Lean Bodies Consulting

This is a post I made previously that I thought deserved to be immortalized in my blog. It’s always worth a second look …

Why does bodyweight matter so much to ‘you’?

This is going to turn into more of a rant I think.

What does bodyweight tell you? It tells you what you WEIGH!! Who knows what you weigh? You. Who cares what you weigh? No one else.

What are your goals when it comes to training and nutrition? In most cases, at some point, it will be fat loss … or is it just weight loss? Do you care where your weight loss comes from? Or is the only thing that matters is seeing a lower number on the scale. What if you looked the same? Just a smaller version of your current self? Would that matter?

Ok, so I’ll assume and answer for you - you care about FAT loss, not weight loss.

I mean, if you didn’t care where it came from, then you’re perfectly fine with your weight loss coming from a combination of fat AND muscle right? It’s all good as long as that stupid scale comes down right?

Come on.

What does the scale tell you?

I’m waiting …

Yes, the answer is that easy.

It tells you what you WEIGH!!!

It doesn’t tell you anything about what the composition of that weight is. It says nothing about bodyfat, muscle mass, fat, or anything else. It tells you what you weigh.

Why is it such an important number to you?

Other people don’t know what you weigh; they see what you look like. What are people’s perception of what you look like based on? The composition of your bodyweight - muscle, fat, bodyfat, etc and NOT the number on the scale. People know if you’re in shape or out of shape, if you look good or don’t look good based on well, what you look like … obviously. Not based on the tshirt you have to wear every day that gives a daily update of your bodyweight.

Let’s say you dropped 5 lbs of fat. That’s good.

Let’s say, you happened to gain 5 lbs of muscle. That’s really good.

Uh oh, problem. It would appear to me that if the above were true, you’d register no change on the scale. You weigh the same.

You’re a failure.

Or are you?

That might not register as weight loss on the scale, but that represents a 10lb change in the look of your body. Is that not why you’re training? To LOOK better?

Your waist is smaller, your hips are smaller, your legs are smaller, your clothes fit better, friends and family are commenting on your ‘weight loss’ and asking you what you’re doing … and yet? Your weight hasn’t changed much.

Failure. You realize because of the stupid number your scale spits out … that you’ve made no progress.

Come on!

Is this resonating yet?

Of course you’ve made progress. Plenty of it.

If your measurements have come down, you’re smaller.
If you’re smaller, you’re losing fat.
Fat is weight.
If you’re losing fat you’re losing weight (that is associated with the lost fat)

If the scale says you’re not losing weight in light of the above, well something’s happening.

Something is being added to your body to counterbalance the loss of fat weight.

Guess what? This isn’t a bad thing.

Chances are you’re in the SWEET SPOT of simultaneous fat loss … and muscle gain, which is not easy to do, so if you’re there, be happy and enjoy it!

So the addition of muscle (weight) is counterbalancing the loss of fat (weight).

Is this not a great thing?

What improves how your body looks? Fat loss and muscle gains. NOT just weight loss for the sake of seeing a smaller number on the scale.

Now, get over the scale already, and start paying attention to the signs that your body is improving - measurements, skin fold readings (maybe), how your clothes fit, comments from others, etc.

Got it? Good.

Related posts:

1. The Scale Lies! Daily Water Fluctuations
2. A Little Training, A Little About the Scale and Dexter Needs To Get Shredded!
3. Differing Mindsets & Progress

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007 at 11:36 am and is filed under Beware! Scale Rant , Off Topic . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.