The Scale is Lying to You. How to Understand your Weight!

We are all so concerned by the number on the scale! We let it define us and quantify our worth. Am i a healthy weight? Underweight? Overweight? I say throw away your scales! We don’t need them and that number that is engrained into your brain is irrelevant, here’s why!

Our weight fluctuates like crazy!! That number changes 100 times a day. Fluctuations in your weight can be down to many different factors.

1. Eating, the food has to go somewhere!
2. Drinking water/ any liquid.
3. The types of food you are eating. Foods high in salt and carbohydrates conduce the body to retain water.
4. Bowel movements.
5. Exercise.
6. Alcohol intake.
7. Sugary foods and processed foods.
8. Some types of medication.

Fluctuations in weight can be up to 20 pounds difference, dependant on your body and its size. From day to day, you might go to bed 5 pounds heavier than you were in the morning. NONE OF THESE FLUCTUATIONS ARE A RESULT OF FAT OR MUSCLE GAIN.

YOU CANNOT GAIN FAT OVERNIGHT. To gain fat or muscle it takes continuously eating more food than the body needs and this doesn’t happen overnight or over a few days.

The most accurate time to weight yourself is in the morning, before any food or water intake. Even then its not very accurate and shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

The number on your scale should merely be a number, no emotions or feelings attached to that number. It is simply data attached to your specific body. It certainly doesn’t define you, say anything about who you are as a person or your appearance.

Weighing yourself regularly is something i feel is quite destructive to our mental health. Due to our society, there will always be negative connotations around how much we weigh. The number on that scale will only make you feel negatively about yourself. When you lose a pound or two it doesn’t necessarily mean you have lost any fat. Similarly, when you gain a few pounds.

Getting caught up with a number that is constantly changing is ridiculous and BAD for your mental health. STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF. You simply don’t need to know how much you weight.

If your trying to lose weight or gain muscle, there is a few things that you can do to measure your results.

1. Take progress pictures (something I wish I had done more of)

Progress pictures can be incredibly rewarding and show even small change. They are also a great reminder of how far you have come and a way of celebrating that!

2. Measure your body

Use a measuring tape and measure your waist, legs, arms, anything. This can be used as a great method to see results. Be careful with this. You don’t want to obsess over these figures either. The size of your body fluctuates too. Again, eating food, drinking and exercise all have an effect on the size of your body, bloating, etc. Only measure in the morning and very rarely.

3. Ask yourself how you feel about your body.

Do you feel that you have lost weight? Do you feel better mentally about your body? Do you feel stronger?

Don’t let the number on the scale diminish how you are feeling. If you feel that you are making progress, most likely YOU HAVE. The scale will not verify that for you.

Allow yourself to feel great about progress, about results. Let yourself feel fantastic about YOU even if you haven’t made any progress.

YOU ARE WORTH CELEBRATING.

Thank you, Follow for more 🙂