Don't Be a Slave to the Scale

Don’t Be a Slave to the Scale

If you are like most of us, your New Years resolution involved some sort of fitness & weight loss goal. It is the time of year for fresh starts & bright outlooks on what this year will hold. I'm here to tell you that you CAN make this year your best fitness/wellness year ever & you don't need to rely on your scale for happiness!

A scale is only 1 small part of measuring your success. Many people have a number in their head of where they would like to be. When I ask clients why "that" number it usually brings them back to a time in their life where they were happy with themselves physically as well as their life as a whole. The issue with ONLY using the scale to measure your success is that you don't take into account when you lose body fat but put on muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat and fat takes up more "space" than muscle. So even if your weight doesn't drop as fast as you'd expect, if you increase your muscle mass you will get physically smaller. I like to ask people after they tell me their goal weight, "what size do you want to be" and we also record that size when writing their goals.

I use measurements MUCH more than I use weight to show success and results. In the end, EVERY single client I have wants to get rid of fat/tighten up/tone a certain area or a few areas and if we can do that but the scale doesn't move as much as they expected; NO ONE CARES!

We all should be combining cardiovascular training, core work & strength to create a strong, stable & toned body. When you train functionally; that means you use movements that simulate your daily life and that incorporate many muscle groups instead of just one at a time, you will lose inches & weight. This way of training helps you perform daily tasks easier & increase your metabolism. It also allows you to burn a TON of calories while tightening your abs & building muscles! Many people do ONLY cardio to lose weight, and they will lose weight most of the time, BUT they will also lose muscle. In other words, their weight will go down but their body will still be lose & saggy instead of tight & toned. Doing functional training that combines cardio, strength & core will burn calories & tone up the whole body ALL AT ONCE! Also when you increase you muscle mass, your metabolic rate will increase which means you will burn more calories at rest.

There are tools like the TRX Suspension trainer, the TRX RIP trainer & kettlebells that are incredible for keeping your heart rate increased to the fat burning level while challenging your muscles so that they increase their fat burning capacity as well as firing your core muscles! What more could you ask for in an exercise?!

In summary, if you want to lose weight & tone up you need to use body measurements as well as a scale to measure your progress and results, NEVER just a scale. I recommend these measurements so you get a full picture of how & where your body is changing; chest, each arm (around the bicep), smallest part of your waist, belly button, hip bones, around the butt & each thigh(up high around the inner thigh). Doing these 9 measurements will show you exactly where you are changing & re-shaping your body. If you are not seeing changes in weight or measurements in 4wks and are working out 3+ times a week, changes need to be made to your program so that results happen. I do measurements with clients every 3 weeks and there are ALWAYS differences in that length of time. Going no longer than that will also keep you on track if you have been slipping, it will light a fire under you to get back on track again and start heading towards where you want to be.

If you have the proper program designed for you and the right tools you WILL be successful...I PROMISE!

Author: Paula Man
www.performancefitnesstraining.com
published in www.newmarketbaby.ca