quick fit tip #2: try to disregard the scale
Hello hello!!
I hope everyone has had a great week! Mine was filled with tough workouts, a Beyoncé concert, and Halloween Horror Nights!!!
For today's quick fit tip, I want to talk about the dreaded scale. I feel that the scale has become the universal way to assess if you've been making progress on your fitness journey, but I could not disagree more.
Yes, the scale will tell you how much you weight. And if you have a fancy scale like me, it will also tell you your body fat percentage, your bone percentage, your water percentage, and your muscle percentage. But in reality, the number on the scale is just that, a number.
The real assessment for your progress on your fitness journey should come from how your body looks, feels, and performs. Are you still feeling tired and sluggish or are you now more energized and focused? Have you been able to hit that goal in the gym or do you find yourself losing motivation? How does your body compare now to your before pictures (read more about taking before pictures here). Check in with yourself on a regular basis to see if you're moving forwards, backwards, or have hit a stand-still on your journey.
The scale itself can only tell you if you weigh more or less than you did before; it cannot tell you if you're feeling healthier or if your mindset has become more positive. Additionally, gaining weight is not always a bad thing! Remember: muscle weighs more than fat!! So just because you now weigh 2lbs more than you did last week, that does not mean that you are "fatter" than you were before! It is in this way that the scale can be misleading, because often times we associate gaining weight with gaining fat when that is not always the case. That is why I believe it is easiest to avoid all of this confusion and simply listen to your body. I'm not saying that you can't ever weigh yourself, but it is not necessary to weigh yourself every morning or even every week! It is much more beneficial to you and your fitness journey to compare before and after pictures and to assess your moods and mental statuses.
One number does not define you, and it can be embodied in many different ways. Just because someone is 120lbs does not mean they are healthy. And likewise, just because someone is 170lbs does not mean they are overweight! So long as you are eating well and ensuring your body gets daily exercise, the number on the scale should not matter because your body's condition will speak for itself.
For anyone interested, as of my last weigh in (about two weeks ago), I weigh 166.8lbs. My "smart-scale" says that my body fat percentage is 14.6% and my muscle percentage is about 44.8%. I doubt those numbers are completely accurate, but I feel and look great, and that's all that matters!
I hope this quick fit tip was helpful for you guys and if you have any further questions, please comment below or e-mail me on the "Contact Me" page of this site! :)
[image via {scale}]
