
Scales don’t talk but they have a nasty habit of telling you how you feel about yourself each day if you let them. Some days you are over the moon, others you feel your self esteem go crashing to your socks. From my experience as a personal trainer, scales have their uses if used correctly and not too often. Here’s what I’m talking about…..
Mary (not her real name) came to me with the usual “I want to lose weight” mind set as a goal. Actually her husband bought a series of PT sessions with me, as a Christmas present for her, as a surprise. Who’s goal was it then I asked myself? She had a weight loss target in mind and not much else. After a few weeks of good fun training together she announced she was quitting! I asked her why.
“I’ve not lost much weight and I’ve been watching what I eat and I couldn’t possibly put much more effort in to my training sessions so what’s the point?” Several more questions followed.
Are you sleeping better? “Yes, in fact very well”
Do you still get the threethirtyitis? (she would always be tired around 3ish just before it was time to pick up the kids). “No actually I don’t!”
Where’s that nice workout top you used to wear? “It’s a bit too big for me now”
So, You have more energy throughout the day, you are sleeping well AND your clothes are getting a bit too big!! After a brief pause and an upward glance to the ceiling she smiled. “Ok when’s our next session again?”
The moral of the story
If you are putting in the amount of consistent exercise you need to, eating a healthy diet most of the time, trust that your body will be making positive changes and results will come. Body composition will change (loosing body fat and gaining lean muscle) but maybe not at a rate that you think acceptable IF your only focus for success is the bathroom scales. Your life is changing for the better by watching what, when and how you are eating. Your body is getting better all the time simply by moving your arse as many times a day as you can. Know it, feel it.