Hands up all of us, who once out of bed and prior to showering, jump on the scales to check up on your weight?
You’ve been training hard for weeks, eating well and yesterday you even skipped that glass of wine at the end of the day! But once on the scales, to your shock and horror, your weight hasn’t decreased.
How could that be? How can all that hard work go ‘unrewarded’?
Unfortunately, so many of us rely on ‘weight loss’ as dictated by our bathroom scales and the lack of ‘reward for effort’ takes an emotional toll.
With training, comes the building of muscle which weights three times more than fat. Muscle IS your reward, which in time helps to strip away fat. So, our message is, stop relying on those scales as your ‘go to’ method of how your body is responding to training.
Remember these key points below to stay motivated–
It won’t happen over night if you stay on track, but, it will happen
In 99% of people, your ‘scale weight’ won’t drop for up to 4 weeks; so don’t give up! This is a journey that takes time and consistency. If you are committed to good eating, exercising and taking care of you then the results will pay off .
Your body will tell you the story
You know your body and how you feel; don’t let the scales tell you a different story. Seeing how your body looks in the mirror or how well your clothes fit is far more important than a number. By choosing better food choices and training harder your body will get leaner and healthier and this is something the scales can’t see or say.
The scales can make you lose focus
When you see your ‘scale weight’ in the early stages of training, chances are, the number has stayed the same or ‘worse’ gone up. We say ‘worse’ but mean better as you’ve probably just gained a little muscle, which is ideal. But by checking your scale weight too early can be disappointing; so stay away from scales and focus on how you feel and the way your clothes now fit. Stay focused and write goals – short and long term.
We recommend taking photos and measurements as other ways to see results. Focus on weighing in monthly, stay focused on what you want and don’t always let the ‘scale weight’ dictate your emotions!