I used to weigh myself. A lot.
If I had a big meal, if I had been on a diet for two days, if I felt good about myself, if I felt bad.
My weight never really went up or down a lot but the amount that those couple of lbs affected my self-esteem was huge. If I was feeling particularly down on myself and I saw a 1lb gain it would make my mood plummet even further but at the same time a 1lb loss had the power to send me almost giddy with pride.
We’ve all heard that muscle weighs more than fat which means that if you’re building muscle at the gym then technically you may not always lose weight on those scales despite getting leaner. It was when I was taking part in the Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide that I first noticed this. I lost weight at first and felt great but then that scale slowly started to creep up again despite me working harder than ever before on my workouts and diet.
I was gaining muscle but if I had just been going off the number on that scale it could have been disastrous to my workout progress and my fitness motivation.
Since I moved house I haven’t had scales in my bathroom, and you know what? I haven’t missed them one bit. My body confidence is the highest it’s been for a long time and I’m focused on building strength and toning at the gym instead of how much I weigh.
Once a month I hope on the scales at my gym and measure my body fat, weight and BMI which enables me to keep track of how much muscle I’m building and my fat loss progress. If the weight goes up but the body fat % goes down then we’re heading in the right direction! You can get scales that do this at home too but it’s wise to limit your weigh-ins to every few weeks which is a lot easier when you have to leave the house and bring a pound coin to do it!
Since throwing away my scales I’ve noticed a really positive shift in the way I feel about my body and the way I look at weight loss as a whole.
Give it a go, you might be surprised at just how much lighter you feel!
xax