“The best measure of a man’s honesty isn’t his income tax return. It’s the zero adjust on his bathroom scale.”
- Arthur C. Clarke
Average Read Time: 00:02:25
So it’s been three weeks. Let’s recap that New Year’s resolution. Have you lost any weight yet? Trim back on that 10 – 15 pounds? How about one pound? Did you lose even one pound yet? Feel any different? I’m going to go out on a limb, and say no. If you are looking at the scale, you are doing it all wrong. You are focusing on the wrong thing.
The problem with the scale
Every morning you wake up and step on the scale. Ugh. You’re fat and overweight and in desperate need of a change. You exercise for two weeks, eat healthier and you still weigh the same. What a disappointment! All that time wasted on a treadmill and nothing to show for it. Why didn’t you just spend some more time at the hill snowboarding, or doing something else you love? So you stop. Here we are, three weeks into the resolution. Have you given up on yours yet? The thing is, it can take up to 6 weeks of hard work and eating healthy before you start to see it on the scale. That means for all of you with a 10-15 pound resolution, you are going to see a lower number on that scale likely by Valentine’s Day, probably not too much earlier.
Six weeks! All for nothing?
No, but you are measuring it all wrong. You are focusing on the weight loss. Losing weight will come. I have clients who have lost anywhere from 5 to 50 to over a 100 pounds. The deal is, for the first 3 months, we never talk about it. We never focus on weight loss goals. But we always bring up their weights and their times. Everyday when they workout, they do a cardiovascular test, they run a mile or row two kilometers. That time gets recorded, every session. They get into the rhythm of doing a warm-up of different exercises and we write down the weights and repetitions. In less than a week, we start to see the changes. Changes in times, weights and repetitions.
Watch yourself take baby steps
Understand this right now: Losing weight will take time. But you should be charting your progress, and taking pleasure in the fact that you can now do three pushups, not just one. Be happy you ran/walked a mile in 13 minutes over the 16 minutes you took the first day. Once you start to focus on your weights and your times, the fat will shed. Don’t think about it and you will just notice one day that your pants don’t fit.
Post Valentines Day – Check your weight, and check your pants
I am not one to ever check my weight as I tend to usually go with how I look and feel. But, some people tend to like to have a number attached to their weight loss progress. By all means, I support you. If you are going to chart your weight loss, I recommend a couple things. The first: Try to use the same scale at the same time during the day. Go with the morning, as you usually weigh less then. The discrepancy between morning and evening could be as much as five pounds!
Secondly, try to use a scale that looks similar to this one
Don’t just go by your weight alone. The best ways to measure your weight loss are with clothes and the mirror. You will see the stress fade from the top button of your pants much faster than you will change the number on those scales. Just make sure to use jeans. You really won’t see much of a change in your old pair of sweat pants.
Your Digital Trainer,
Jeremiah Bell
Image by rouxdog
Comments: What is your trick to sticking with your weight loss goals? Do you find checking the scale daily or weekly helps or hinders you from reaching your goals?
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