What’s Your Number… Or, Does it Matter?
What’s Your Number? ….Or does it really matter? Shouldn’t determining how you feel “outweigh” the number on the scale? Yes, I know that there are specific requirements for certain sports where you must, “make weight.” That’s not the direction of this post!
You may be on a fitness, weight loss, or overall healthy journey to a better you. That’s fantastic, good for you!! Chances are you have a scale in your bathroom that stares and judges you on a superficial level. Do you let this scale with its magic screen determine how your mood for the day is going to be or define how healthy you are?
If the scale is consuming you and you find it difficult to step away from daily checks, then take the batteries out of that bad boy and tuck it away, there are other options to measure your successes!
A very important question for you to ask is, “what is my goal?” Do you desire a lower number on that little screen or would you rather feel like your body is improving on an overall “scale?” I know we’ve all heard the common goal from others, “I want to lose weight.” I always reply by emphasizing that weight is just a number showing the heaviness of our body composition to include bone, muscle, fat, hair, skin, nails etc. all combined. Who cares how much my hair weighs! So what you’re really telling me is that you want to lose fat, right? You want to create a leaner physique, increase strength, stability, power, endurance, energy, vitality and become more metabolically efficient? “Yes,” is the most common answer!
I am a firm believer of knowing what is happening inside my body. No scale that I have ever been on is going to give me details of my body composition or tell me how much lean muscle mass I have. This is where the whole fat versus muscle topic often gets brought up. Which weighs more, fat or muscle? The long time answer blurted out is often, “muscle.” Let’s just clarify, and for those reading this post I hope I am informing you and sharing knowledge that you may not understand. For some, this may be a concept you’ve known and understood for quite some time (good for you)! Ok, one pound of fat and one pound of muscle equal the exact same thing, one pound. Bless my grandma’s heart, she is going to be 75 this year and insists on telling me that muscle weighs more than fat. I promise you, I have exhausted every possible option trying to explain this concept to her. Here is the difference in the two; density. Density is simply the space something takes up inside the body. One pound of fat takes up a greater amount of space than one pound of muscle. Take a look...
So if you’ve been smashing the gym with strength training exercises, chances are you have gained lean muscle (not to mention some amazing health benefits). Additionally, you may have also shredded unwanted fat all while your scale remains the same. This is the time to use alternate methods of measurement to track your losses or gains!
Try those amazing, sexy, old pair of Levi’s you’ve tucked away just longing to squeeze back into. Take before and after pictures. Try taking waist, hips, and arm measurements that you can use to compare to in a few weeks. Performance is also measureable. Ask yourself if you see improvement during exercise, are you performing at a higher level, jumping higher, lifting heavier, or playing a sport better? What about the way you feel? How is your energy level, attitude, or confidence level? Checking your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels are also all measureable. See, we don’t need a stinkin’ scale! I mean really, we don’t walk through life on a scale, why obsess about that digital reading?
Quit having a bi-polar relationship with your scale; completely loving it one second only to want to throw it off your balcony the next. Do not let that little display determine how you feel for the day or week. Use measurement tools. Enjoy your journey, whatever that may be!
Lastly, I want to reach out to any parents that might be reading this. If you have little one’s running around observing mommy or daddy constantly checking their weight, what pattern or trend do you think they are going to fall into? Monkey see, monkey do right?! The other day Abigayle saw me checking the scale and when she said, “my turn,” I had my motivation for sharing this blog with you!
You may be on a fitness, weight loss, or overall healthy journey to a better you. That’s fantastic, good for you!! Chances are you have a scale in your bathroom that stares and judges you on a superficial level. Do you let this scale with its magic screen determine how your mood for the day is going to be or define how healthy you are?
If the scale is consuming you and you find it difficult to step away from daily checks, then take the batteries out of that bad boy and tuck it away, there are other options to measure your successes!
A very important question for you to ask is, “what is my goal?” Do you desire a lower number on that little screen or would you rather feel like your body is improving on an overall “scale?” I know we’ve all heard the common goal from others, “I want to lose weight.” I always reply by emphasizing that weight is just a number showing the heaviness of our body composition to include bone, muscle, fat, hair, skin, nails etc. all combined. Who cares how much my hair weighs! So what you’re really telling me is that you want to lose fat, right? You want to create a leaner physique, increase strength, stability, power, endurance, energy, vitality and become more metabolically efficient? “Yes,” is the most common answer!
I am a firm believer of knowing what is happening inside my body. No scale that I have ever been on is going to give me details of my body composition or tell me how much lean muscle mass I have. This is where the whole fat versus muscle topic often gets brought up. Which weighs more, fat or muscle? The long time answer blurted out is often, “muscle.” Let’s just clarify, and for those reading this post I hope I am informing you and sharing knowledge that you may not understand. For some, this may be a concept you’ve known and understood for quite some time (good for you)! Ok, one pound of fat and one pound of muscle equal the exact same thing, one pound. Bless my grandma’s heart, she is going to be 75 this year and insists on telling me that muscle weighs more than fat. I promise you, I have exhausted every possible option trying to explain this concept to her. Here is the difference in the two; density. Density is simply the space something takes up inside the body. One pound of fat takes up a greater amount of space than one pound of muscle. Take a look...
So if you’ve been smashing the gym with strength training exercises, chances are you have gained lean muscle (not to mention some amazing health benefits). Additionally, you may have also shredded unwanted fat all while your scale remains the same. This is the time to use alternate methods of measurement to track your losses or gains!
Try those amazing, sexy, old pair of Levi’s you’ve tucked away just longing to squeeze back into. Take before and after pictures. Try taking waist, hips, and arm measurements that you can use to compare to in a few weeks. Performance is also measureable. Ask yourself if you see improvement during exercise, are you performing at a higher level, jumping higher, lifting heavier, or playing a sport better? What about the way you feel? How is your energy level, attitude, or confidence level? Checking your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels are also all measureable. See, we don’t need a stinkin’ scale! I mean really, we don’t walk through life on a scale, why obsess about that digital reading?
Quit having a bi-polar relationship with your scale; completely loving it one second only to want to throw it off your balcony the next. Do not let that little display determine how you feel for the day or week. Use measurement tools. Enjoy your journey, whatever that may be!
Lastly, I want to reach out to any parents that might be reading this. If you have little one’s running around observing mommy or daddy constantly checking their weight, what pattern or trend do you think they are going to fall into? Monkey see, monkey do right?! The other day Abigayle saw me checking the scale and when she said, “my turn,” I had my motivation for sharing this blog with you!