A love/hate relationship with the scale
I have found as has my wife (bodyspace: judimax) that the scale is just about the last thing we should be using to gauge our fitness results and yet it is the first thing we turn to.
We both have had a love/hate relationship with the scale and have finally found that it does have a purpose but not to tell us if we are getting fit. It is to only tell us how much we weigh on any given day and nothing more and should be the last thing we use to check our progression.
First and foremost but almost never done is to take our body measurements. Using a flexible or tailor’s tape measure record the size of your neck, shoulders, chest, waist (at the bellybutton) hips (yes, men too) thighs, calves, biceps, forearms and wrist. You should do this once a month and record the numbers and check to see where you are losing inches. I call it shape-shifting and it is a better indicator of whether your workout routine is working than the scale. If you are losing inches you are making progress and although it may not show up on the dreaded bathroom scale mostly because of the possibility that you are gaining muscle along with losing fat and the fact that muscle weighs more than fat it does prove you are going in the right direction.
Next I believe comes bodyfat. There are a number of devices on the market that will give you a close estimate of your bodyfat percentage, none will give you an exact unless you are willing to invest big dollars and get tested in a dunk tank device, which for most of us is taking it to the extreme. The one I use is a hand held device that you hold in both hands after entering a few things like your age, height and sex and a few seconds after you hit start it gives your bodyfat percentage and BMI readings. By recording the results of this device once a week you will get a fairly decent indication if what you are doing and how you are eating is working.
Last and definitely least, I check my weight on the bathroom scale and enter that in my log and by looking at all three of these I can ascertain whether I am progressing towards my goal or regressing back to where I no longer want to be.
Another not so accurate but still useful way to see if you are getting fit is to check how your clothes are fitting. If pants that used to be tight on you now slide way down your hips on their own then you are doing something right and need to be keeping on doing what you are doing. If you can no longer get into those same clothes then I believe you should reevaluate your current program and choose another that has you consuming less and exercising more.
The bathroom scale does play a role in your fitness program but it is not the end all – be all, and although we are going to be tempted to judge our progress by what it says it is best to use some of the other more accurate ways to evaluate our progress.
June 4, 2008 at 2:53 pm
The scale is so tempting, even when its a cold as ice mistress. I usually weight myself every 3 weeks because i know we fluctuate on a daily.
June 12, 2008 at 1:07 am
I check my weight way too often. Thankfully, I have no scale at my apartment, but my boyfriend does. I check my weight in the morning, and at night, with my clothes and without. I check it before and after I have some sort of bowel movement. Part of it is fun, "let’s see how much weight I can lose with this poop…" But I get obsessive when I am there or at my gym. My weight is going down, but I check it way too often. I know it isn’t the true test, but it is so accessible, and I often rely on it soley. Thanks for the blog. We all do it, but it is often so hard to get away from.
June 12, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I was told the most accurate way to get your weight is to have 2 scales… put one foot on each scale and weigh yourself… you’ll be able to see which side of your body weighs more depending on which leg you tend to lean your weight more towards…?
something like that… don’t quote me on it though… a marine in my office was the one that gave me that info…
June 13, 2008 at 8:23 am
I definitely fall intot hat trap. Think I’ll order a bodyfat tester though since that would be better. I think we’ve been so programmed to expect the scale to drop as we get fit, that we base our "success" on the scale. Thanks for the blog.