Weigh ins and scales are all fine and dandy. They are both useful tools at times!
However, we have given the scale far too much power.
Sure, it might feel cool to see a quick decrease on the scale... but at what cost?
If you overly restrict calories and do a ton of cardio, you can drop 10 lbs in a few days. But did you lose fat or muscle mass? Most likely, you lost muscle mass.
After doing a crash diet and losing a bunch of weight quickly, 9 out of 10 times people gain it back and then some.
What if we found a sustainable, non-miserable way? You can see results and still eat/ enjoy your food. You don't even have to step on a scale or hop on a treadmill!
*Non-Scale Goals has entered the chat*
I love non-scale goals!!!
Rather than weighing in all the time, try tracking progress with:
Performance Goals
Performance goals are my favorite! As your fitness level increases, your body composition will change favorably along with it. These can vary widely but here are a couple to get you started:
1: Your Mile Time
How quickly can you walk or run a mile? Time your mile at the beginning of a new program and work to lower your time over several weeks. Worry more about getting faster and less about the scale. (the scale will follow suit, though)
2: How Much Weight Can You Lift?
If you focus on getting stronger on exercises like squats, deadlifts, rows, and presses in addition to getting your calories on point, you will see great results.
With the instruction of a coach or trainer, test your lifts. Then follow a program for several weeks or months. Retest. If you are continually getting stronger and controlling your calories, your body will change and you won't even worry about the scale!
How do you get stronger you ask? Track your lifts and add a little bit of weight or reps each week. You will never get stronger by doing the same amount of reps and weight week in and week out.
3: Tester Workout
CrossFit did an amazing job of introducing us to named workouts to do periodically to test our fitness level. You can make up your own or try one of the Crossfit "girl" workouts: Fran, Linda, Barbara, Annie, etc
Here is a tester Workout from my program:
10 Minute AMRAP:
10 Split Jumps
10 Russian KB Swings
10 Sit-Ups
*AMRAP = as many reps as possible
*for 10 minutes rotate through the 3 exercises as many times as possible with proper form
*record how many rounds you do, then train hard for several week, and retest
*when you repeat the workout, if you get more rounds... you got more fit!
Set some fitness goals and chase them relentlessly. This will be far more rewarding then watching the scale every day!
Non-Scale Body Composition Tracking
1: A waist measurement
A decrease in waist size is a surefire sign that we are losing fat.
2: How your clothes fit
Fitting more comfortably in a pair of old pants is a huge win
*for me, I want my shirts to fit tighter lol
3: Before and After Photos
Take photos before you start a new program and then retake them after faithfully following the workout program for 8-12 weeks.
There are so many ways to track progress other than using a scale. My favorite methods of tracking progress are tracking strength numbers and using tester workouts!
Implement some of these methods, rather than the scale and learn to love the process!
Sign up for a free 7-day trial to my workout subscription and I will send you my Tracking Results Ebook + 30 Day Bodyweight Workout Ebook + 31 Day Core Strength Challenge
Love,
Ben