WHY WE DON’T USE SCALES

Your self-worth, dignity, personality, health, beauty and general well being is not a number on a machine.

A bit over ten years ago I was numbers obsessed. I was training regularly (see two times a day) at a well known bodybuilding gym in Melbourne and would track nearly everything. Macros, micros, hamstring curl machine weights, leg press weights…scale weights. I was obsessed with being the biggest, lifting the most and f*ck everything else. Almost every workout I had a compulsion to check my scale weight before and after a ‘pump’ session; it was sitting right there in the middle of the gym floor. I’d ask and be asked by all my bros what my bench was, how much I weighed almost on the daily. It was a pretty epic mission to stack on over 100kgs in my quest to be the biggest and most baddest. And then a series of life events happened and realised that first statement at the top of this post. 

My self-worth, dignity, personality, health, aesthetics and general wellbeing was not the number on the scale or even corresponded to the amount of plates I stacked on a leg press machine. 

These days in TFP HQ I get asked almost monthly by new faces in the space why we don’t have scales or if they can measure themselves; my usual response is that unit of measurement isn’t worth a damn in our space. 

Why? 

A scale calculates a number; it doesn’t tell you how much of that number is body fat, muscle, water, bone density or even organ weight. If you are diligent with your training, eating clean 80% of the time then guaranteed you are creating lean muscle tissue and losing body fat. Scale weight varies wildly based on water rentention, stress and your current state of health. All scales are manufactured differently by different companies thereby affecting the number – usually between 1-2kgs. Some people have a low Boyd weight yet still carry high amounts of body fat. Our hormones change depending on a number of factors monthly and yearly; if you don’t know what hormones do what check this article out here from our friends at Precision Nutrition https://www.precisionnutrition.com/fast-weight-loss-changes-hunger-hormones. Muscle can weigh (and usually does) more than body fat. 

So why use scales at all? 

Bullsh*t societal expectations based on what? Selling more dietary products? 

Destination addiction ‘once I get to a XXX kilos I’ll finally be happy’ (speaking from experience you won’t be). 

Before I had kids I weighed XXX and things will be better if I can get back there 

Marketing. Sales tactics. Social media. Other people’s judgement. Now if someone came up to me and said I needed to lose/gain weight because social media told me so, I’d tell them to f*ck right off. If a friend said to my face hey Roy you’re looking a little skinny/fat you should lose/add weight; I’d say thanks for your opinion alleged friend, how about you go f*ck right off. 

If I’m an athlete competing in a weight class for a sport I MIGHT USE SCALES. If I’m trying to lose weight because my doctor said I should I SHOULD EAT CLEAN 6 DAYS A WEEK AND TRAIN 3-4 TIMES A WEEK UNTIL MY CLOTHES FIT PROPERLY. 

If you put in the work, take out your excuses, your waistline is going to go down. Your body fat % will decrease, you’ll fit into those clothes from 3 years ago, you will feel better, more confident and happier when you throw out the scales and just start with some consistent healthy habits. 

When you start filling out your clothes in a good way from lean muscle development and focus on the other stuff outside your place of training and step off the scales; you’ll be heading on the road to long-term sustainable results with your body composition that will keep body fat low down the line. 

Scales are a headf*ck. If you’re on them every day; throw them out and walk/run/train/swim/yoga every day instead. Your humanity isn’t measured by three digital numbers. 

If you are after a safe judgement free environment to train in and put on some lean muscle drop us a message to support@thefitproject.net.au. If you need some help getting over your destination addiction and improving your mindset drop us  a line on Facebook @fitprojectbrunswick; and we’ll be in touch ASAP.

Your Coach, 

Roy

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