The weight debate - are the scales actually a trigger for weight gain?
Do you still use the scales as a measure of your progress? Does the number that appears dictate how you feel about your body? Is this method still serving you or is it doing more harm than good? From my personal experience and conversations with clients and friends the scales are more often a trigger to relapse into old poor behaviours, no matter what the numbers say.
Have you ever…
Felt like things are going great, you're eating well, going to the gym and feeling really motivated and positive! You decide to step on the scales because things must be going in the right direction…right? Buuut you've gained a pound! [trigger] 😔Disappointed, dishearten, demotivated you go and comfort yourself with food and skip the gym for a few days [behaviour] Oh and now you've got your period too - great! What's the point in all that hard work for nothing?!
Yes it was hard work and you've set yourself back for the sake of 1lb…a small fluctuation that is totally normal with ever changing hormones and does not mean progress has not been made.
Or maybe you…
Had an alright week, a couple of gym visits but a few heavy meals and drank a bit too much the night before weigh in but you at least feel you didn't put on weight so that's the main thing. Step on the scales and you've lost 2lbs! [trigger] Wooo! You feel elated and relieved, you don’t have to be so regimented with your diet…this happened without you even realising! So off you go for a celebratory meal, drinks, you give yourself the weekend off the gym because you earned it [behaviour]…back on those 2lbs go, maybe a bit more and you feel gutted that you went 'off track' and disheartened that it could happen so quickly. It takes some time to get back into your good habits and get those 2lbs off again.
In both of these scenarios where we lose or gain weight, the outcome can be negative. Ok, it could be positive too and weight loss could motivate you to continue but I see more risk of relapse than benefits personally. One of my clients recently gave up going to slimming world because the weekly weigh-ins were messing with her head so much with scenarios like the above occurring frequently - I could not be happier that she's free from the scales! 🤗
There are simply too many changeable factors to consider when using bodyweight as a measure of progress and this means that from one day or week to the next we are simply not comparing like for like. On top of this they cannot measure your body fat which is what I'm assuming most of us would like to lose….right? Below are just a few things that can affect your weight on the scales>>
Carbohydrates in your diet - for every gram of carbs stored in the muscles as glycogen we store 2.7g of water. Go low carb and you will drop bodyweight because those glycogen stores are depleted = water is depleted. This works the other way too - if you have recently had a high carb meal you will be storing more water - it doesn't mean carbs have made you fat!
Menstrual cycle - we retain more water during the second half of our cycle (ovulation to the start of bleeding) which effects the weight on the scales but probably not your body fat levels (scenario one above!).
Hydration - you're probably now getting that bodyweight is hugely effected by water and just how well hydrated you are. 💦
Heavy sweating can dehydrate you and make you appear lighter if you don’t replenish that lost water…you may appear a little lighter after that sweaty spin class.
Alcohol can make you dehydrated so you may appear lighter the day after a night of drinking - like in scenario 2 above! 🍻
Bowel movements - this can make several lb's difference 💩
Exercise - micro tears caused by resistance training can cause the muscles to temporarily retain more water, increasing bodyweight.
A heavy meal the day before or day of weighing will increase weight as some of it may still be in transit!
You get the idea…we're complicated! So perhaps it's best not to use such a basic, one dimensional measuring tool?
The biology part is complex but the psychology element is even more tangled up in thought patterns, behaviours and habits formed since the day we were born. It can take a long time to change these habits for the better - possibly months or even years but it can take just a few seconds to throw us off, one tiny trigger and we can feel we are back to where we started. The difference is you already have the tools to progress at a faster rate so pick yourself up and go again, the sooner the better.
If the scales are your trigger then maybe it's time to ditch them for good. Stop torturing yourself and try another method, maybe…waist and hip measurements, progress photos, dress size, how your clothes fit and simply how you feel. Ladies, be sure to make a note of where you are in your menstrual cycle too!
Ultimately, you have to trust how you feel about your body and know that whatever steps you are taking to improve your health, no matter how small, are way more significant than how much you weigh 🙌
