"Converse"ations with Meg

The Scale

Anyone on a fitness journey can tell you, the scale can either be a victory or defeat. For people trying to bulk up and gain muscle mass, seeing that number creep up is so exciting while when it falls it can seem heartbreaking. On the opposite end (the end where I’m standing), the weight loss end, I am constantly wishing and hoping that number will fall.

I think people have the wrong idea about the scale, I hear things like “that number doesn’t define you” or “you are so much more than a number” and while both of those things are true, you really cannot run from the number. The number on the scale is one tool in the fitness toolbox. Instead of using it as a dreaded event, that entire “stepping on the scale” thing, use it as a tool.

If the scale shows a pretty significant gain, I would say 10 pounds or so, spend the next few weeks doing what you know works. If the scale shows consistently between the same five pounds, keep doing what you are doing, it’s working. If you are really trying to lose and the scale won’t move, track and do the things you KNOW work for your body, that scale will move. I write down what I eat every week, just a rough sketch, for breakfast, lunch, supper, and snacks. At the end of the week, I write what my weight did, that way if I am not losing, or my weight creeps up, I can pull a week where I was successful and I am CONFIDENT next time I step on that scale.

While the number does not define you, and you are SO much more than a number, it is a tool, and to deny that is not smart. Put in work for that number, then stepping on the scale isn’t as hard. If you do gain, or don’t lose what you want, keep going because the scale will eventually catch up! The scale isn’t a bully, so once a week hop on that bad boy butt-naked right after you have peed and enjoy the journey, and the number!