A lot of stress in our health and fitness journey stems from the amount of focus we put into that ever-changing number on the scale. Most of us let that number have such a powerful hold on us it will dictate whether we continue or not. Unfortunately most of the time we quit. We quit because we feel like it’s a never-ending battle. We feel the need to falsely check the scale day in and day out and end up feeling defeated over the fluctuating number we don’t understand.

The number on the scale isn’t a true representation of your fitness success. It’s a number that your body weighs overall yes but it doesn’t directly tell you how many pounds of fat you’re carrying. It also doesn’t tell you how many pounds of muscle you carry or have gained in your journey. It’s very deceiving and very detrimental to your mental health as you try to make progress with your fitness. 

First and foremost let’s address the comment I hear people say all the time, which is “Muscle ways more than fat.” That’s false, a pound is a pound. However, it is more condensed and you will carry it differently on your body for sure but again a pound is a pound. This is a great thing to understand because as you build lean muscle and burn body fat that number on the scale can stay the same as it did day one. That doesn’t mean you’re still out of shape only carrying fat and failing. It means that your overall body weight is the same but your BODY COMPOSITION is most likely changing. 

The goal of weight training and proper nutrition is to build lean muscle. Whether you want to build large amounts of muscle mass or just tone up you are saying you want to build muscle to some level. As you eat properly and gain muscle you’re going to slowly burn fat over time. So one part of the equation grows as the other part of the equation starts to minimize. For example, if someone weighs 155 lbs with a lean muscle mass of 115 pounds and their body fat in pounds is 40. Over time they can and will grow their lean muscle mass to 125 pounds and drop their body fat in pounds to 30. Ultimately keeping their overall body weight at that very same 155 pounds. This is why I don’t like to use the term “weight loss”. I tell the people I work with that together we will change lifestyle habits and, in time change their body composition and overall health. 

Some things you can do to help stay off the scale is to take progress photos. Keep a before picture and take progress photos once every month or two and compare them. Look for visible change because over time with some level of consistency, you’ll see direct change with a side-by-side of your starting photo to your updated photo. You can also have your body composition checked. Many health and fitness places do body composition tests. Try researching your local area for a place that does so and schedule a body composition test. This way if you see the number on the scale you can figure out how much of that number is lean muscle and body fat being carried. Ultimately if you’re eating healthier, training consistently to some level and you’re feeling good about yourself there is no need to keep yourself cuffed to the scale. So free yourself and DITCH the scale.