Do you rely on your weight to measure your progress towards your fitness goals?

​When you're going to the gym, eating well, and taking steps to improve your health , it's normal to want to track your progress and see the results. You might think that weighing yourself is the best way to measure that progress, but that's not always the case.

There are a number of reasons why it's not a good idea to fixate on the number on the scale . One easily forgotten reason is that your weight only indicates your body mass index (BMI), not your body composition, which is the amount of muscle versus fat you have on your body. Your body composition makes a huge difference in what you look like even though it can't be measured by the scale.

To the scale, a pound is a pound. Muscle does not weigh more than fat — but it does take up less space on your body, which is why you might look leaner after building muscle even if your weight doesn't change.

To demonstrate that, many women have shared photos on social media that show how building muscle can make you look leaner, even if you don't see a change on the scale. 

Leanne

​Now this is a very common question I always get asked. “How much weight have you lost since the start of your fitness journey?!” Uhmmmm. The truth is that I have stayed almost the exact same weight as when I started. As weird as it may sound, my weight has not fluctuated and if anyone were to ask me just how many kg’s I have lost.... the truth is none. 

This is living proof that the number on the scale is not an accurate measure of progress. Although I may have been the same weight in both the pictures, it is pretty clear that I certainly do not look the same. You see, this is why I find the scale to be so problematic. It does not take into account SO many factors, like for example how much of your weight is actually muscle and how much is fat, the time of the day you are weighing yourself, the time of the month, whether or not you have eaten etc. ​

​At the start of my fitness journey, I remember placing so much emphasis on that number on the scale. Losing a few kgs meant the world to me and gaining was a terrible fear.
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These days my approach could not be more different. I hardly ever weigh myself, and if I do it’s in hope that the scale will actually go up (muscle gains 💪). How do I measure my progress?

​Besides taking progress pictures, my main benchmark is according to how I FEEL. I feel energetic, full of energy and confident- these are my main pointers of progress! So, ladies, don’t let a pesky number on the scale dictate to you yourself worth. It is not accurate and can often.
hinder your progress. ⭐️⭐️

Leanne didn't see any change on the scale when she toned up, showing that weight can't always measure progress.

​Adrienne Osuna

​*For all the people that don't read the post... YES TWO POUNDS. Body recompositing. Lost fat gained muscle! NEGATIVE COMMENTS ARE DELETED AND BLOCKED*.

​People have been messaging me telling me they've seen this pic all over 😬like on Facebook pages and groups, twitter, other accounts here etc.

I don't mind people sharing it!! But I DID NOT use anyone's products to do this...in fact I didn't even diet to do this 😂 this was all hard work in the gym lifting heavy weights and intermittent fasting. 

​And for anyone just seeing this for the first time YESSS really 2 lbs., the scale doesn't measure fat vs muscle! Keep going girls 🙌🏼💖💜

​Holly Louise

​This my journey to date. In the first photo I did no little to no exercise and had a terrible diet. I felt crappy - physically and mentally. Currently, I do 5 x weight training sessions per week and follow a flexible dieting approach. I feel strong, healthy and happy 😊

This transformation shows us why the scales aren't a true measure of progress alone. In the time between these photos, I have completely changed my body composition - even though I still weigh exactly the same.

 The reason why I look smaller is that muscle is much denser than fat. What this means is that 1kg of fat takes up a lot more space in the body than 1kg of muscle. 
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"When you build muscle and lose fat you may not notice much of a change in the scales, but you will notice a big change visually and in your body measurements." 

​So, ladies, don't rely on the scales as your main measure of progress! It's all about how you look and feel, not what you weigh! 💪🏽

Osuna shows the scale can't account for your body composition. As she writes in her caption, she lost fat and gained muscle by hitting the gym, lifting heavy weights, and practicing intermittent fasting.

Nessa Sphere

Let's talk food and calories 👀🙌🏼 I get lots of questions about how much you should eat. It is not easy to answer this question. It depends on a lot of things: your weight, your height, your age, how active you are during the day, how often and how intensive your workouts are and what your goal is. But one is definitely easy to estimate. It's how much you shouldn't eat. You can't starve yourself ‼️ When I see people saying that they eat 800-1200 kcal, this seriously scares me. You won't get any results on a long run with this number of calories. Your body and you need enough fuel to feel good, to take challenges and to achieve goals. Let's start the calculations with RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate), basically the number of calories you burn when at rest (or in different words - you need to stay alive). The more active you are during a day, the more calories you should eat to maintain your weight. It is normal that when you want to lose fat you decrease your calories intake. However, you should be smart doing that. Don't put your body in a high calorie deficit straight from the beginning of the process. 

