Don't Be a Slave to Your Scale

The Weight of Food

If you must weigh yourself, the optimal time would be first thing in the morning when you don't have any food or liquids in your system. Everything you ingest not only has calories, but it also has some weight to it. Sometimes the lowest-calorie foods can be the heaviest! If you want proof, weigh your full water bottle (or a head of lettuce)! You will weigh more after taking in large amounts of fluid and weigh less after a big effort in which your body perspires (for example, cycling or other strenuous activity).

Waste in Your System

Without getting too graphic, we are constantly carrying around bodily waste. This is the gross stuff that's been lingering in your colon and small intestine for a long time. As the waste builds up in your digestive tract, it will cause you to weigh more on the scale. You may have heard of people losing a few pounds after doing a colon cleanse. Well, they didn't lose body-fat weight; they lost waste. While we don't recommend colon cleansing programs, we do think that increasing the amount of fiber in your diet is a good way to flush your waste management system, so to speak.

Lean Muscle Tissue

As you start doing strength training, you will gain lean muscle tissue, a substance that happens to weigh more than fat. So you may actually gain weight. Don't panic! Even though the scale may not be moving, it doesn't mean that you're not getting smaller. Muscle is more dense than fat, so it takes up less space. You can be in a smaller pants size and not be any lighter on the scale.

Ask yourself this: Would you rather fill your jeans with 10 pounds of fat or 10 pounds of lean, sexy muscle? Which looks better in a bathing suit? This extra lean muscle tissue has its benefits. Not only will you appear smaller, but muscle will help raise your metabolism too.

Now that you're armed with the knowledge that the scale lies and weight is only a number, you can view your weight fluctuations with a critical eye. No matter what the scale says, make an effort to tell yourself, "Today is a good day!"

"Today is the day I take control of my life and my body!"

"I am no longer a slave to my scale!"