Why I Hate the Scale

I absolutely hate stepping on the scale.

Not because I think I am fat and am afraid of the number it might show me, but because the scale does not show the whole picture and can be very discouraging.

Here are some examples:

Between these two pictures I only lost 3 pounds, however I lost almost 10% body fat going from 31.6% to 21.8%. Only 3 pounds!! If I went based only on the scale, I would be very discouraged, and at times when I made the mistake of weighing myself I was.

Between these two pictures there is a difference of ZERO pounds. None. Nada. Zilch. Hard to believe right?

This right here is why I hate the scale and why I say that it lies. Sure, it may tell you how much you weigh total, and that is the truth, but that doesn’t show the whole picture. It doesn’t tell you how many pounds of fat you are losing and how many pounds of muscle you are gaining, or how many inches you are losing.

So many people just starting on the road to fitness can become quickly discouraged by the scale. I know people who weigh themselves daily, or even multiple times a day, who have become almost obsessed with weighing themselves, and become extremely discouraged any time their weight fluctuates.

My advice to anyone starting on a fitness journey is this:

1 – Take pictures. Lots of them. You may not want to show them to anyone right now, or even look at them yourself. But when you start reaching your goals and are happy to take pictures of yourself, you will be very disappointed if you have nothing to compare them to in order to show yourself and others just how far you have come.

2 – Take your measurements and get  your body fat % tested. These two things will be such a better measurement of your success than the scale and will give you a better picture of where you truly are.

3 – Have someone hide the scale from you. I try to weigh in no more often than 1-2 times a month, but this takes some serious self control. I used to be someone who weighed multiple times a week and I would become so down and want to give up when I saw that my weight either hadn’t changed or had gone up, but now I simply use it to make sure I am staying in the same range and if it happens to have dropped at all, well that is a nice surprise too.

So, stay positive and remember, the scale is only a tool for guidance, it does NOT show the whole picture.