A few weeks ago I came to a decision for my professional career.  I had to check my convictions and reaffirm that I was not going to be one of these trainers/coaches who simply focuses on pounds lost in order to get clients.

I’m not going to be one of those trainers/coaches who tries to lure you in by telling you that you can lose 5 pounds in 3 days (most of that would be water) or lose 15 pounds in 30 days. (You would lose water and lean tissue and since my tribe is over 30 we need to keep as much muscle mass as we can)

When you make it all about the pounds you miss out on Non Scale Victories such as:

  • Improved Energy Levels
  • Improved Health Markers such as lower cholesterol, lower blood glucose, lower triglycerides
  • Improved Daily Activity Markers
  • Improved Confidence
  • Improved Performance in workouts

Here are 4 Reasons why you need to stop making it all about the pounds

Makes it too easy to give up

I was listening to a program and the gentleman was saying: “Oh I started the first week and lost 4 pounds but then the second week I didn’t lose anything and I got discouraged and wanted to give up.”  Now first off the first week he most likely lost water.  He said he kept going for another two weeks of the program and managed to lose 8 pounds overall.

This is why I discourage making it all about the pounds.  The second you don’t see the numbers change the way you want them to, then you’ll be ready to give up.

It’s a moving target

You will never be happy with the scale.  It’s a moving target.  If you lost 2 pounds this week, it meant that you didn’t lose 4 pounds this week so you’re disappointed.

Next you will try to up the ante the following week which can have dire consequences.

You cannot dictate how much weight you lose and if you try, then you will crash diet.  Crash dieting is the best way to make sure you not only gain back everything you lost, it’s a sure fire way to make sure you gain even MORE weight due to hormonal responses.

Making it all about the pounds is a cornerstone of yo yo dieting.  GIVE UP THE YO YO DIETING and GET OFF THE SCALE.

You do more harm than good

Programs and Trainers that focus on pounds end up teaching people to do more harm than good. Their methods are always the same:  Severely Restrict Calories  and Lots of Exercise in order to make the goal weight.  This will end up backfiring in the long run due to hormonal responses and metabolic adaptation.

As your bodyweight gets lower, you will burn less calories so if you follow the undereat/overexercise model, then you have to keep adding more and more exercise which isn’t sustainable and can wreak havoc on your hormones. All of this leads to the inevitable weight rebounds that people experience on these types of under eating/overexercising programs.

The focus is on weight and not fat loss

Weight Loss and Fat Loss are Two COMPLETELY different things.  A program that focuses on the scale does not differentiate between lean tissue and body fat.  All that matters is that you lose weight on the scale.

When you first start a program, you will lose water weight.  After that comes losing body fat and with the typical undereating/overexercising programs you lose lean tissue.  This is horrible for your metabolism since lean tissue does burn calories at rest and it’s also horrible because the more muscle mass you lose, the more fat you will gain when you inevitably rebound.

Note:  That’s why the people who diet the most have the highest body fat.  They are losing lean muscle mass and when they regain the weight it’s more body fat.  (Muscle does not turn to fat…you lose it and you gain fat)

For those of us over 30, we have already begun to lose lean tissue through the aging process.  We don’t need to lose anymore!  In fact, that’s why we are always on everyone to lift weights to prevent losing too much lean tissue.

It’s bad for your self esteem

This one really gets me.  People who rely solely on the scale and pounds lost for feedback beat themselves up about not losing weight and that negative self talk will not allow people to trust the process and work on the journey which will get them to the destination.  Instead they are giving too much power to the scale and allowing it to label them “good” or “bad”

In the best programs I have followed, they forbid people getting on the scale for 4 weeks.  They want people to focus on their compliance and consistency rather than focusing on the scale.  That is the same philosophy that I follow.  Scale and measurements every 4 weeks if you so choose.

Learn to Trust the Process and enjoy the journey

If you cannot enjoy the NOW, then you will not enjoy the destination because life is the journey.  If you are simply focused on getting to a number, then you will miss out on all on the wonderful changes and personal development that you acquire on the journey. Not to mention that your life is NOW…You don’t need to wait until the scale says what you want it to say in order to enjoy your life.

You need to focus on improving your daily habits one day at a time and watch these small changes lead to big results.

In our accountability group, we are already getting good reports about people walking more, noticing when they are stress eating, and making sure to look at labels.  These types of habits are what is going to lead to long term results.

Don’t make it all about the pounds!  Make it about feeling better about yourself.  Make it about having the energy to get through the day and be able to live the life that YOU want to live.  Make it about being able to be confident in your skin and doing what you cannot do!!!