​You will not have much to cut later on when you hit a plateau and you don't see any progress anymore. I would suggest starting at 10% of your calorie intake caloric decrease per day for a few weeks. If you look at my progress on the pictures, it happened mostly because I changed my eating habits (and started to workout out). In 2015 my eating was a total mess. There were days I forgot about food (too much work and stress) or I could eat the whole box of donuts only for lunch. When I switched to linear calories intake per day my results rushed. And the consistency and regular eating was the key. If you are now at a very low-calorie intake and you don't see progress, try to eat more. It may be a little bit difficult at the beginning, you may gain weight but when your body adjust to it, you will see only benefits 💁🏼♥️🤗 ​

​Although Sphere increased her calorie intake to tone up, she reminds her followers that there's no one correct answer for how many calories you should eat . It depends on your weight, height, age, how active you are, and how often and how intensive your workouts are.

​Kelsey Wells

Do you want to know why it’s STILL hard for me to post these? Why after 2.5 years of sharing my personal transformation photos, it STILL demands a deep level of vulnerability?? Look at my face. My body on the left was beautiful!

THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY BODY.

But there was EVERYTHING wrong with the way I viewed it, and how I treated it. 😔 It makes my heart ache to look at that girl on the left and remember how she was feeling and what she was thinking, and it’s not something I’m proud of. 

But guess what else I’ve learned through sharing my journey? THERE IS MAGIC IN VULNERABILITY. There is magic in finding the courage to genuinely share our struggles and strengths and lessons with others, and in doing so we not only liberate ourselves, but we open our hearts to human connection. 

​We can learn from each other, strengthen each other, and THRIVE TOGETHER. Empowered women empower women. But what do you think makes women so powerful in the first place??

Being EMPOWERED doesn’t mean you don’t struggle. It doesn’t mean you’re perfect and it sure as hell doesn’t mean you are without life’s challenges. No, STRUGGLES breed strength. Why am I rambling on about these things on a transformation post??
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​"There was nothing wrong with my body, but there was everything wrong with the way I viewed it,"​ 

​Arielle Mandelson

For anyone fretting over “holiday weight” this is your reminder to screw the thing scale!

🖕🏽That number means nothing. 🙅🏼‍♀️What’s important is how you FEEL. If you’re being kind to your body (and mind). If you’re nourishing yourself with proper nutrients and letting your body sweat ❤️ Can you check any of those boxes? GREAT!

The rest will follow. 😁Here’s where I have to plug for specifics on what I’ve done, Scroll back in time or visit my blog when it launches very soon! (Or look at my hashtags 😆) xoxo ❤️ 

"This is your reminder to screw the thing scale! That number means nothing, what's important is how you feel, if you're being kind to your body (and mind), if you're nourishing yourself with proper nutrients, and letting your body sweat."

​​BECAUSE THAT IS MY BIGGEST TRANSFORMATION. These photos, to me, are simply a physical representation of all the ways I’ve changed and grown that matter SO MUCH MORE. In the YEARS between these photos, I truly empowered myself through fitness. Little by little I strengthened my self-love and self-confidence just as I strengthened my muscles. And it all began by simply making the decision to GET HEALTHY. When I started to care for myself and my body, I began to believe I was worth taking care of. If I can make a massive lifestyle change babes, so can you. Time to get on team with your goals and start seeing the power within yourself. 🖤🙏🏼

At the end of the day, you shouldn't rely on your weight to measure your progress toward your fitness goals. Your weight doesn't really matter. What does matter is that you feel happy and healthy.

​Sia Cooper

Can I just take a second to say SCREW THE SCALE?! Numbers lie ALL THE TIME. What you see on that scale is NOT a true indicator of your health!!! Ok?? See these two pictures? I weigh the same in both yet, I have more muscle tone in the right and I’m fluffier on the left.. yet.. the numbers are the same. I stopped weighing myself a few months ago and only do so when my doctor makes me at the office. But I no longer obsess over this stupid number! Take measurements instead because that will give you a truer representation of how you’re doing in your fitness journey.

​Cooper takes measurements to measure her health because, as she writes, they "will give you a truer representation of how you're doing in your fitness journey."

REFERENCE: Instagram