Understanding fitness: why should you ditch the scale?

Using the weight scale can be very beneficial in your weight loss journey. I am a proponent of using the scale to keep track of your progress. I measure my weight at least once a day, first thing in the morning, and it has been my routine since my high school year in 2005. And this has given me tremendous success in being aware of my body composition. However, over-reliance on the scale can also be detrimental. Be careful as you interpret the result. As a medical professional, I often encounter patients using the weight scale as a surrogate for demonstrating how fit they are. They usually come with the notion that “the lower, the better.” But in reality, that may not be true. In this article, we will discuss why your scale may not be telling you the truth, and you should look at the results more carefully to obtain the best results you can get.

1. The scale does not tell you your body composition.

One of the biggest misnomers is that the scale tells you everything about your weight. Instead of using your weight, you should track your body composition in the progress of building your body. This is because the overall body composition affects your basal metabolic rate (the amount of energy needed per day to function), and it can lead to better weight loss success. For example, one pound of muscle burns around six calories per hour, while fat only burns two. Therefore, a person with higher muscle mass has a significantly higher basal metabolic rate than the average person with the same amount of weight. In addition, it is also known that muscles are denser as compared to fat, and therefore it gives you the toned physique that you desire. There are many add-on functions of the weight scale that can help you to determine your body composition. They generally send an electrical signal through your body and measure how quickly this electricity comes back to the scale. However, the accuracy of these devices can be debatable, but it is a tool that can be potentially helpful.

2. Your weight can fluctuate based on water and food intake.

It is no secret that your weight can be fluctuated depending on what you eat daily. Food that contains a lot of salt can jump your weight as much as 10 lbs of water weight. Medical conditions such as congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and liver cirrhosis can increase your water weight. As a result, measuring weight using a scale alone cannot be an accurate way to measure your fitness progress. In my experience, my body weight fluctuates about five lbs depending on what I ate the day prior. If I indulge in fast food, I expect at least one to two pounds of weight gain the following day. At the beginning of your weight loss journey, you will also see that you lose weight the fastest in the first two weeks of cardiovascular training. This is because you are also losing the majority of the water weight. To accurately measure your progress, you can take your average weight every week and write them in a diary. Compare your weight week by week and gauge your progress. To be more technological, you can also use body weight calibers or scale that has a body fat measurement to measure your body fat percentage. Doing it this way can be more helpful to your mental health when it comes to losing stubborn belly fat.

3. BMI and weight are only a component of your fitness success.

If you are not seeing the weight loss progress you expect, do not be discouraged. This is because a plateau phase is expected in weight loss. This is a good sign for most people because it means your body is struggling to improve itself. It is slowly changing body composition to enhance your exercise performance. Many of us know that BMI, or the measurement of weight, is not a reliable measurement of your fitness goals. And the equation of the BMI is your weight divided by your height squared. It is merely a tool that medical professionals use to assess your risks for developing metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease. It is also a generalization of the population that is not into fitness. For example, a normal BMI should be around 18 to 25. One can argue that a very fit person with a lot of muscle mass can easily exceed a BMI of 25 but not be overweight. Therefore, it is a slippery slope to consider someone’s health based only on what the scale shows.

4. Rapid weight loss does not mean fitness. It can be a red flag for other medical conditions.

Most importantly, rapid weight loss can be a warning sign and can be detrimental to your health. Before starting any exercise routine, you should consider talking with your medical provider to see if you are physically fit. A reasonable amount of weight loss should be two lbs per week. If you think about the number of calories needed to lose weight, you will likely need to burn at least 1000 extra calories per day or 10,000 steps. It is not easy to lose more than 3 pounds per week unless you are obese. Most importantly, start with something easy on your body, so you don’t overwhelm it and make any of your medical conditions worse. It is common to see people getting heart attacks in the gym. Just as we learn in medical school, “First, do no harm!”. Many diagnoses of cancer are not symptomatic except for weight loss. You must perform primary care screening by your doctors. Most patients with pancreatic and lung cancers often do not display any symptoms. Nevertheless, if you are experiencing faster than expected weight loss, keep this in the back of your mind and make sure to have your yearly check-up. And this is another reason why you should not rely on your scale for your fitness and health.

If you have made it this far, I thank you for your viewership. I hope you learn something and start taking control of your health. Please look below if you want to see a list of items I endorse. Please comment, like, and subscribe to my email list if you enjoy content like this. Thank you so much, and have a great week.

For my list of self-improvement items, check out the books that I recommend,

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: https://amzn.to/39d33lT

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: https://amzn.to/3M7JM3K

The Emporer of All Maladies: https://amzn.to/39Gj2ca

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The Power of Habits: https://amzn.to/3MpwHmk

Cook County ICU Interesting Cases: https://amzn.to/3lgzpPp

Here are fitness items I endorse,

Food scale: https://amzn.to/3LMfr9V

Quaker Rice cakes: https://amzn.to/3lub4Wk

Drink my favorite alkaline water: https://amzn.to/3wAs

Ujido green tea: https://amzn.to/3wyFGfy