As soon as you begin to watch your weight loss wellness, your eyes become transfixed by the number on the scales. However, while the scales technically show you how much weight you’re losing, they’re not actually the most effective tool for monitoring your progress. In fact, the scales can actually be detrimental to your wellbeing as well as your progress, making you think you’re no closer to getting the body you want when, in actual fact, you’re doing great!
According to fitness author and natural bodybuilding champion Cécile Bayeul, ‘When we start a diet, we see immediate improvements on the scale just by changing our food habits. Every beginning of a diet and training programme is very motivating. We are so happy to see the pounds going down that we don’t really try to understand the why behind it…However, weight training (yes, you should be weight training if you are looking to lose fat) will also make you gain muscle. In addition, because a large part of your initial weight loss comes from losing excess water weight and glycogen (excess carbohydrates), eventually you will start to lose only 1-2 lbs a week, and at times the scale might even stay the same. And this is when we start losing our motivation.’
Once you see the number on the scale stop moving, you can think your diet isn’t working anymore and logically ask yourself; “What’s the point?” This thought process is what makes dieters give up the battle for a better body, start eating bad foods again and eventually gain twice the amount of weight.‘When you reach a plateau, stop using the scale,’ Bayeul urges. ‘The scale is a very good motivator at first, but it becomes a big psychological obstacle after the weeks go by. What I want you to do instead is to use progress pictures. Start from the first day of your diet. Take these progress pictures every two or three weeks with the same position and the same clothes. If you want to, you can also take some measurements with a tape measure and write them down on your progress pictures. Measure your hips and your waist at the very minimum. You can also add to that some thigh measurements and some arm measurements as well.’ That way, you have an accurate picture of how your body is changing.
The key thing to remember is that weight loss and fat loss are not the same thing. When people say they are “big-boned,” they’re not (always) in denial about their size; they really do just have larger bone mass which equates to a higher number on the scale. Likewise, when you’re gaining muscle through your fitness regime, you’re losing fat and looking great but the scale can distort that perception of yourself, and discourage your efforts. Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton lost five kilos whilst doing Strictly Come Dancing, but that was all muscle loss (she had hardly any fat on her to begin with, let alone five kilos worth!) There’s no reason for women to fear building their muscles. In fact, you should embrace it for the following reasons:
1. Gender differences: ‘Women don’t produce the amount of testosterone that guys do,’ Bayeul asserts. ‘Because of this you will not get manly looking muscles. Thus, do not be afraid of lifting those weights.’
2. Faster weight loss: Bayeul points out, ‘Every pound of muscle burns up to an additional 50 calories. So ten pounds of extra muscle not only will give you some killer curves, but the ability to burn up to an additional 500 calories a day!’
3. Curves to die for: ‘Building muscle is the key to not only permanent weight loss, but also to the fit curves you are looking for,’ Bayeul assures.
