I have been meeting with a lot of new clients lately and starting people on my 30 Day JUMP Start program. What I forget to talk about until someone asks me is when you should weigh yourself.
First, I am not a huge fan of weighing yourself in the first place. Most people have a number in their heads that they want to be but let me ask you, if you loved the way you looked, would you really care what the number was?? I don’t think so.
Weighing yourself can be addicting because you think it gives your true feedback. Well, it may be true what you weigh in that moment, but it does not tell you what you may have gained or lost, even if the number is the same.
Too many people use the scale to decide whether to be happy or not about their progress. Let me give you an example of how the scale is misleading. If you weigh 150 pounds when you are 25-30 and do no exercise or strength training for 10 years and still weigh 150 at 35-40, you have actually lost about 15 pounds of muscle and gained 15 pounds of fat. But the number on the scale is the same so you think you are the same. What has also happened is that your metabolism has lowered because of the loss of muscle and you might be subject to start gaining weight in the next few years and also have a hard time losing it.
So how should you use the scale for maximum benefit? First, I would encourage you to take measurements and a body composition reading when starting any program or retesting yourself while on a program. Depending on the amount of effort and change you have made in your life, I would suggest only weighing yourself once a month. If you are doing some kind of short term weight loss or detox and want to know what has happened, do all the measurements before and after that time to compare.
People will often report losing inches over weight in the first month or two because of the body composition change. The scale is only one number and it does not tell the whole story. If you are at a weight you prefer but your bodyfat is 35% or more, you have to be extra careful not to miss a workout or not to overeat. The higher your bodyfat, the easier it is to gain weight and harder it is to lose it. Period.
When you weigh yourself, treat it like an experiment so make all the conditions as similar as possible. I would recommend for women, picking a day when not on your cycle. I would suggest it be first thing in the morning, after you have gone to the bathroom, before you eat and naked. Keep in mind, if you find you can see changes happening in your body, things are happening so don’t rely on the scale only to tell you what changes.
I often tell people just to get on the scale when they feel really great and know they are lighter or if they know they have gained weight and want to see how much. But if you do weigh yourself, do it the same way and the same time each time to at least compare more accurate numbers.
JJ Flizanes is the Director of Invisible Fitness and Author of Knack Absolute Abs: Routines for a Fit and Firm Core. She was chosen as Best Personal Trainer in Los Angeles for 2007 by Elite Traveler Magazine and is a finalist for IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year 2010. She is the co creator of the 6 Week Beach Body Program and the creator of the 90 Day Health and Body Makeover Program. JJ’s mission is to help men and women feel gorgeous and confident in a bathing suit without starving themselves or overworking in the gym.
“What I respect about JJ Flizanes as a leader in the fitness industry is that she uses science as her background. In an industry full of hype and fads, I trust her depth of knowledge and matter of fact attitude. She is the real deal and am glad she is an advocate of smart and healthy living.” Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS, board-certified nutritionist and best-selling author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth” and “The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer”
