Does scale weight actually matter?

Can anyone guess the difference in scale weight between the picture on the left below & the picture on the right?

Go ahead & guess. I'll wait ...........

Before I tell you the answer here is what you need to know. Muscle and fat are very different. A pound of fat and a pound of muscle weigh exactly the same, but they take up very different amounts of space inside the body. A pound of fat takes up a lot more space, as you can see, than a pound of muscle. Hence why your body shape changes & your clothes fit better yet the number on the scale stays the same or doesn't change much at all.

If you are following a strength training program

as well as a solid nutrition plan consistently, you’re

adding lean muscle and shedding body fat. This is fantastic, but these changes don’t mean you’re going to drop 20-30lbs in 2-3 weeks. The scale won’t always show that progress but your body shape will.

You see the scale is only a tool. One of many tools used to track weight, not body fat, loss. The problem with the scale is that not only does it fluctuate A LOT, leaving you with different numbers every time you weigh yourself, but we also put way too much belief in it as a means of progress. We allow some number to dictate our emotional well-being & how our day or week is going to be instead of placing the focus onto how we feel, how our clothes fit or how much stronger we are. Doesn't that seem to somewhat defeat the purpose of going after a healthy, fit life!?!

Don't allow yourself to fall into the trap of believing that the number on the scale is what matters most toward progress because what actually matters most of all, more than anything else, is how you feel.

So what was your guess to the question above?

My mom guessed 20lbs

My dad guessed 9lbs

My sisters both said something like I am not sure but based on how you are asking probably not much. They know me well (haha).

The answer is 2lbs. Yes, a whooping 2lbs!!

In this picture, I weigh 156lbs

& in this picture, I weigh 154lbs

If I were relying on my scale weight alone as a means of progress all these years, I would probably be very disappointed to discover that I've only lost 2lbs. Yet, the pictures tell an entirely different story. The scale number fluctuates and that’s just the way it is. It can change based on how long its been since your last bathroom visit, how much salt you’ve consumed, hormonal fluctuations, time of the month for the ladies, how sore your muscles are and so on.

So just screw it and move on! Stay focused and DON’T give up! Every single healthy choice you make is making you healthier from the inside out. Progress is so much more than how much you weigh & there are so many others ways to measure it.

Do you have more energy?

Are you sleeping better?

Do your clothes fit better & do you see changes in the mirror or pictures?

Are you performing your workouts better?

Are you getting stronger?

Can you run up flights of stairs without getting winded?

Do you feel healthy & balanced?

Don't be so focused on a number that you lose all sight of how you feel & what your body is trying to tell you. Because, how you look on the outside doesn’t mean you will feel great on the inside either. You can be the smallest, tiniest, leanest you've ever been but still feel like crap. And, really what's the point of that!?!

Stay committed, dedicated and most of all consistent. Focus on learning your body, listening to it & paying attention to how you really feel. How you perform. What makes you happy, healthy & balanced. If you're being consistent & working hard then you've made much more progress than any scale can measure. Take things slow, learn your body, remember to love yourself, be proud of yourself and most importantly, enjoy the journey. Until next time,