Fighting the Scales

All too often we use scales as a way to determine how overweight, underweight, fat or unhealthy we are. And I hate it.

I often hear so many women talk about how much they weigh, how many pounds they’ve lost this week. Or that they have put on 2lb since they weighed themselves less than 24 hours ago.

First things first, any of you who weigh yourselves more than once a week, stop. Stop right now. Your weight fluctuates throughout different times of the day and different days of the week. If you’re still determined to weigh yourself, do it once a week. At the same time every week. And do not let it dishearten you or punish yourself if that number doesn’t drop.

For a lot of people, jumping onto the scales becomes a pattern of behaviour – a habit. And almost an addiction. The amazing feeling you get when those numbers drop and feeling guilty as hell when they go up. Scales don’t take into account your muscle mass which is the main reason I disagree with them.

I’ve been there and done that. All of my family are really tall and naturally I think I’ve been the heaviest out of everyone for as long as I can remember. I used to obsess over how much I weigh and calorie count. Hoping that I could fit in with everyone else and weigh what they do, despite some of my friends being 6″ shorter than me.

Now I don’t own a set of scales. As I’m weight training I expect my weight to increase. Muscle weighs more than fat and so I purposely don’t weigh myself. We have it ingrained into us what weight we should be and I’m no different. I know that if I saw the number on the scales increase, I’d stop immediately and go back to old habits.

Instead of using the scales, take notice of how your clothes fit you. It’s a much healthier way to measure how much weight you’ve lost or even gained and means that when you notice your clothes starting to get too big or too small for you have the perfect excuse to buy new ones. (Win win!)

Since I’ve been weight training I’ve found that I’m much happier with my progress when I look at my personal bests, rather than the number on the scales. I’m also much happier within myself, taking the little achievements I make during workouts rather than focusing on my weight.

Even small victories are still victories.

So take them and be proud of how far you’re progressing.

Your weight does not define how healthy you are. And you should not use it as a way to drop a clothes size or to measure your progress.

So please, dump those scales!

And don’t forget, as long as it fits your macros you can eat anything you fancy. (Even the tasty brownie above!) for more info on macro counting and how it’s helped me to lose unwanted fat have a read of this post.

A.x