The Scale May Be Destroying Your Progress

Lean Muscle Mass is the answer to everything

Chill out with that scale.

Yes you.

You know I’m talking to you.
You’re being obsessive… and you need to relax. If you’re mad right now... friendly reminder: I’m not really talking directly to you. This is a general piece of advice because it’s super common.

I know you “know” that muscle weighs more than fat, but what does that really look like?

If we’re being technical 1lb of anything is equal to 1lb everything else. 1lb of fat has dramatically more volume though. Have you seen what it looks like before? No, I don’t mean this…

I mean this…

Does that help give you a better visual account of what muscle versus fat looks like?

So…this woman gained 14lbs!

The scale does not reflect this type of transformation.

The scale is also unreliable because of factors like:

• Digestion

• Bowel movement quality

• Sodium intake

• Menstruation cycles

• Scale error

Is this getting clearer?

If you are relying on the scale... and this type of transformation is happening, you may feel discouraged and give up before the miracle happens. These women are on the lower body fat percentage spectrum, but they need to be for you to see what we are talking about.

The following is not an opinion.

IMPORTANT OVERLY REDUNDANT POINT: Building lean muscle mass is the ONLY clinically proven way to have long term metabolic changes… that are sustainable. *NOT AN OPINION*. Gaining lean muscle mass does not create rebounding or yo-yo-ing like caloric restriction or high amounts of cardio do. Why are those not sustainable? Because they cause the body to use your metabolic foundation… muscle. That’s your metabolic furnace. You do NOT want the body to begin consuming lean muscle mass for fuel.

For many years, it was thought that if you consumed less calories that you need to maintain your weight, you will lose weight.

This is one of the tenants of the “Law of Thermodynamics”. This makes sense mathematically in the word of physics, but does not carry over to the human body (or as we call it… bio-chemistry) with 100% accuracy because of things like hormones and inflammation.

There’s not one study about this…

The important thing to know about caloric restriction is that there has never been a study that has proven that energy taken from the body when in a caloric deficit comes solely from body fat. It will burn fat, but it will also take from muscle tissue too.

For a weight loss program to be successful long-term, with no rebounding or yo-yoing, you want to focus on building lean muscle mass, and eating the appropriate, or goldilocks caloric intake (not too much, not too little… just right).

Our Brilliant Personal Trainer Sheena can attest, check out her before & after pic:

Both the same weight! (actually the after photos are .5 higher... so technically she gained weight)

Some of you may thinking “But I do have to lose weight though."

Yes, some people need to lose actual poundage. Of course. But the point is that the scale doesn’t matter as much as you think it does. One of the common problems that the scale poses is that when people who focus too much on results based goals base their success on the scale (which as you can see, can be wildly inaccurate or unreliable) do not see the results that they expect or think they “deserve”, it can lead to self sabotage or a case of the “F-It’s”.

Before you say F-it.

So, instead of basing your transformation progress on the scale, rely on multiple sources like:

• Tape measure & Skinfold calipers

• Your evolving body fat percentage

• Lean muscle mass

• How your clothes fit & Progress photos!

• How you feel, your energy!

And How You Feel Matters the Most

feel the feels.

The University of Chicago conducted a study where they went into a gym and polled people why they exercised and ate healthy. About 70% of the people said that they exercised or ate healthy because they wanted to lose weight (or wanted to change their body), while 30% of the people said they liked the way it made them feel and how they felt about themselves.

They followed these people for an extended period of time and the overwhelming majority of people that chose to exercise and eat healthy because of how it made them feel were consistent and had great results. Many of the results based group fell off and were inconsistent.

Pretty telling.

When trying to build lean muscle mass, it’s important to follow the model of progressive overload. You MUST progress. This could be in weight, reps, volume, frequency, decreased resting periods, tempo, difficulty of exercise, etc.

This is significantly superior to focusing on cardio training as cardio training always requires a progression in only 2 areas… volume and intensity. Strength training allows for you to alter many variables, while also improving your cardiovascular conditioning. Doing what you are already capable of doing will not stimulate change.

SO... If you feel like you need help from a professional lifestyle coach to help you navigate through this mental dilemma, reach out to us, and let's find a better way. If you feel like you need help from a professional fitness coach to help you properly build lean muscle mass, drop us a line below!

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We look forward to helping you achieve all of your health and fitness goals!

Your friend in fitness,
-Julian