Throw Away the Scale

Consider getting rid of your scale

How often to check our body weight when we are trying to get leaner depends on who you ask. Some will say once a week is good enough. Others say everyday and then take a weekly average. I don’t know of anyone recommending weighting yourself more than once a day though. If you find yourself jumping on the scale every time you walk pass it as one would check their reflection in a mirror, it may be time to ditch the scale altogether.

I’ve tried weighting myself daily. Even when weighting at the same time each day, the daily fluctuations make it hard to get any sense of progress. I’ve also tried weighing myself weekly, but still some weeks will see it go down and the next it will sometimes go up. Then I tried once a month, but that to me seemed like a high stakes test that either fuel motivation if it was lighter, or caused me to have to fight getting discouraged if it was the same or heavier.

I question the value of tracking body weight and body fat percentage too frequently. I’ve come to believe this because body weight and body fat percentage are lag indicators. By lag indicators, I mean that they will change, but only after you have changed those things that determine them over a period of time. It takes time. Happy is the one who stops looking for shortcuts. Make small changes, keep them consistently, and the body will change. It will adjust to the new eating or exercising without pushing back if it is done gentely enough. Eating just 300-500 calories less per day should be enough to register a decrease in weight in a month to six weeks. At that point, another gentle adjustment to food intake or exercise may be needed keep things going in the right direction.

Since bodyweight is a lag indicator, don’t focus on it to fuel the daily motivation you need. It is much better to focus on sticking to the diet and exercise plan. That is where the success on the scale comes from. Getting the diet and exercise done for the day is a small victory you to use to motivate you to do it again tomorrow. Keep doing this and the scale will take care of itself in due time.

Yesterday’s Body Scan

I had a body scan done at 5 Star Nutrition yesterday. It’s been about 5 weeks since my last one. I’ve lost 5 pounds and reduced my body fat by 1.2%. That’s about a pound a week. I’m okay with that. Going to stick to my current diet plan for a little bit longer.

One last word

Anything that causes you to become discouraged, is not from the one who has called you (Galatians 5:7-8). That includes the scale. Stick to the course.