The Scales Lie!

The truth is that scales are not an accurate way to measure your real progress. When it comes to getting in shape it’s important to understand that body composition is the most important indicator of progress.  Make fat loss your goal, rather than simply ‘weight’ loss.

Did you know you could be easily losing inches without losing any weight at all? Something your scale isn’t sophisticated enough to measure.

Here are some factors that influence the reading on the scales

Changing Body Composition – Muscle takes up less space than fat, making you look slimmer, and it’s more metabolically active. When you exercise, you gain muscle, raise your metabolism and lose fat, but that fat loss won’t always show up on the scale.

Hydration – Water makes up about 60% of total body mass.  Two factors influencing water retention are water consumption and salt intake. Strange as it sounds, the less water you drink the more of it your body retains. If you are even slightly dehydrated your body will hang onto its water supplies with a vengeance. The solution is to drink plenty of water.  

Excess salt – Can also play a big role in water retention and influence the scale fluctuation– it can make you retain fluid which can also lead to a spike on those scales. Cut back on salt and hidden salt in foods.

Glycogen – This is your “fuel tank” full of stored carbohydrate. This energy reserve weighs more than ½ kilo and is packaged with 1-2 kilos of water when stored. Your glycogen supply will shrink during the day if you don’t take in enough good carbohydrates.

Menstruation – Prior to menstruation women can retain several pounds of water. This is very common and the weight will likely disappear as quickly as it arrives.

Ditch Those Scales Today!

When it comes down to it, the best measurement should always be how you feel about yourself, how do your clothes fit, are you losing inches? If you are exercising and eating right, don’t be discouraged by a small gain on the scale. Fluctuations are perfectly normal.

With kind thanks to

Fitness Guru at The Cosmedic Coach