You get up in the morning, have a wee and do a number 2. You stand on the scales, and they show a GAIN of 1.5 kg. What?! You know you\u2019ve been eating well, exercising and doing everything by the book! What Is Going on Here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Breathe!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s go through what scales can show you and what it\u2019s impossible for them to show you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it fat? Is it muscle? Is it water? That\u2019s the whole point \u2013 the scales have no idea what you look like<\/em>.If you do strength training and want to reduce your subcutaneous fat and increase your muscles, what you see in the mirror is more important than what the scales show. Rely on how your clothes feel and what you see in the mirror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is completely normal<\/em> for weight to fluctuate from one day to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are many possible explanations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You avoid weighing yourself during your period (you get a period every month \u2013 your weight goes up then).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 You\u2019re afraid to weigh yourself and see what the figure shows \u2026 though that\u2019s rather like sticking your head in the sand and refusing to face reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 You weigh yourself every day and what you see affects your entire day \u2013 down means you give yourself a pat on the back and up means \u2018I\u2019m going to give up on the whole thing\u2019. And you do these things at regular intervals \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 You move the scales from one place to another to see whether they show a lower figure than the one you saw first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 You shift the position of your feet to see whether that makes a difference to the figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2022 You like the weight you saw after you\u2019d been ill or had an upset stomach \u2013 never mind that you\u2019d been hugging the toilet for three days \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The scales are neither your friend nor your enemy trying to mess you around \u2026 They are a tool to measure your progress.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n But not the only<\/em> tool!<\/p>\n\n\n\n You need to understand the information the scales give you and what it\u2019s for. It\u2019s for you to see the big picture, the trend<\/em>, and tell you where you\u2019re going. It\u2019s not meant to make you happy every day or even every week. What can happen, however, is that you are so driven by the information that you allow yourself to forget about lifestyle change by committing self-sabotage. But the scales can never tell you whether you\u2019re going in the right direction with your new habits, whether your clothes are getting too loose, whether you\u2019re setting personal bests at the gym or whether you\u2019re starting to feel more energetic and are sleeping better.\u00a0The scales are your guide, but they can\u2019t tell you about the condition of your health. As a trainer, I believe it\u2019s more important to know that you feel full, strong, happy and you fit into your old jeans than that you\u2019ve gained 300 g this week. When you understand what the figure on the scales means, you can start seeing it for what it is \u2013 one<\/strong> tool in your armoury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we\u2019ve eaten too much one particular week, we KNOW \u2013 so what do you expect? That you\u2019re not going to be able to see it and feel it? We KNOW when we\u2019ve eaten well, and just because there was a bit of weight gain \u2013 God knows why \u2013 do you really think the scales are messing with you? Again, they don\u2019t show the whole picture \u2013 or at least, not always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is the right amount of weight loss?<\/strong> You get up in the morning, have a wee and do a number 2. You stand on the scales, and they show a GAIN of 1.5 kg. What?! You know…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":14740,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[259],"tags":[267,284,249,136,266],"class_list":["post-14739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-training","tag-acceptance","tag-lose-weight","tag-result","tag-vikt","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe figure you see does not show what your body consists of<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ve gone up (or down) xx grams compared with yesterday<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Some common mistakes concerning your relationship with the scales:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Any weight loss is the right amount of weight loss \u2013 weight loss is, after all, just that: weight loss, whether it\u2019s 100 g of weight loss or 300 g. Be careful with weight loss that is excessive \u2013 that is not always a good sign. Nor can you \u2018place an order\u2019 for 500 g of weight loss per week \u2013 calories are one thing, but hormones play a part as well, and there\u2019s a considerable risk you\u2019ll be disappointed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"