Why is it more important to fit into your jeans than the number on your scale? Something I hear a lot about, especially from those who are not well educated in fat loss is “My diet worked for the first few weeks, I lost 8 pounds! But then I started to gain weight/stopped losing weight. Its so frustrating, I don’t get it!”
I’m going to discuss why you need to stop overusing the scale, and start using your skinny jeans to reflect your progress. Clothing fitting comfortably is what it really comes down to right? I always say, “If you look amazing and weigh 400lbs would you care?” A big reason I want to reflect my thoughts and educate those who don’t know much about fitness is because everyday I see women get discouraged by the scale. One of my clients stepped on the scale the other day and tears came to her eyes. She was so caught up with that inconsequential number on the scale that she immediately devalued all of her progress.
I always tell my clients, if you do not see your progress no matter how miniscule or immense it may be, then you will just bounce back to what you were. Striving for progress and not perfection is key here.
Something not may people put into consideration is water is very heavy (8.35 pounds per gallon). This is a big contributing reason as to why the scale can be inaccurate. Water retention is very common in all of us and will cause you to see a big drop in the scale the first week after “clean eating.” After the immense drop of weight, you will see an average of 1-2 pounds per week.
Scale weight is not that important, especially if you do not have much to lose. A mistake beginners make is they live and die by this number on the scale. Weight is just a small piece of data that should be recorded as you evaluate your progress.
What most women lack is knowledge about how to get the desired body they crave. I see women all the time on the cardio machine for hours, never supplementing their weight loss program with resistance training. For each pound of muscle you put on, you are burning 50 calories a day. For each pound of fat you are burning 1 to 3 calories per day. Research has shown that regular resistance training can increase your Basal Metabolic Rate by up to 15%.
Muscle weighs more per square inch then fat. So, while the scale may be going up, your jean size will be going down! After the age of 30 there is a big loss of 3-5% of muscle mass per 10 years, making everyday activities more difficult to perform and slowing down the metabolism – increasing weight gain. Women cannot nor should worry about getting big or bulky, it is physically impossible. Research shows women have one tenth the amount of testosterone than that of men. In order to drastically increase a women’s size she would need a great deal of testosterone supplementation through steroids.
Not using the scale can help a great deal. Put together a fitness program or find a local gym and start a 6-8 week program without using the scale. Only judge your progress by using your clothing and enjoy reaping the results stress free!
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