Posted by Christiana Carmichael on February 21, 2022

Scaling Back The Scale Obsession

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Written By Christiana Carmichael

Find Your Ambition Founder, NSCA Certified Personal Trainer, NASM Certified Nutrition Coach, Certified Yin Yoga Instructor

What Does it Mean to be 'Healthy?'

What does ‘good health’ look like? Is it getting enough sleep? Practicing stress relief techniques? Or is it making proper food choices? Maybe it’s portion control? Or is it working out? Perhaps it’s taking vitamins and drinking water? ‘Good health’ encompasses all of these things plus so much more.

Health Progression

Maybe your levels – blood sugar, cholesterol, lipids – improved since your last doctor’s visit. Maybe you’ve lost inches around our waist or notches in your belt. Perhaps you’ve limited your alcohol consumption which has led to better sleep and improved mood. Or it could be the fact that you just hit a personal best at the gym or ran farther than you ever thought you would.

With all of these methods available to determine progress, why do we place such importance in the scale? Weight is a combination of water, bone, tissue, muscle, organs, and fat, yet we convince ourselves it is solely a representation of fat.

If your weight is steadily increasing without a change in physical activity, the number shown may very well be reflecting an increase of anatomical fat. The same is not true for day-to-day fluctuations. You cannot gain three pounds of fat overnight. Rather, this jump in weight could be due to a number of things: hormone levels, alcohol intake, hydration status, sodium levels, or maybe you just need to poop.

For a more accurate view of your weight, look at overall trends. Weigh yourself weekly rather than daily. Better yet, use weight as one of many measurements of progress rather than the sole determinant.

Personal Experience

Two years ago, I was working toward bench pressing 75% of my body weight for one repetition. Ironically, my goal over the last few months has been centered around putting on weight. I had a number in my head that I so badly wanted to reach. Just last week, I benched over 100% of my body weight for four repetitions. I was so hung up on my lack of weight gain that I didn’t realize the progress I was making. I thought I was coming up short when, in fact, I was kicking the old me’s butt.

I reflected on my progress, as I so often encourage my clients to do. I realized that while my weight has gone down over the last two years, I’m much stronger than I was. And that is what matters. The scale doesn’t determine my progress; my progress determines my progress.

Big Picture Thinking

It’s so easy to get sucked into the scale-induced tunnel vision. Heck, I’m not even immune to it after years of practice. While weight is an important factor to our overall health, it shouldn’t be used as the sole measurement of success. 

I want you to try this: rather than asking yourself if you like the number on the scale, ask yourself if you’re happy with your progress. Are you in a better place mentally? Do you have more energy? Are you stronger than you were before? Do you have more stamina? Are you making the old you proud? Keep reminding yourself that weight isn’t everything. Progress is.

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Christiana Carmichael

Find Your Ambition Founder, NSCA Certified Personal Trainer

Christiana is the founder of Find Your Ambition and has a passion for helping others through personal training. She is a highly sought out fitness coach and takes pride in her ability to inspire others to reach their fitness goals.

Christiana offers new clients a free online personal training or nutrition consultation through Find Your Ambition and would love to help you take the next step on your fitness journey!

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