Throw out your scales!!!

Whats up fitfam?!  So, in my 15 day hiatus.....I've done a lot!  Bronchitis and walking pneumonia overtook my house -- thankfully not me -- Work has been crazy (what is it with this time of year?!??!) and I've been planning for the start of coaching my first junior high Hockey season, which starts tonight! So, while my diet hasn't been "on point" in my hiatus, my workouts most definitely have been.  So get to the point here Megan, what is this post about!

Alright, alright.....I want everyone, yes everyone.....to throw out your scale!!  But why!!! Why would anyone want to do that?!?!?  Think about it....your weight, it's just a number.  But it's a number that you let CONSUME your every being.  You are probably that person who weighs themselves every.single.morning.  or better yet, weighs themselves 5 times throughout the day.  Okay, timeout....you know that your body can fluctuate weight up to 8 lbs in an entire day right??  Just ask Lin about my extraordinary food babies and my amazing ability to hold like 10 lbs of food at one time.  But anyway...back on topic...the scale.  It's just downright depressing.  Who the hell wants to get on a scale after busting their ass in the gym or with their diet just to find out it hasn't budged AT ALL.  Talk about a buzz kill.  I'll admit it, there are times I get like that.  I was in a downer on Friday...I worked hard all week at the gym and expected to see SOMETHING and I didn't.  And then I slapped myself and realized "silly girl. you know better than this!".

The scale means NOTHING when it comes to telling you how in shape you are....NOTHING.  When you weigh yourself, you are weighing bones, fat, muscle, water, the 1/2 lb cheeseburger you ate 2 hours ago.  Lets get in to it even more.  Muscle weighs more than fat....Fat takes up more volume in your body. To get a definitive gauge of yourself, you should be taking your measurements.  I do mine every week. It's much more rewarding to see your inches decrease (and by saying that, I'm hoping it is being replaced with lean muscle mass and not just eating so few calories you are losing everything you have).  So instead of saying "I want to lose weight" everyone should be saying "I want to increase my lean muscle mass".  I'll give you me for example.  My diet has been....well...not where I know it could be.  Sure, I'm eating in a deficit, I'm watching my macros for the MOST part, but I indulge....more than I know I should.  Just ask the tupperware full of brownies and funfetti cupcakes on my counter right now.  Over the past 4 weeks, my scale has gone up 3 solid pounds.  I briefly had a cry sesh over this the other day......and I mean briefly, as in step on the scale, see the number, step off, cry for .2 seconds, then put my favorite pair of pants on that have been too tight for 6 months that actually now fit, and get happy again.  But how?!  I will tell you how.  My gains in the weight room have been incredible.  I am gaining lean muscle mass and losing fat.  My inches lost tell me so.  So while the scale is going up, my body is replacing fat I had stored with lean muscle and decreasing my size.

I ain't scared....I'll tell you....today I weigh 142 lbs, was 18.4% body fat when I got measured last week at the gym, and am sitting solid in a size 2/4 pant. This ain't no lie.... Flash back 5 years ago when I was in college.....didn't know what a diet or a gym was.....weighed 150 lbs and was in a size 10...barely.  It's a hard concept to grasp, I know this, but trust me on it.  Don't be afraid of the weights people, and stay away from the scale.  Take your measurements.  Judge based on "goal" pants. Do whatever works for you, but stay away from the scale.  You will thank me for it later.

xoxo!