Don't Sweat The Numbers

Any Scale Addicts in the house? (***as I slowly raise my hand like a timid second grader***) And "Scale Avoiders"? (Done that too!) Both can be harmful if what that scale reads affects your motivation to keep going...or the lack of knowing what it reads, keeps you out of touch on how all that is going in your mouth is affecting your progress.

If your weight loss progress is too slow for what you see as "worth it", then you run the risk of throwing in the proverbial towel. It is so exciting in the beginning, right? The changes seem to come quickly! After starting a serious fitness program including cardio and weight training, nearly everyone feels better and more energetic almost immediately (aside from the perpetual soreness). But even after several weeks, some people do not see a noticeable change in the mirror, so far as fat is concerned. And the scale!!! OMG...you've busted your butt for weeks, and there's no change! Of course, if you've really been half-hearted about following your program, it's clear why this may happen, but it can also happen when you have honestly been experiencing intensity every day, and have been careful about limiting your portions. It's said, "The road to Easy Street runs through the sewer. You gotta get off the crapper to get to it. " Nice visual, huh?

There are reasons why it takes time. REAL reasons, not just the "It didn't come on over night, it's not going to go away over night" reasons.

Here's what's going on:

First, Fat is stored in several places, within the muscle
1. around the organs as "visceral fat"
2. under the skin as "subcutaneous fat".

If you're inactive as you get older, the fat starts depositing in the muscles first - the muscle tissue gets "marbelized".  Exercise (and specifically interval training and weight training) tends to draw significantly from the intramuscular stores early on, so instead of seeing a major change in the mirror, you may instead feel your muscles getting firmer and less "mushy". That's a good sign. Don't give up! The subcutaneous fat loss (that fat under the skin) that you can see becomes more evident once the intramuscular stores are whittled down a bit.

Second, if you've been using weights or resistence bands, you'll also be adding to muscle mass while you lose fat...and a "pumped" muscle is heavier. Regular exercise also increases blood volume, so the scale will be an awful measure of the improvements that are going on metabolically. It's ironic - cell volume, blood volume - exactly the things that will be helping you to get fit, can be the things that initially make you think you're making no progress.
Fat calipers are a better measure of progress, but even here, if you vary your pinching technique a little bit, you can get inaccurate readings on a day to day basis. Believe me, you're going to have nights when you look in the mirror and say "all this work, and I look the same", and mornings when you just can't believe the improvement. Don't base your enthusiasm about your fitness program on either of those short-term impressions. Do try to troubleshoot by periodically reviewing your diet, intensity, and variety, but stick with it!

IN GENERAL, the initial drop in the scale will probably understate your fat loss in the first few weeks. For very overweight people, the drop on the scale will probably exceed your fat loss. That's particularly true if your diet was very high in carbohydrates before you started. In very overweight individuals, even the increased muscle cell and blood volume is typically less than the initial loss in water weight. A lot of people seem to think that water loss is not "real" weight loss. Well, if your fat level stays the same, that's true. But your body's water retention is largely determined by its fat content. So if you lose the fat, the water stays off as well!                                                                  

Most people will see limited changes for the first five weeks or so while some, more because of significant differences in fluid-volume changes. That seems like an awfully long time to wait, but remember, fat doesn't "spot reduce" - it comes off in sheets, like an onion.  The upper body (shoulders, chest, upper abdominal area) generally shows improvement first. But expect that the areas you've always thought were "too fat" will still look too fat for a while, even though you feel good, look "healthier", and can gradually measure that your fat percentage is going down.                                                       

I think there is so much emphasis on what the scale says that we can lose our ball in the weeds. For most of us this journey and it's greatest achievement, is to add years to our lives and to make those years filled with enjoyment with the ones we love. Those are the best goals!!!                                           

 
If you were able to look inside your body and be able to see your cholesterol falling, your arteries clearing, your blood vessels becoming more efficient, your muscles strengthening, your bone-density improving, and all of the amazing changes that eating clean and working out triggers, it would be clear that the scale and measuring tape are just insufficient ways of measuring success. As these internal changes become greater, your external progress accelerates. Some people just start out needing more internal changes than others, because of their prior lifestyle, long-term yo-yo dieting, and other factors. Please understand that if you're following your daily workouts, and carefully limiting your portions, the progress is happening, whether it's obvious or not.

So don't sweat the numbers. They'll come. Here is your what I want you to do today: STICK to a winning pattern of action that you know will produce results if you follow it consistently. That's IT. And if you do that today, congratulate yourself as a winner. If instead, you insist on measuring your success by whether or not the scale or measuring tape show progress today, you're creating a game you can lose. My Daddy also use to say, "Don't put yourself in the position of trying to manage your consequences, rather than actions." You'll never get a reliable sense of confidence that way. Look, you're following a program that works. Do troubleshoot. Do review your workouts, food choices, portion sizes, and meal plans. But make every day a game you can win!