Good News - It's Time To Ditch The Scales
When it comes to sticking to that new diet plan and fitness goal, one mistake could be undoing all your hard work and setting you back in your new found motivation – weighing yourself. While it is important to check that you are making progress, there are plenty of things scales won’t tell you.
1. Muscle gain v weight gain: If a new fitness routine is part of your weight loss plan then chances are you have lost fat and gained muscle. While you may look and feel great, muscle is generally around 18% more dense than fat, the results of which won’t always show on your scales. Your clothes are sometimes a far better indicator of how far you have come in shedding fat and sculpting your body. Think about how amazing those jeans fit as opposed to why the scales haven’t budged in the past week.
2. How and why our body fluctuates. When it comes to weight, your body will fluctuate for a number of reasons. Depending on when you ate last, when you worked out last, your sodium levels and what time of the month it is, the numbers that show up on the scales won't always reflect or explain what is happening to your body and how much weight you have actually shed.
3. Happiness levels: While you may not reach your weight loss goals in terms of numbers each week, the scales won’t show how happy and relaxed you are feeling. They won’t highlight that new found self-confidence, better sleep patterns, and your overall increase in energy levels that come with regular exercise.
4.Health: The number on a scale won’t reflect on the health benefits of regular exercise such as stronger muscles and joints, improved flexibility and all those common health concerns that can be combatted through exercise and healthy eating such as cholesterol and diabetes.
5. Improved fitness: The scales won’t show how far you have come in your quest to improve your fitness. Scales won't highlight the fact that you are able to run farther and faster and are able to carry out daily activities without feeling tired and overwhelmed.