Throw away the scale, it doesn't matter
I found myself at my local Five Star Nutrition the other day and did a full body scan. If you have never been, they have this interesting machine that not only measures your weight but it measures your body fat percentage and lean muscle mass. Since starting my fitness journey, I have refused to weigh myself because I easily get caught up in that number. Seeing that I am close to 150 pounds is a tough thing to say, write, or even think about. When I first started my fitness journey way back when, I cared so much about the digits on the scale and not so much about my overall health.
When I was around 20 years old, I started a 1000 calorie diet while working 2 jobs and partying all summer. If you could guess, I lost 30 pounds in less than 3 months without even working out. I was overjoyed because I had hit my goal weight of 115 pounds again. During that time I didnt think about how sickly I looked, I just cared about how much I weighed. Fast forward to now, my visit at the nutrition store was the first time I stepped on the scale in probably six months. These days I am more concerned about keeping my body fat percentage under 20% and upping my lean muscle mass to 70lbs.
My biggest pet peeve when talking about fitness or health with someone is when they throw out how much weight they want to lose. I get if you are overweight and need to shed a few pounds however, you should never make your entire fitness journey about a number.
Muscle weighs more than fat
When I stepped off the treadmill and started lifting heavy weights, I was shocked to see the number on the scale jump up. You hear this all the time but I never actually believed it. When you are working out consistently and lifting weights you are bound to gain some kind of muscle. They may be small or huge but either way they will hold some kind of mass. You need to keep this in mind so you're not freaking out when instead of losing 5 pounds, you gained it.
Everyone’s body is different
There's this thing called BMI (Body Mass Index) which gives you an outline on how much you should weigh based off of your height, age, and gender. This is what someone would refer to potentially to tell whether or not someone is overweight. This can be deceiving as everyone's body is shaped completely different. Your 150 pounds will probably look a lot different than my 150 pounds. You need to be conscious of this too when setting your goal weight and be sure that you are being realistic. Your age also plays a large factor and wasn't something that I considered. How much you weighed in highschool should not be your goal weight as an adult.
Your overall health is most important
Don't spend the rest of your life chasing after numbers. Stress will only make it more difficult to lose weight and take a toll on your mental well being. Get yourself to a healthy point and then maintain it. There’s nothing wrong with setting fitness goals however, don't stress yourself out about it. Your overall mental, physical, and emotional health are what is most important.
My advice to everyone is to just stay away from the scale. I use the mirror as my judge to see what I want to achieve in the gym. Also, don't be scared of the number if you do choose to use a scale. It takes time to gain weight and it is going to take time to lose it. You can't expect to go to the gym for one day and be 20 pounds lighter. Healthy living is a lifetime adventure and has many winding roads, just stay focused and confident. You got this!
If you are interested in getting into fitness or better eating be sure to check out my Fitness and Nutrition guides here . I give you all the tips and secrets you need to know when taking a step into your health journey!
