American Health and Beauty
Friday, March 23, 2012 10:21 AM

Stepping on the scale for scheduled weigh ins can keep you in touch with your goals and guide you toward them. However, obsessively weighing yourself everyday desperate for change that won’t come easy can be detrimental to your morale.

Fat Burns Slow

The leading reason most people give up on their weight loss endeavors before they make any progress is that they don’t see progress soon enough. We are positive you will never see substantial changes in one day, nor will you see them in two days, three days, or four. There is no predetermined time at which you will see results. Believe in your program and stick with it until you see results. You will know when you’ve lost weight.

Woman on a scale
Don’t be a slave to your scale

Weight Does Not Give an Accurate Measurement of Fitness

You could weigh 120 pounds and be out of shape and unattractively proportioned just as a ripped athlete could weigh 150 pounds at the same height. Muscle is denser per cubic centimeter than fat and if you gain an athletic, trim body your weight will likely go up.

Fat Takes Up a Lot of Space

A pound of fat is equal to about 2.14 cups. That’s an entire love handle. This means you could be uncomfortable with a miniscule 15 pounds of extra fat. You will only know how much weight you want to lose when you see a mirror image you can live with. Two pounds may be enough or ten pounds might need to go, but the scale will not help you determine this.

“Skinny” is Not What We’re Going For

When was the last time you looked at an emaciated child from a third world country and thought, “Man, I’d kill to look like that”? Right. Skinny is not attractive. It’s a relative term to start with, but in general a frame with little meat is not desirable to most people. Starving yourself will cause the scale to drop drastically and if you let this be your motivator, you’re going to end up looking and feeling gross.

Strive to Look and Feel Desirable

Why do we strive for a fit, lean physique when obviously we can survive as blobs and still get by? Freedom. We want to be able to fit into the clothes we like to wear. We want to be able to shed layers with the seasons without being embarrassed. We want to feel feminine and beautiful and see the best version of ourselves in the mirror. You will never see your true self in a scale. All you can see is a number. If you weighed more than your “ideal weight” but were 100% confident and comfortable, that would be just fine. Neither your health nor your peace of mind can be determined by the scale so give your bathroom a makeover and throw that old scale out.
www.americanhealthandbeauty.com