We’ve got some really great diet tips for you that involve something quite unique, your bathroom scale! So you wake up every morning and you stand on your bathroom scale to see how much weight you have lost or gained. If you’ve gained weight, you instantly feel down and proceed to begin your day on a negative note.
You think, “I don’t understand what I did wrong, I have been working out more!” or “I can never lose weight, this is so frustrating.” On the other hand, if you step on the scale and you have lost weight, you are ecstatic and add little more pep in your step that day.
Want to know the truth about your bathroom scale and weight loss? It is impossible to gain or lose 3 to 5lbs of fat in one or even 2 days — Im-Posss-I-Ble! This type of weight variation could only be due to daily water fluctuations. You see, your total weight is made up of several variables: fat, muscle/tissue/organs, bone and water. The bathroom scale measures bone, muscle and water very well, but since fat is much less dense than bone, our bathroom scales are not as accurate in measuring fat. Phew!
Additionally, if you are eating the right foods for your body type, you will likely put on muscle and lose fat. Let’s say for example that you were to put on 2 pounds of muscle and you lose 3 pounds of fat in 1 week. The bathroom scale would only show that you lost 1 pound overall, which unfortunately leads you to believe that what you are doing is “not working.” This type of body composition change — increase in muscle and decrease in fat — is exactly what you want! But, that darn bathroom scale would tell you differently. Ugh!
Diet Tips: How To Know If You’re Actually “Losing” Weight
Here are some important diet tips: you never ever want to lose muscle or bone as losing either of these can be very catabolic and acidic for the body. Plus, this type of weight loss will slow down your metabolism and set you at higher risk for Osteoporosis. You do, however, want to lose fat!
So, how can you measure your fat loss? Throw out your bathroom scale! (no but seriously, it’s your fat-loss enemy)
- Focus on how your clothes are fitting instead of the number on the scale
- Use a tape measure to measure around your arms, waist, hips, or thighs. Track this measurement every 2 weeks to see your progress.
- Team up with a personal trainer to get a body-caliper test where they can measure your fat mass.
- Visit a Nutritionist who uses a bio-impedance scale in their office to track body composition results.
For more great diet tips and ways to lose weight and improve your health, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter in the right hand sidebar above. You can visit www.nourishedbalance.com to schedule a free body-composition measurement and track your body composition results if you are interested to see where you are at in term of fat measurement!
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