Don't Be a Slave to Your Scale

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There is an old saying used in business that can be applied to our daily lives: "Your attitude affects your altitude." It means the better your disposition, the more likely you are to succeed. You might be asking yourself, "What does this have to do with my trying to get my pre-baby body back?" It has everything to do with it. If you don't believe in yourself and what you're doing, you are setting yourself up for failure. Attitude is everything! A bad attitude leads to missed workouts and poor food choices. A good attitude can be the key to reaching your fitness goals.

Nothing can wreck a good attitude like those numbers of the scale. No matter what, do not live and die by the scale. It will break you down and tear your self-esteem apart. The scale will lie to you. It will tell you that you can't achieve your goals and you should give up. Do yourself a favor, step away from the scale!

Why are we so anti-scale? Because frequent weighing is misleading. Did you know that your weight can fluctuate as much as five pounds in a single day? Yes, five pounds! The sneaky thing about the scale is that it weighs everything, not just fat. It weighs muscle, bone, water, and bodily waste. A fluctuation in your weight can be caused by so many things. The biggest culprits are listed below.

Menstrual Cycle

Good old Mother Nature, she's a beast. Bloating, cramps, swelling, mood swings, cravings, binge eating, and yes, weight gain! Um ... can you say water retention? During that time of the month, our bodies hold onto fluids like a world drought is coming. Weighing yourself around your menstrual cycle is never a good idea.