Many people spend their lives weighing themselves – several
times a week and even several times a day!
In this fast-pace materialistic life, where fashion shapes
what we wear and where the media shapes everything else, there is not much
space left for personal identity. People feel compelled to follow the trend and
to be as slim as the beauty-biased images portrayed by the media. Hence, to
keep the pounds ‘in check’ the scale has become a highly-sacred, absolutely-worshiped
daily tool for many. But is this really the way to go?
Nutrition is not a black-letter science and weight-loss is
far from being crystal clear. No doubt then, it is too simplistic to think that
the numbers on the scale truly show whether or not your diet is being
effective.
Indeed, most people tend to forget that weight loss is
different from fat loss. While the meaning of fat loss is obvious, weight loss
can mean many sorts of things: loss of fat, loss of water weight, loss of lean
muscle mass, and having an amputated limb would even count as weight loss!
Since our body weight fluctuates constantly due to
body-fluid compositions, it is clear that weighing ourselves everyday (let
alone many times a day!) is not the solution. These fluctuations do not reflect
actual fat loss. After following a drastic diet – one of those rocket two-week
fads – you can easily drop a few pounds but you will also notice that once you
revert back to your normal eating habits, you will pack on those pounds quicker
than you have actually lost them. That’s because you have mostly lost water
weight which is easily gained back. Fat loss in itself is a slow process, so
you can’t expect to get around it overnight. What is worst, is that along with
water loss, you also lose lean muscle mass. Since muscles weigh a lot and a lot
more than fat, you will see that the numbers on the scale will drop rather
quickly but this is not healthy because loss of lean muscle will make you gain
fat on the long run. On the other hand, you may be losing fat but since it is
relatively lightweight, your scale may not be recording it and you end up being
overly and overwhelmingly depressed – O Lord! Why am I not losing fat? – when
you are actually losing it!
Indeed, what you see may not be true and when it comes to
the scale, numbers often lie.
So, what would be the most sensible thing to do now? Let’s
not go to the extent of throwing the scale outside the window (although that
could be an idea too). The Mayo Clinic suggests to weigh yourself and to keep a
record twice a week.[1]
Keep a diary
One surefire way to keep track of your weight is to keep a
notebook. It’s easier then to see the pattern of your weight loss. All too
often, we tend to forget how much we were weighing six months ago and we curse
ourselves for not having lost anything over the past few days.
Record fat loss
If you have access to a gym, you will probably be able to
use their Body Fat monitor. In all cases, this is better than stepping on the
scale. However, if you can’t get access to such apparatus, that’s still fine.
(It’s not the stepping on the monitor that will make you lose fat after all!)
Finally, don’t become too obsessed with your weight. In the
end, these are only numbers. They shouldn’t dictate who you are. So, don’t let
them be the reason why you should be spending a bad day.
Remember: you only
live once. Don’t go nuts because of small trifles and learn to enjoy life as it
comes. You wouldn’t want your epitaph to look something like “Jane wished she
was thin”[2]
right?
So, cheer up … and live on!
