??? THE DREADED SCALE ???
We’ve all experienced it before…the thrill of seeing the scale drop by 2kg’s in a week, only to be followed by the disappointment of it going up by 1kg the next week.
Scales tend to be most people’s go to measurement when we attempt to measure our fat loss. This is only because it’s quick, easy and accessible. It’s fine to use, we use it with clients all the time. Just remember that the scale doesn’t tell the full story…
As you can see in the graph, ‘weight’ loss fluctuates hourly, daily, weekly! It is NOT a linear process. Our body’s are not mechanical. They are very complexed and there are many reasons why our ‘weight’ fluctuates. This does NOT mean that your body fat is doing the same. Most of the time the fluctuations are to do with retaining fluid / losing fluid for a host of reasons (diet and hormones being the main ones). For this reason we don’t recommend jumping on the scales any more frequently than one a week. Every 2-4 weeks is ideal.
To put it into perspective…let’s pretend we put you into a room where all you could see was the NUMBER on the scale but not what was ACTUALLY PUT ON the scale. We then put 5kg’s of feathers on the scale and asked you to tell us what you saw. You would tell us that the scale went up by 5kg’s. We then put 5kg’s of rocks on the scale and asked you what you saw. You would report the same..the scales went up by 5kg’s! Both look extremely different but you have no way of telling what it was that was on the scale.
In other words, when you ‘weigh yourself in’, you have absolutely no idea what body matter is stepping onto the scale. You can’t see into your body. It could be feathers or rocks! There is no way of determining what has gone on inside you by looking at a number.
Don’t be afraid of using the scale. As we said, they are quick, easy and accessible to use. Just appreciate that the figure you see can fluctuate. Don’t be put off by that. If you’re consistent and dedicated, your weight loss goal WILL be achieved and the scales WILL be down in the end!