Hey Y'all
How are you doing?
Today I wanted to talk about something that I have been wondering about and researching recently. With all that is going on with my health, I have to keep an eye on my weight to make sure it's stable and not going down too low. Somehow, recently it has been stable and the scales have been going up - higher than ever before. I couldn't fathom out how this could be possible being that my eating isn't all that great and is mainly chocolate for energy. Then it occurred to me that I do so much cheer and exercise at the moment that muscle is obviously developing. Muscle means extra weight. So, what the scales are telling me aren't all that accurate. They aren't really helping me keep track of what my actual body weight is muscles aside.
The realisation of this then got two things floating around my head. Firstly, it made me understand why my 'weight' has been going up or staying stable and therefore leads to doctors really not taking much notice of me as they think I am coping just fine. Even when I'm not. :(
Secondly, everyone who is wanting that perfect bikini body for the summer or even to just lose weight, ever wondered why the scales are going up no matter what diet you keep to? What about those exercises you have been doing too? They've been giving you some good old muscle. That's a good thing.... it just doesn't help with accurate scale reading.
When we are watching our weight and figure for whatever reason be it health or to get that bikini body, we use a combination of the mirror and the scales. The mirror shows us what we want to see or don't want to see and the scales tell us a number, but in reality... they're anything but accurate when you really think about it.
So, me being me decided to google this shiz and find out more. This is what I found out in words that hopefully is easy to understand.
The Problems with Weight Loss/Keeping Track of weight.
If you are wanting to lose weight, it’s most likely because you carry too much fat. There are people who must lose weight, like athletes before a competition, but most want fat loss. For every lb of fat you lose, you may gain a lb in muscle. So when you weigh yourself on the scales, it is as if you haven't lost any weight when in actual fact you did lose some fatty weight but kept it on with the muscle weight. So we should stop weighing ourselves for these two reasons:
There are a few ways to track your weight more accurately be it for health reasons or weight loss reasons.
You don’t need to track progress weekly, changes wouldn’t be drastic enough. Track it every 2 weeks or so.
Stop Weighing Yourself Daily - The daily fluctuations will mess with your motivation. Weigh yourself once every 2 weeks, not more.
Stop Looking in The Mirror - Self-image issues can skew perception. Shoot full body pictures and compare them with old ones.
Track Body Fat - Get a fat caliper and track your body fat every 2 weeks.
Take Measurements - Measurements of your neck, chest, arms, waist & thighs. Your waist should go down and the rest should go up.
Take Pictures - Full body pictures from ankle to neck, front/back/side, every 2 weeks. Compare it with your previous pics.
Strength Stats - Log your workouts. Strength going up means muscle gains and strength training prevents muscle breakdown. Listen also to what people say. They’ll notice your body change more than you will as they don't see it every day. Your clothes will also start to feel differently too which is a really good way to see fat loss.
So, in conclusion, weighing ourselves doesn't actually tell us how healthy we are. So when doctors ignore me pretty much because my weight is stable.... they're not taking into account the muscle weight that I have gained or is what is keeping on the lbs.
When we are watching our weight and figure for whatever reason be it health or to get that bikini body, we use a combination of the mirror and the scales. The mirror shows us what we want to see or don't want to see and the scales tell us a number, but in reality... they're anything but accurate when you really think about it.
So, me being me decided to google this shiz and find out more. This is what I found out in words that hopefully is easy to understand.
The Problems with Weight Loss/Keeping Track of weight.
If you are wanting to lose weight, it’s most likely because you carry too much fat. There are people who must lose weight, like athletes before a competition, but most want fat loss. For every lb of fat you lose, you may gain a lb in muscle. So when you weigh yourself on the scales, it is as if you haven't lost any weight when in actual fact you did lose some fatty weight but kept it on with the muscle weight. So we should stop weighing ourselves for these two reasons:
- It's Unreliable: Your body-weight can fluctuate daily since it’s influenced by your stomach/bowel/bladder content, water loss/retention, muscle loss/gain, fat loss/gain, … You’ll have no idea what’s actually going on.
- It's Irrelevant: 2 people with similar height can weigh the same, but look completely different because one has lower body fat than the the other. Look at the picture for example.
There are a few ways to track your weight more accurately be it for health reasons or weight loss reasons.
You don’t need to track progress weekly, changes wouldn’t be drastic enough. Track it every 2 weeks or so.
Stop Weighing Yourself Daily - The daily fluctuations will mess with your motivation. Weigh yourself once every 2 weeks, not more.
Stop Looking in The Mirror - Self-image issues can skew perception. Shoot full body pictures and compare them with old ones.
Track Body Fat - Get a fat caliper and track your body fat every 2 weeks.
 |
| Fat Caliper |
Take Measurements - Measurements of your neck, chest, arms, waist & thighs. Your waist should go down and the rest should go up.
Take Pictures - Full body pictures from ankle to neck, front/back/side, every 2 weeks. Compare it with your previous pics.
Strength Stats - Log your workouts. Strength going up means muscle gains and strength training prevents muscle breakdown. Listen also to what people say. They’ll notice your body change more than you will as they don't see it every day. Your clothes will also start to feel differently too which is a really good way to see fat loss.
So, in conclusion, weighing ourselves doesn't actually tell us how healthy we are. So when doctors ignore me pretty much because my weight is stable.... they're not taking into account the muscle weight that I have gained or is what is keeping on the lbs.
What are your thoughts on this topic? I'd love to know.
But for now.... that is all until next time.
Stay Strong
<3
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