Weigh-In Day: Are the numbers messing with your head?

Weigh-In Day: Are the numbers messing with your head?

This week was weigh-in week. Three groups of Slim & Strong finished up their 4-week program and my participants had their 'after' measurements taken: weight, body fat percentage, inches, and their 'after' pictures. You wouldn't believe how often I get the dreaded look, the fear of what the scale might say. As if the scale is going to play Russian roulette to randomly show them a high number just to piss them off. Some people skip the 'after' measurements because they realize they weren't perfect and don't want any more proof of it. They get no feedback at all, even though they may see progress in some areas. Some look forward to getting measured because they finally get to see how many inches they've lost, how much muscle they've gained, how much fat they have lost. Those are the ones who know they took action in the previous four weeks and they know the scale will show it. People's response to measurements often relates to how they feel about their bodies....

I encourage everyone to do their 'after' measurements because, after all, it's just a status of that particular day. What the scale says the following day, what the body fat will be 3 days later might be an entirely different story. Our bodies change every day. Especially women's bodies undergo quite some crazy fluctuations. Just take hormonal changes. It's not uncommon to gain five pounds of bloat before your period. That sure doesn't feel or look good, but it is what it is (there are ways to counteract that...). If you're dehydrated your body fat is higher, if you just exercised or had caffeine before measuring, it can also affect the numbers. Keep in mind that just because today the scale wasn't very friendly to you that doesn't define you. It is just a number and that number is meant to tell you whether you're on the right track or wasting your time eating donuts. 

source: bigwordsblog.com

Here's how to deal with the scale: 

• Look at the number and then measure your body fat (the number on the scale alone is useless). You may want to order yourself the Omron, handheld body fat tester for less than $30 and measure your inches. 
• If your body fat has dropped - good job. Your diet has been clean to promote fat loss.
• If you have gained muscle - good work. You are getting leaner and increasing your metabolism and fat burning. Your clothes fit better. 
• If you have lost inches - amazing! Another sign you are getting leaner and building muscle. Muscle makes you leaner - not bulkier (unless you spend hours a day in the gym performing 6-12 sets of the same exercise and eat plenty of calories to support muscle growth).
• If your waist is smaller, your pants fit better, you have eaten a clean diet. You have cut out sugar and starches, laid off the booze and concentrated on lean protein and veggies. It always shows first in the stomach area and arms. 

I also want you to focus on other things that the scale. Look in the mirror. Pay attention to how your stomach feels every morning - that's where your diet makes its impact immediately. 

Keep in mind that your metabolism may be damaged from too much yo-yo dieting and that may take 4-12 weeks to repair. You can read how Rebecca, a former Slim & Strong participant dealt with a damaged metabolism here. Nothing budged for 3 months despite exercise and a clean diet. 

There will be days you feel fat and yet you're lighter on the scale. There will be days when your pants fit tighter and yet you may just be bloated. There will be days you have dropped lots of inches but your weight hasn't budged because you gained muscle. Let go of the numbers. The more you obsess over them, the more you'll go crazy trying to control your eating and exercise - because you let the numbers affect your mental state. 

Measurements are meant to be taken as feedback: how much change have you created in the last 4 weeks based on what you ate, how much you exercised and other steps you have taken towards progress. 

if the numbers aren't exactly what you hoped for, then the first thing you do is to look at your diet again. Where is the sugar, starch and alcohol coming from? Unless we do measurements you're not going to get an honest way of seeing where you are. Plus, the most important thing you will learn in this whole fat loss game is that you know exactly what actions will create progress. That's all it is. it's like having a job where you work on commission. You can't expect a fat paycheck if you didn't put in the work and then complain that you hoped you'd get paid more, right? 

What will your paycheck look like next month?