Why Bathroom Scales Interfere With Your Fitness Goals
A bathroom scale is one of many useful tools to help you focus on achieving your fitness goals, but if you’re too obsessed, it can take you down a dark and sad path. This is why placing too much on the scale can hurt your motivation, and what to measure instead.
Whether you’re looking to fit better in your pants or gain pounds of muscle, it’s important to understand that scales don’t tell the whole story. In fact, as explained in this Born Fitness article, there are many reasons why you shouldn’t rely too much on the number you see:
- Your weight changes constantly throughout the day, especially if you haven’t pee or pooped yet.
- Your weight depends on your hydration level.
- The number on the scale increases stress, which can lead to unnecessary or drastic measures.
- A one-time meal could dictate this amount. If you ate tightly (eg, Thanksgiving), you might be more difficult due to the increase of reserves of carbohydrates .
- The scale does not tell you what really matters, such as your muscle-to-fat ratio and the actual improvement in your health.
Instead, use the scale as one piece of data to give you a fuller picture of what’s really going on. Other valuable feedback for assessing your progress includes photographing your progress, viewing your body fat percentage and waist measurements , tracking your strength and energy levels at the gym, tracking your mood and sleep patterns, and more.
Check out the article below for full details.
Weight loss and reason: why the scales lie (and how to understand your weight) | Born Fitness