Mrs. Fitness Here… and I’d like to discuss that small square thing in my bathroom that is always trying to find a way to ruin a perfectly good day. The scale. What happened was I bought a spin bike. Well first I did a little research, THEN I purchased (this) reasonably priced home spin bike to help me ramp up my fitness routine. Anyone who has ever been a spin fan knows that spinning is addictive. Nothing else makes you feel as euphoric as 45 minutes on a spin bike. When you hop down and see the pool of sweat on the floor you KNOW you’ve put in work.

Well I’ve been spinning for a week. A week is not enough time to change your life, but I hopped on the scale with excitement this morning anyway to see how much weight I’d managed to sweat out with my new spin routine. And do you know how much weight I loss…drum roll please BRBRBRBRBRbrbrbrbrbrbrbrb

None.  :-/

I wound up taking off everything including my wedding ring. But still zilch zip nada. If I didn’t know better I’d be despondent. But I’ve learned over the years that the scale is NOT the final word on fitness. My clothes fit better, my body feels better, my energy is up. So that scale can go play in traffic. And here’s why.

Slimming down doesn’t always mean losing weight. It is quite possible to get thinner without actually seeing a change in your weight. This happens when you lose body fat while gaining muscle. Your weight may stay the same, even as you lose inches. This, my friends, is cause to rejoice. So don’t tether your emotions to the scale.  If you do, you may quit a great workout plan prematurely because you are not aware that you’re getting real results. Knowing the difference between losing weight and losing body fat can change how you get results and may even change how you look at your own body.

 What do those numbers on the scale mean anyway?? If you think about it, that number doesn’t tell you much at all. The scale shows your weight, but it doesn’t explain how much of your weight is muscle and how much is fat? Or how much of that weight is water, bones or organs? If you’ve ever had someone tell you how much they weigh  and thought NO way!! I would have never guessed that. It’s because weight is the measurement of many things we CANNOT superficially see. A size 6 athlete may weight quite a bit more than a six 6 person who does not work out, because muscle is dense.  But on sight they will look much more trim and light. Weight just doesn’t tell the whole story.

 Another reason to avoid the constant weight checks that our weight changes constantly. All of us experience weight changes throughout the day, sometimes by as much as 10 pounds depending on what and how often we eat and drink. You could gain weight right now by chugging a liter of water, but does that mean you’ve gained fat? No. And once that water is voided, your weight will change again.

 The bottom line is, if that scale is having a negative impact on your mental fortitude and  it doesn’t help you stay on track and reach your goals, kick it to the curb. There are much better ways to keep up with your progress.

Try these:

• A trusty measuring tape can keep track of inches lost from problem areas
• Pay attention to how your clothes fit and when you suddenly find yourself needing a belt to hold up things that were once too snug
• Check your posture. The stronger your core becomes, the easier it is to maintain good posture throughout the day.
• Try the “pencil test” if you are working on glutes (stand straight up and place a pencil at the point where your butt meets your thigh. If your bottom can hold that pencil against your leg set out to add glute exercises to your routine (lunges, squats, etc). Check back every 3 weeks or so. As your gluteus maximus and gluteus minimus muscles tone up and lift, you will no longer be able to hold the pencil in pace. Now that result rocks much harder than a few lower numbers on a scale!!

For now…forget the scale

Stay F.I.T. my friends!!