "gains" in weight.
The following will add to the
reading your scale gives you and are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY if you want a body
that looks and feels great and functions at optimal capacity:
- Connective
tissue - specifically, tendons and ligaments.
Connective tissue adapts through resistance training to allow you to
function at higher levels, and it will not adversely affect your body's
appearance in any way.
- Muscle tissue
- As you add lean muscle tissue to your body, you'll burn more calories
and stored body fat during exercise as well as throughout the day doing
normal activity. And the additional muscle tissue allows your body to look
and feel firm and toned.
- Glycogen
- when you consume whole grain carbohydrates you're body will store
glycogen (the reserve fuel that gets converted into glucose, the body's
primary source of energy). And with each gram of additional glycogen, your
body stores several grams of water along with it. This is a very
beneficial process, but it will add to what your scale reads.
- Blood Volume
- as we become increasingly fit, we add blood volume.
In addition to these positive
gains in weight, your scale can vary as much as 3-6% on any given day based
on digestive contents and your hydration level.
Here's how you can determine
real progress:
- Answer the
following questions: Do I have more energy? Are my clothes fitting more
loosely? Have others commented that I'm "looking good"? Am I starting to
like what I see in the mirror?
- Measure your
body composition - discover how much of you is made up of body fat versus
lean body mass. All the methods of measuring body composition are subject
to some error, but if you stick to the same method and tester, you'll find
that change over time is reliable.
- If you're up for
it, take a picture of yourself before you start your fitness and fat loss
program. You don't even have to look at the photo (yet). Save it for
later. After a few months of exercise, take a look at the difference
between the old and new you.
It's ironic that the
increases in connective tissue, lean muscle tissue, glycogen and blood
volume - the things that are crucial to improving how your body looks, feels
and functions - can be the same things that initially make you think you're
making no progress.
Toss your scale into the
trash can. It's truly useless.
Your friend in fitness,
Brian Calkins
HealthStyle Fitness, Inc.
