13 reasons to ditch the scale…

Losing weight is great, but attaching too much importance to it can be very dangerous. Here’s why:

From early on we are conditioned to attach our self-worth to the weight on the scale. When we go to the doctor’s office for any kind of examination we are asked to tell them our height and to weigh ourselves so they can calculate our BMI (which was invented by a mathematician by the way, not a doctor) and determine whether we are in the healthy range or not. Celebrities are constantly sharing their newest diets and workouts to help us lose weight. The media consistently talks about weight loss secrets too.

However, if you really think about it, losing weight will not be the sole reason why you will feel fitter, healthier and better in your skin. The reason why most people feel better when they lose weight is not because the number on the scale has changed, but because:

• Their clothes fit better,

• They have more energy,

• They become healthier,

• Their sleep has improved,

• They are stronger.

We attach way too many emotions to the number on the scale - a number that fluctuates more than the stock market - for literally nothing. Imagine going on a date and asking someone how much they weigh to determine whether they are worth pursuing or not. Sounds silly, right? That single number does not define our worth in any shape or form. We are worth a lot more than that.

Your weight can fluctuate depending on so many different factors listed below that will make you want to ditch the scale and focus on things that actually matter…

1.eating food & drinking water

If it’s in your belly, it will add to your weight. So, weighing yourself in the morning when you’re fasted and after going to the bathroom will be the best way to collect reliable data. Still, this might not give you an exact and accurate representation of what your mass actually is.

2.Having more salt

Salt induces water retention in your body, so if you eat more salt the day before and then step on the scale, even if you have the same amount of food, you will weigh more the next morning purely because your body is holding onto more water.

3.Stress

Your body tries to protect itself from stress by holding onto water. If your stress levels are high, your body will feel more puffy and watery.

4.Sleep

Not sleeping enough can also make you weigh more, as your body doesn’t have a chance to relax and digest all the food that you had the day before. Go to bed on time!

5.having your period

If it’s that time of the month, or leading up to it, your body will start holding onto more water, as it is getting ready to shed your uterine lining. Due to the increased hormonal stress, you’ll retain more water and weigh more.

6.you trained hard

If you are crazy inflamed due to having a hard workout or cardio session the day before, your body will try to use water to help recover. This will lead to the scale showing a higher weight due to water retention.

7.Eating more carbs

Our body stores glycogen in our muscles for fuel. For each gram of carb stored it has to store 4 grams of water, so it doesn’t dehydrate. If you have a heavy carb meal the night before, you might wake up heavier due to your body having full glycogen stores, meaning more water stored too. (This is not a bad thing by the way.)

8.Creatine

Taking creatine to help with recovery and strength at the gym will result in a slight increase in your weight due to the supplement dragging more water into your muscles to aid with recovery.

9.Being sick

If you’re ill, due to inflammation and wanting to recover quick, you’ll hold onto water. Again, this is a good thing in this case, as it will help your body fight off the illness.

10.going to the toilet

If you haven’t emptied your bowels and bladder before stepping on the scale you will definitely weigh more. Try to go number 1 and number 2 before you weigh in in the morning, so you don’t have to worry about that affecting your set of data.

11.Temperature change

In warmer weather your body will try to protect you and cool you down by sweating more. It will also try to hold onto as much water as possible, so it can shuffle it to your skin when needed to keep your temperature low. So, if you’re on holiday and your scale is up by a couple pounds, take the temperature change into account.

12.You overate during the weekend

It happens to everyone. You’re doing great with your diet during the week and then fall off track during the weekend. You might just end up storing water weight due to the increased carb and salt intake you had or you might have taken yourself out of a calorie deficit. Give yourself a couple days to readjust and only then weigh yourself if you must.

13.You drank alcohol

Alcohol - a toxin for our body - is a natural diuretic, which makes all the sense when you think about how many bathroom breaks you need to take on a long night out. It dehydrates your body and decreases water retention, making your weight shift lower.

There are so many other factors that can make your weight fluctuate, so I would just recommend either A) ditching the scale as an indicator for your progress altogether or B) using the scale as only one, very insignificant indicator of your progress out of a lot more measures.

Which is exactly what we do on Team Coached by Hajni. We use weight as one of many indicators when measuring progress and focusing very little on the scale and more on things that matter like how you feel, how your clothes fit, whether you’re getting stronger and whether you’re healthier or not.

Weight is just a number that can change minute by minute.

Stop letting it define your worth!

Take the next step to getting your dream body while eating your favourite foods and book a FREE Discovery Call [CLICK HERE] with me.