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We’ve all been there. Stepping on the scale in the morning and hoping to see the effort of your consistency is reflected in a smaller number on the scale. If that doesn’t happen we spiral, wondering if what we are doing is even working, or what the point is if nothing is actually changing?
Most often we are hyper focused on what the scale says because that is what we have been taught. We tend to think if the scale is up, that equals BAD or the narrative “I’m gaining fat” takes over our brain. By the same token, if the scale is down on any given day, we think GOOD or “I’m losing fat”. This type of thinking pigeon holes us into looking for progress in a data point that doesn’t give us a full picture of our health and our progress.
So often, especially when we are building muscle, we can see the number on the scale go up or stay the same, but physiologically, so many things are changing for the better. So what are some metrics we can focus on instead of the scale?
OTHER METRICS TO FOCUS ON INSTEAD OF THE SCALE
Improvements in Biofeedback
Learn to assess your biofeedback. This is such an important aspect of your health. We don’t want to sacrifice our health in the name of weight loss. What are health biomarkers we want to be looking at? We love to see clients sleeping better. Often a sign of stress is trouble sleeping. When we are eating adequate amounts of food and fueling our body well, we often have better quality sleep. Improvements in overall energy levels and mood are also great markers to evaluate when looking at biofeedback as progress.
Improved Strength and Recovery
Building muscle is so important for overall health. Having an adequate amount of muscle on the body helps improve hormones, insulin sensitivity and can help to lower injury risk. A great measure of health and progress is seeing improvements in overall strength and your ability to recover from your training sessions.
Improved Mindset
Are you learning how to look at roadblocks in your journey as learning opportunities? Is your ability to control the controllables (and letting go of what you can't control) improving? Improving your self awareness around your thoughts and habits can also be a positive improvement to your overall health and progress.
Improved Relationships with Your Body and Food
So often we feel stuck in a cycle of shame, guilt and fear when it comes to food that we eat and how we view our body. Learning how to eat without feeling guilt or shame and learning how to fuel your body well and view your body in a more positive or neutral way is huge progress.
Improvements in Measurements & How Your Clothing Fits
We often see the scale stay the same or go up a little bit, while measurements are going down and clothes may even be fitting better. This is what we call body recomposition. We don’t always need to see the scale go down, sometimes we just want to make that same weight look different.
Better Digestion
Have you experienced less bloating, reduced indigestion or better and more consistent bowel movements? We know gut health is connected to so many other health conditions so this isn’t an area we want to ignore. Improved digestion / reduced symptoms is major progress!
Better Lab Markers
Seeing improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol, liver enzymes, insulin and glucose levels are quite advantageous. Additionally, other markers like white blood cell count and stored nutrient levels can also give us loads of information about your health and progress.
At LVLTN we often have clients come to us for weight loss and walk away with so much more. They learn through 1:1 coaching that weight loss comes easier when we focus on building up our health first. Sometimes clients even realize that they think they want to lose weight and through the process, they gained health and ultimately came to the conclusion that they don’t care quite as much about what the scale does or doesn’t say.
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