Scales for thinners: friend or foe?

Expert “Championship” wellness coach Andrei Semeshov talks about the insidiousness of the main gadget in the arsenal of a person on a diet.

“Here tell honestly those who have in anamnesis experience of any diets, how often have you stood on the scales to rejoice at the inexorable progress? As a rule, it happens on a daily basis. But you should not do so in any case – you risk never losing weight, but only making international concerns – manufacturers of batteries – a little richer.

What is the danger

How does it happen in practice? A person bravely overcomes all the temptations of the world’s gastronomic backstage all day long, sweats in the gym instead of resting in front of the TV in the evening. In the morning he gets on the scales, expecting the award “minus 300 grams”, but there is a plus! The next frame – “to hell with it, it’s no use anyway!” – a march to the refrigerator with the destruction of everything that is not pinned down. The second variant of development of events – to “cut” the daily calorie intake even more, in especially severe cases to sit down on unloading and kefir diets or some other fashionable obscurantism from the pages of Instagram (they won’t lie there!).

In both cases, nothing good, understandably, does not happen. And it is the fault of these unfortunate scales, which showed an increase. Although, if only two factors are observed – a reasonable diet and adequate exercise – the process of fat burning goes its own way. And is not always directly correlated with the readings on the scale. Just a day’s weight can change by kg and even more. There are many reasons – shifts in water and salt balance (ate a salty fish at night), swelling of muscles after a shock strength training, changes in hormonal background, which is especially important for women.

How to do it right

So what do you get, not to weigh yourself at all? I’m afraid, such torture will not withstand any thinning. The brain likes to measure and analyze everything. And we for motivation would not hurt to know that just a couple of months ago we were carrying, say, 7 kg more. Just scales, like any other tool, it is better to use correctly.

1. Measure once a week.
2. Always in more or less similar conditions. For example, on Sunday morning, before breakfast.
3. Use the same scales, because the error in the settings of different equipment can “steal” all the positive dynamics.
4. Scales are better to buy with additional sensors that calculate the percentage of body fat. The data will be, of course, very and very approximate, but at a distance will clearly show the dynamics.
5. In case of discrepancy between expectations (lost weight☺) and reality (weight has not changed ☹) – first analyze what happened last night. Maybe the body gained a little bit of extra water. Of course, women should take into account the fluctuations associated with the cycle.

But even following these rules does not guarantee that you will be able to avoid the “weight trap”. For example, beginners who have recently stepped into the gym can sometimes build muscle mass even on a diet, when it would seem theoretically impossible. There are few calories coming in, so the building material for new muscle fibers has nowhere to go. But the body somehow dodges and still builds muscles, it seems, literally out of thin air. Unfortunately, this period is not long, but it is there! Such a bonus for neophytes, for which athletes with experience are ready to sell their souls. But, alas, this is no longer available to them. That is, the body can eat fat and grow muscles for a short period of time. And as a result, there is a gain on the scales.

Additional indicator

In general, the scale readings, as you have already realized, thing insidious, to rely only on them – a great risk of spoiling your mood. That’s why I always recommend that once a week not only get on the scale, but also measure your waist. The most common centimeter tape (sartorial or sewing meter). The rules are basically the same as for weighing.

1. Uniformity of time and conditions (Sunday morning on an empty stomach).
2. Do not change the measuring “device” (tapes have different levels of stretching, which happens to steal half a centimeter, and they are sometimes very important).
3. Do not retract or protrude the abdomen, keep a neutral position.
4. Men measure the waist at a level just below the navel, women – at the narrowest point. But the most important thing is to always measure exactly at the same level.

In practice, the weight can remain unchanged, but the waist for the same week will become thinner by a whole centimeter (it happens and more). Of course, this indicates that the fat layer is thinning, and this is our main task! The opposite also happens, the waist does not change, but the weight is gone. Also good. It is quite ideal if “minus” both there and there. But this does not always happen. Very often these indicators will play catch-up. But it is important for us to have a safety net, so that weight readings do not spoil our mood and do not take away so necessary motivation to continue.

By the way, if you have to choose between weights and tape, I definitely vote for the latter. So you can try to save money. And nerves, and money (initial models of scales with an analyzer of adipose tissue – it’s a couple of thousand rubles and above, sartorial meter – rubles 200).
Little Lifehack. Waist circumference can also quickly tell you whether it’s time to lose weight or whether you can still “walk around”. If the result of measurements does not exceed half of your height, everything is not so bad. Is it more? Well, as an option, you can try to grow up.

Be patient

And what to do if both waist and weight for a week did not change? Do not panic! First of all, the body does not like to lose weight. It is for you fat – a source of dissatisfaction with the reflection in the mirror, and for him – a stash in case of hunger. And you know, no one likes to pull something out of the stash. And he tries his best not to. So wait another week. And if even then the process does not move in the right direction, then there is a reason to make adjustments in nutrition and physical activity.

In general, do not rush. You didn’t get fat for a month or a year, so give your body time to remember what it feels like to be beautiful and trim again.