2nd Rule: Put the Scale Away

                               

Written by: Tony Schober,

     How much do you weigh? Just about
everyone knows that number. Unfortunately,
that number is close to being as meaningless
as can be. What is weight? It's a measurement
of the force of gravity on your body. It tells you
how heavy a particular mass is. Why does this
matter? If I put two people side by side that
both weigh 150 pounds, but one person has
8% body fat, and the other has 40% body fat, will the scale be able
to tell the difference? NO!
   
     Now, the scale does have some benefits, and we'll get to that in a
minute. However, for the purpose of tracking your fitness progress, no
other measuring tool has caused more physical and emotional
destruction than the scale. It has caused depression and feelings of
hopelessness. It has made people want to give up and throw in the
towel. It has made our society obsessed over weight.
The thing is, you don't really want to lose weight. You want to lose fat.
While these two things can be one in the same, they aren't always.

     When someone says they lost 10 pounds, how much of that was
actually body fat, and how much of that was muscle mass? Someone
who lost 10 pounds of fat is going to look a lot different than someone
who lost 5 pounds of fat and 5 pounds of muscle. The scale can't tell
you this.
Do yourself a favor and go put your scale out of site for the next month.

     Don't even take it out again for another 30 days. Do you feel like you
can do that? If you can't, you might have an unhealthy obsession with
weight. Don't let the scale rule your life. The scale is just one of many
tools to track your progress.

     What is the scale good for? It's good for determining body fat mass for
when you're taking body fat readings. You can't take body fat readings
with a scale. You need calipers, or you need to go and get a body scan
of some sort. Once you have your weight, you can measure body fat
percentage. From there, you can calculate body fat mass and lean
body mass. These are the two numbers that really matter.

     At some point during this week, make a goal to take some before
measurements. You can do this several ways. You can take a before
picture. You can take body fat caliper measurements. You can use a
tape measure to measure the circumference of your waist, chest, hips,
and thighs. You can also simply take notice of how your clothes fit.

     All of these methods for measuring progress are better than using the
scale. The scale should be a motivational tool, but not motivation that
is grown from fear and depression of being overweight, but of
motivation developed from seeing your hard work paying off.


Stay off the scale. Your mind and body will thank you.
Here is a cheap pair of body fat calipers you can use to accurately
measure your body fat with.