I want to start off with this: THROW AWAY THE SCALE! If it was expensive… just throw it to the side for now or hide it somewhere. If I could go back in time, I would have thrown away my scale years ago. During the start of the pandemic, I decided to devote myself to healthier eating habits and proper fitness goals. Out of the many things I learned or did, ditching the scale was one of the most important.
Let me break down part of my past fitness or diet attempts, that didn’t last or show results. As I do this it will add up to why the scale number is such a dangerous and tricky game. In the past when I would try to lose weight I would put myself through ridiculously restrictive diets. Red-flag number one! Here’s why extremely restrictive diets do not work: They aren’t sufficient or healthy long-term, they cause more cravings/binge-eating, and they truly aren’t supplying the body with the proper nutrients it needs to function. I would cut out all carbs because there’s a stigma that they “cause you to gain fat,” and would weigh myself every single morning. Red-flag, technically number two and three. NOT ALL CARBS ARE BAD FOR YOU. Whole carbs actually make up about 50% of my daily diet. It is the refined carbs that you want to try to strain away from. These are carbs that have been processed, which removes the natural fibers and changes them around. That one ties back into the restrictive diets, don’t cut out carbs because the body literally needs them for energy and to function properly.
Now back to weighing myself every day. Whatever you take from this article, let this be the biggest takeaway. Do not weigh yourself every day! Body weight fluctuates so much from so many different things. The number on the scale is impacted by the amount of water we drink, amount of salt we consume, time of the month, digestion being irregular, and many other factors. This is why it’s crucial not to weigh yourself every day. If the number is fluctuating it can be a result of any of the reasons I just mentioned. But your physical appearance will not show a difference. This is why the scale can play mind games with you. It’s not a true representation of how you look and it can make you believe you have actually gained noticeable fat. Old me would use the scale to track my progress, red-flag number four! The scale is NOT a proper way to measure progress. The right ways to track your progress are by taking progress pictures, assessing how your clothes fit and overall how you feel in your body.
This leads to my last point which is crucial in understanding long-term fitness transformations. Another reason you don’t want to use the scale to measure progress is that muscle weighs more than fat. So, let’s say you’re two months into your fitness and healthy living lifestyle. You hop on the scale and weigh more than when you started! Most of the time it’s due to the fact you have lost fat and gained muscle. Yes, you may weigh more, but physically you probably appear much leaner and toned. That was my last red-flag. After not using the scale for a while I randomly hoped on one day and gained a few pounds and was immediately thinking negatively about myself. I had switched over to weight training more frequently, less prioritizing cardio. It didn’t mean I looked bigger or gained fat it just meant I had gained more muscle. Moral of this story and information: Don’t let the scale fool you into a bad mindset. It truly is just a number that will look different on everyone, so throw away that scale!