Some days I weigh myself, other days I don't. Some days I weigh myself on the electric scales, others on the manual scales. And then there are days when I weigh myself before my work out and then again afterwards.
I don't know what I am hoping for each time I jump on the scales so why do I feel the need to constantly weigh myself? There is no magic number I am working towards. I have never had a goal like "you must lose 6kg in the next 12 weeks" so why do I constantly need to check in with where I am at weight wise.
Is it an Erin thing, a woman thing or my need to know everything about myself and feel like I am in control of all aspects of my life; including my weight?
When you ask a lot of people, women in particular, what their main goal would be when it comes to their fitness and health most would say it is to lose weight.
Second, would probably be to tone up. Both good goals but what if one goal counteracted the other? What if by toning up you actually put on weight? How would this make you feel when you weighed yourself and noticed that there are an extra few kilos there?
There is a saying I have heard over and over again which I have used myself many times before when I have noticed a few extra grams on the scales ::
"Muscle weighs more than fat"
This is, in fact, an incorrect statement. In one easy point: a kilo of muscle weighs the same as a kilo of fat. No matter how you weigh it, a kilo is a kilo. It is like saying what weighs more; a kilo of feathers or a kilo of bricks? They both weigh the same but while one small brick may weigh a kilo, a huge bag of feathers the size of a car will also weigh a kilo.
Look at it from the other angle; take a block of muscle and a block of fat. Muscle is way more dense than fat so a block of muscle will weigh more than a block of fat of the same size. The really awesome thing is that muscle looks much tighter and a heck of a lot better than the same weight in fat.
And the even more awesome thing is that muscle is far more metabolically active than fat, so the more muscle mass you have the more calories you are going to burn off. Build muscle and shrink the fat! You will look and feel slimmer but the scales may tell a different story.
My new goal is to lose fat and gain muscle but more importantly my goal is to be the best that I can be when it comes to my health and well-being*. I am working hard on keeping both of these as my goals and only weighing myself with Chris every four weeks when he takes my skin-folds measurements. These are the calipers used to measure skin-folds; they look a little scary!
Measuring my skin-folds will be the best way to determine how much fat I am losing and how much muscle I am gaining. And hopefully stop me weighing myself more often than is necessary.
Skinfolds are the best way to measure the thickness of subcutaneous adipose tissue which is the fat under your skin. The Durnin and Wormesley method asks you to take measurements in milimeters in four different locations; bi-ceps, tri-ceps, sub-scapular (below the shoulder blade), lilac crest (the thick curved upper border of the ilium, the most prominent bone on the pelvis) using the skin-fold caliper. For more information and to access the skin-fold calculator please click here.
If you are not able to have your skin folds taken I would suggest taking your measurements with a tape measure. I have "problem" areas, areas on my body that I don't like, areas that I look at all the time and pinch and prod. These areas are my tummy and my hips. When I am a bit heavier I feel that I have love handles and a pot belly. We all know we can't spot reduce fat from problem areas but I found that by measuring my problem areas and monitoring how many centimeters I was losing kept me constantly motivated to continue working towards my goals.
All you need is a tape measure and a piece of paper. Take three measurements;
* Chest - wrap the tap measure around your back and ensure the tape sits across your nipples
* Waist - wrap the tap measure around the narrowest part of your stomach
* Hips - wrap the tap measure so that is sits across the top of your hip bones
I would suggest taking your measurements every four weeks at the same time of day each time, preferably in the morning after you have been for a wee but before you eat anything. Monitor your progress and also take note of how your clothes feel on you! I have my pair of "skinny" jeans that sometimes fit and sometimes don't. At the moment they fit so I am a happy girl!
* I have finished this blog from my bed, where I have been for two and a half days. I am down with tonsillitis and am taking penicillin; it has gotten me badly. I have questioned why I am so sick when I put so much time and energy in to my health. Have I trained too hard over the last few months? Is my fast paced lifestyle to blame? I guess sometimes these illnesses get us no matter how fit and healthy we are. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully I will be able to swallow pain free and eat more than porridge and protein shakes.
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