Look at the picture above. How many times has this been you...or similar to you anyway. I realize some of you reading this may be guys and well, we know you're not women...but you know what I mean. How many times have you stepped onto that evil monstrosity we call a scale and felt like crap because the number it gave you was higher than what you have been told you should weigh? Get off the damn scale! Stop weighing yourself. I'll tell you why in a minute.
Let's talk about the word "diet" for a minute. Diet can be either a verb or a noun: "to diet" means to restrict your caloric intake in an effort to lose weight, right? We say things like "I can't have that piece of cake because I am dieting." The word diet can also be a noun, like when we say something like "I am eating a healthy diet of lean proteins, fruits and vegetables." See the difference? You will never "be on a diet" again...you will "eat a healthy diet".
You see, dieting (the verb) is dangerous, unhealthy, and frankly doesn't work. Sure, you can go on all sorts of diets: The Adkins Diet, The South Beach Diet, The 17 Day Diet, The Cabbage Soup Diet...there's a million of them out there. But what these diets don't do is teach you how to make permanent changes in your life. These are nothing more than band-aid, temporary, quick-fix crap that should be avoided at all cost. You may lose weight on these diets but as soon as you go back to your normal eating habits you will, I repeat will gain the weight back. These are not long-term ways of life. Now I'm sure you can go out there on the internet and find a bunch of people who will say "This diet changed my life...blah, blah, blah"...these people are the exception. They are not the majority.
So here's what I purpose, I say why don't we throw out the damn scale and go back to basics. Start with a food journal and write down every single thing you eat and drink every day for one week. Just eat like you normally would, but write everything down. Then, go onto a nifty website like MyFitnessPal.com and calculate the calories in everything in your journal and come up with an average caloric intake for each day. If you take a look at that number, you will see where you need to start. If you take a look at your journal and subtract the calories from everything that was unhealthy that you put into your body, you will see a decrease in your caloric intake...probably a significant enough decrease where you could possibly lose a few pounds by just changing what you eat. Not "going" on a diet but "changing" your diet. See the difference? Take out the crap and replace it with lean proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables. This is a much better and healthier way to start your journey to weight loss.
One more thing, something else the scale doesn't tell you when it blurts out that number of his is that you need to take body composition into account; fat weight vs muscle weight. Many times people will change what they are eating and start working out...lifting weights perhaps...and they get frustrated because the scale is telling them their weight is only decreasing very slowly. That is most likely because you are burning the fat but building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. Let me make one thing clear though. A common misconception is that you are turning fat into muscle. That is about 8 different kinds of wrong. It is impossible to turn fat into muscle, you are sort of making a trade...burning fat and building muscle at the same time. So your body composition is changing but just weighing yourself on a scale will not tell you that. It's a better idea to take your measurements (upper arm, chest, waist, hips, thigh, and calf) with a tape measure before you start your weight loss journey and then measure your progress more by how your clothes fit rather than a number on a scale. That number does not define you; YOU define you! Your goal is not to be skinny, it is to be HEALTHY. There is a big difference!
If you found this post helpful, please leave me a comment below. I would also love to hear any questions you may have so I can address them in future posts. Thanks so much for spending time with me. Stay healthy!
Let's talk about the word "diet" for a minute. Diet can be either a verb or a noun: "to diet" means to restrict your caloric intake in an effort to lose weight, right? We say things like "I can't have that piece of cake because I am dieting." The word diet can also be a noun, like when we say something like "I am eating a healthy diet of lean proteins, fruits and vegetables." See the difference? You will never "be on a diet" again...you will "eat a healthy diet".
You see, dieting (the verb) is dangerous, unhealthy, and frankly doesn't work. Sure, you can go on all sorts of diets: The Adkins Diet, The South Beach Diet, The 17 Day Diet, The Cabbage Soup Diet...there's a million of them out there. But what these diets don't do is teach you how to make permanent changes in your life. These are nothing more than band-aid, temporary, quick-fix crap that should be avoided at all cost. You may lose weight on these diets but as soon as you go back to your normal eating habits you will, I repeat will gain the weight back. These are not long-term ways of life. Now I'm sure you can go out there on the internet and find a bunch of people who will say "This diet changed my life...blah, blah, blah"...these people are the exception. They are not the majority.
So here's what I purpose, I say why don't we throw out the damn scale and go back to basics. Start with a food journal and write down every single thing you eat and drink every day for one week. Just eat like you normally would, but write everything down. Then, go onto a nifty website like MyFitnessPal.com and calculate the calories in everything in your journal and come up with an average caloric intake for each day. If you take a look at that number, you will see where you need to start. If you take a look at your journal and subtract the calories from everything that was unhealthy that you put into your body, you will see a decrease in your caloric intake...probably a significant enough decrease where you could possibly lose a few pounds by just changing what you eat. Not "going" on a diet but "changing" your diet. See the difference? Take out the crap and replace it with lean proteins and fresh fruits and vegetables. This is a much better and healthier way to start your journey to weight loss.
One more thing, something else the scale doesn't tell you when it blurts out that number of his is that you need to take body composition into account; fat weight vs muscle weight. Many times people will change what they are eating and start working out...lifting weights perhaps...and they get frustrated because the scale is telling them their weight is only decreasing very slowly. That is most likely because you are burning the fat but building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat. Let me make one thing clear though. A common misconception is that you are turning fat into muscle. That is about 8 different kinds of wrong. It is impossible to turn fat into muscle, you are sort of making a trade...burning fat and building muscle at the same time. So your body composition is changing but just weighing yourself on a scale will not tell you that. It's a better idea to take your measurements (upper arm, chest, waist, hips, thigh, and calf) with a tape measure before you start your weight loss journey and then measure your progress more by how your clothes fit rather than a number on a scale. That number does not define you; YOU define you! Your goal is not to be skinny, it is to be HEALTHY. There is a big difference!
If you found this post helpful, please leave me a comment below. I would also love to hear any questions you may have so I can address them in future posts. Thanks so much for spending time with me. Stay healthy!
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