Is something weighing on your mind? Are you worried about what your weighing scales are telling you? Indeed, perhaps no other bathroom or household instrument causes us as much distress as the dreaded weighing scales.

While we constantly ‘watch our weight’ to ensure we stay in shape, we might actually be looking in the wrong direction. Granted, the scales never lie; but they can certainly mislead you.

While the beach beckons us during this crucial time of year, let’s examine the weightiest of matters when it comes to measuring your body-sculpting progress.

So what do the weighing scales essentially tell us? They tell us how much our body weighs. The crucial factor here, however, is that the overall weight of our bodies includes internal organs, bones, muscles and other types of bodily tissues. While the only thing we care about is body fat this is but one of many components contributing to our overall body weight.

When we get on the scales therefore, we know how much the combination of our internal organs, bones, muscles, fat and other bodily tissues weigh. We also know how much our breakfast, lunch and all the water we’ve drunk throughout the day weighs. But the one thing we do not know, is exclusively how much of it is fat.

Consider a professional male gymnast or 100m sprinter, and that couch potato from the office who has never exercised a day in his life or paid the slightest bit of attention to his diet. If both men are of equal height and step on the scales to also reveal the same body weight, are we to assume they are both in the same physical condition? Certainly not.

If they both weigh 85 kilograms, you can rest assured the gymnast or 100m sprinter will be packing a lean muscular physique with little body fat, while the couch potato will look soft and flabby, with very little muscle. It is not simply body weight we need to concern ourselves with, but rather, ‘body composition’, or fat-to-muscle ratio.

Muscle is heavier and more dense than fat, so for a muscular frame, it follows that one may be heavier, but also smaller. This is why the body mass index (BMI) scale does not really apply to athletes.

The BMI scale was developed by the American Diabetics Association in the US as a simple means of identifying obesity using only height and weight measurements. Using BMI we are able to assess large quantities of people for research purposes.

But if a lean and muscular 95 kg man of average height attempts to calculate his BMI, he will find that he is actually overweight, when in reality he is an example of perfect health and vitality.

To make matters even worse, body weight can fluctuate quite normally throughout the course of your day, anything up to two kilograms at any given time. These normal fluctuations can be caused by water retention, hormonal changes, constipation, eating a large meal, or simply drinking more water due to hotter weather.

After losing an entire two kilograms of fat, which is enough to completely transform your appearance, you could, in theory, step on the scales and weigh exactly the same as before, purely as a result of normal daily fluctuations.

So what are we to do? Throw the scales out or trample on them? Not exactly. But we do need to stop obsessing over body weight and start cross-referencing with other methods of measuring progress.

Another valuable tool we can use in conjunction with weighing scales is the good old-fashioned measuring tape. When you begin your weight-loss venture, measure the circumference of your upper arms, waist, hips and upper thighs.

Every fortnight thereafter, conduct weigh-ins and measuring sessions to gauge your progress. The best time to weigh yourself is first thing in the morning before breakfast, right before you get in the shower. Take your measurements too, and write everything down.

These fortnightly sessions will begin to paint an accurate picture of your progress. If your waist and hips are getting smaller, you know you are losing fat, whatever the scales might tell you. Indeed, you might actually gain weight, while losing fat. This is actually fairly common among people starting an exercise programme for the first time.

When you exercise, your body immediately starts to undergo an adaptation process. Experienced fitness fanatics will know it is impossible to suddenly strap on two or three kilograms of granite-hard muscle in just a few weeks, but when you first start exercising the muscles undergo other changes, like retaining more water and glycogen (fuel). When we begin exercising, the liver also begins to store more glycogen, ready for the newly increased demands for energy we are placing on ourselves.

Ultimately, the mirror is your best confirmation of your results. If you are training for aesthetic purposes, then your ultimate goal is to improve the way you look. Simply looking therefore, can sometimes be your best judgment of all.

So don’t come down too heavy on yourself, and for results on a greater scale, stop obsessing over your bathroom scales.

info@noble-gym.com