Many of us become obsessed with the weighing scales and what it relays back to us when it comes to weight loss. This can unfortunately become a hindrance and stumbling block that prevents us from achieving the goal we are seeking.
You want fat loss, you want a lot of it and you want it fast. Unfortunately it doesn’t happen the way we want it to and focusing on the wrong things, which includes the scales, is only going to set you up for disappointment along the way.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you shouldn’t use the weighing scale as an assessment tool to monitor your progress. What I am saying is that you should not become obsessed with what the scale says and make sure you are using other more useful assessment tools in conjunction with using the scale.
I’m currently in LA to help a buddy of mine lose some weight and get back into shape and start leading a more active-healthy lifestyle.
For the 1st three weeks I deliberately allowed him to weigh himself daily, which is something many people do. You see I knew there would be a point at which he started to freak out about the lack of progress. I mean the scale is going to fluctuate from day-to-day when you weigh yourself obsessively like that.
That 3rd week he ended up only dropping 1.2 pounds although he did drop some inches he was disappointed because like many he was basing his progress solely on what the scales read.
The 2 weeks previously he had lost 6 pounds and 5 pounds so you can understand his frustration. I tried to explain to him that when you begin to obsess about the scales often your body will respond by doing the opposite of what you want it to do like holding onto extra weight you want to lose.
Since then, I took the scales away from him, put it far out of sight and only allow him to use it once per week. The following week he was down 4.8 pounds and a total loss of 17 pounds and 10 and ¼ inches within 28 days. He was very happy!
So, my suggestion is not to lose the scales altogether, but I want you to lose your weighing scale obsession and when you do this, I bet you will start to see the weight and inches come off.
Only allow yourself to weigh-in once every 7-14 days. Take the reading and then get back to focusing on what you need to do in order to keep dropping pounds and inches, regardless of what the scale just read.
A friend of mine once said ‘You are more than a number, so don’t define yourself by one’ and I would add that you shouldn’t define your progress solely on what the scale is telling you.
Also, when you do step on the scale, make sure you do it:
- Once every 7-14 days.
- On the same day of the week. I find Monday or Saturday to be the best
- First thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything.
- In minimal clothing. Underwear, bikini or shorts is acceptable.
Along with using the scale I suggest you use the following to monitor your progress every 7-14 days:
- Take girth measurements of all the major sites on the body.
- Progress photos taken every 2-3 weeks and compared to your day 1 photos.
- Body fat analysis! If you can get a professional to measure it accurately.
- Journal! So you can first see how committed you have been each week.
I hope you found this tad bit of information informative and that it will encourage you to step away from the weighing scale for a moment and allow yourself to start evaluating your assessment protocol. Best of luck to you with your fat loss and physique development goals!
