To Scale or not to Scale

To Scale:

Here’s the thing, many people (women especially), have an incredibly unhealthy relationship with the scale.  I get that.  What I am about to say is NOT for those people.  As a matter of fact, I used to be one of those people.  When I was interning at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in their Strength and Conditioning Department, I would step on the scale up to five times per day.  WHAT?!  I know, right!  That is not normal.  That is obsessive and incredibly unhealthy.  But since then, through having my children and becoming a Beachbody coach, I have learned to have a healthy relationship with the scale.  As a matter of fact, I consider the scale, my BEST and most RELIABLE accountability partner! 

So how does it work?  What do I do?  I think its very important to have a healthy weight RANGE.  Not one number, but a few numbers you are comfortable at.  For me, I have a five pound range I like to be at (anywhere from 113-118).  If I step on the scale and I am within that range, I step off, and go about my business as normal.  If I am creeping above that 118 number, I know it’s time to get disciplined, be more conscious of what I am eating, and amp up my workouts a notch.  I rarely dip BELOW, but if I do, I know I need to consume more healthy calories, and build up more muscle.  This is HOW I have a healthy, beautiful relationship with my bathroom scale. 

To Not Scale:

There are a lot of reasons to not worry about the number on the scale.  One of which is your weight (especially as a woman) can fluctuate on a day-to-day basis for reasons outside your calorie consumption or burn!

But I think the number one reason you can not ONLY use the scale as a reference for your progress is that as you build lean muscle, you actually gain weight. So the best way to determine how you’re doing is by how your clothes fit, how you look, and how you feel, not by how much you weigh. 

A great example of this is after I had my twins, I started the P90X3 program.  The first picture was when I was three months post-partum and weighed 122 pounds.  3 months later, I had only lost THREE POUNDS, but the difference in my physique was tremendous.  I would have never guessed that a difference of only three pounds could LOOK so drastic and create such a different physique.