Scales Are Bad
Heather Frey
President and Founder
SmashFit.com
Ok. Let me clarify. Scales in and of themselves are
not bad since they are just plastic and metal and they
are just doing what scales do...weigh things. But what
they don't do is take into account your feelings, like
how hard you've been working out, and how great you've
been eating, and how good you look today. They are
just so insensitive.
They're just being honest you say? I disagree. They
don't have the whole truth. They don't take into
account your fat loss, your muscle gain, and how great
you look in your jeans.
I, myself, have chosen to stay away from them. In fact
I stayed off of them for almost 20 years. I even
turned around at the doctors' office so I wouldn't
know...even when I was pregnant. I knew those numbers
weren't a true indication of my fitness and that
knowing those numbers would only mess with my mind -
so I abstained. But I had a relapse about eight months
after I had Haylen (my 2 year old). I thought it would
be fun to watch the little numbers get littler since I
was already working out and I knew I was losing my
baby weight (by the way my clothes fit). I had a
target poundage I was shooting for and I was confident
I would reach it since I was only a few numbers away.
I mean, what harm could it do? And at first it was
fun. Every week the numbers went down a little more,
and a little more, until one day, it stopped. And it
didn't budge. Week after week, same, same, SAME! I
tried shifting my diet, upping my workout . . .
nothing!! Meanwhile, back at the gym, friends and
acquaintances where commenting, acknowledging and
patting my back at my new shape. So that would make me
feel good, right? But I'd go home, weigh myself and .
. . %$!* SCALE! Never mind my clothes were getting
looser, never mind strangers were asking me for
workout tips, never mind I had to buy new clothes
sizes. I allowed that scale to bully me for months.
And then I stood up to it. "YOU will not control me
anymore!", I said. "YOU, are a liar." And that was
that.
If you have a significant amount of weight to lose,
then use the scale as a guide because initially, the
numbers should be going in the down direction (unless
you are trying to gain weight/muscle than the numbers
should be going up . . . duh). As I've mentioned
before, get within 5 -10 lbs of your target weight,
and discard the scale promptly.
Here are two good ways to judge your progress:
1. Try on your "little pants"
or shorts, or jeans. Perhaps these are pants of
yesteryear, or bought while you were on the grapefruit
diet, either way they are a better indication of
weight loss, or "reshapification," than the scale.
2. Feedback factor - if people are telling you that
you look great, smaller, tighter, even more fabulous
than you already are, believe them! Why else would
they say it? Ok, some may have ulterior motives, but
your friends don't. It gets hard to see your own gains
after awhile and we generally aren't objective when
judging our own body.
Have I gotten on the scale since then (approx . . . a
year and a half ago)? I have, but only a few times to
help me prepare for a competition. Emotionally, it has
no hold on me anymore. But I have to tell you a very
interesting story that actually surprised me. During
the "blue period", while I was standing on the scale
regularly, I stayed at a certain weight. Didn't budge.
More than a year later, and right before my first
Figure Competition, when I was the leanest and most
muscular I had ever been in my life, when I stepped on
the scale . . . I weighed the same as I did when I
left it a year ago!
The moral of the story? Don't use the scale to measure
your self-worth.
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