“Smaller” is Stupid!
We have got to get past our obsession with the scale! Tony Horton says it in one of his 1-on-1′s (I can’t remember which one off the top of my head) = “We are so consumed with pills and potions and gadgets to make us SMALLER. That’s STUPID!”.
And he’s exactly right! Heck, if our goal was simply to get smaller, why workout at all? We should just go lay in our bed and stop eating. We’d shrivel up and atrophy into much smaller people. That’s not what we are after. Our goal isn’t to simply get smaller. Yet we gauge so much of our progress by the bathroom scale, which only tells us if we are getting smaller or bigger. It’s crazy!
We have to focus on what really matters – our body composition. What many of us are really after is losing body fat. That often correlates to losing weight, but the weight loss is just a byproduct, not the main goal. The goal is getting our body fat low. But understand that as we workout and fuel our muscles, they will increase in strength and density, which adds weight. This can mislead us when all we care about is what a dumb scale says.
And often we get so worried about hitting a certain goal on the scale that we crash diet, kill our metabolism, and burn up our own muscle mass to hit some arbitrary goal. Stop!
Get some calipers and start monitoring what matters — your body composition. I’ve written an article, “How to Measure Body Fat”, that explains in detail how to do that. And stop gauging your progress based on a scale. Start gauging your progress on 3 things:
–How do I feel?
–How do I look in the mirror?
–What is the trend in my body composition (body fat and lean body mass)?
I’m 215, and I feel great at 215. If I felt and looked great at 225, so be it. Or if I felt and looked great at 200, so be it. The scale is just a number. It’s about looking and feeling great, fit, and healthy.
Keep bringing it and stop worrying about a target weight. Start thinking about how you want to look in the mirror and keep tabs on your progress. No scale needed — just some privacy! :-)
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16 Responses to ““Smaller” is Stupid!”
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This is great advice for anyone, but is especially appropriate for females in my opinion.
In her second round of P90x, my wife lost only 2 pounds and a half inch off her hips. Luckily, we were measuring body fat % with calipers too, because if she didn’t realize she was losing body fat she would have been upset and may have given up. She ended up losing 6% body fat and has to buy new clothes.
Weight is just how hard the Earth’s gravity pulls you down.
So true,
I just finished my 90 days of P90X, and lost only 8 pounds, but I lost 5 inches in belly, and gained 1/2 inch on each bicep.
Charles
Great post Coach! I think it is funny when I stand on my wii fit scale and it says I am obese. (borderline morbidly obese) Even though I am at 15.4% body fat on a 245 pound 6’2 body. BMI is as misleading as the number on the scale! The same BMI says Evander Holyfield is obese too! LOL!!! I cant wait to hear Coach Wayne’s thought on this, BUT not until he comes home from his vacation!
Thanks, coach. I needed to read that today.
Good post! This is something I tell everyone I can. :-)
I agree whole-heartedly with this post. People always tell me “I want to be toned.” Well, people don’t know that physiologically, “being toned” is just burning the excess fat over the muscle. So focusing primarily on your weight is a no-no.
Body Mass Index is a useful tool for those who do have an excessive ammount of body fat/weight. It lets people know they are more at risk for certain ailments (hypertension, high cholesterol, type-2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome x, etc.) That being said, if you have a low fat percent and you have built up a sufficient amount of muscle mass, the BMI can be thrown out the door.
I always tell clients that the most important numbers to focus on is your Body Fat Percentage and your Body Measurements.
LOL@Swish!!! Wii Fit pisses me off, too, when that tune is played and my Mii looks at his belly and butt in disbelief!
I go by my belt.
Thanks for this article. I was just on the hunt for this information and it came on exact day I needed.
I am working on WK13 and know from seeing myself in the mirror my body has changed, but the scale does not show it.
Wish now I had done this at the start, but having it now really adds motivation for me!!
thanks sounds great…..now i just need to follow this.:…coming from a guy that was right at 270lbs in feb now sitting at 226lbs i now need to put the scale away…and just keep attacking the fat now…p.s I look and feel great…thanks
Thanks for the great information!!
I’m about 176lbs and really don’t want to loose weight just the fat. In my 20s I use to be 198lbs with 8/9% body fat. Don’t want to be that big again, my goal is 175lbs with 6/7% body fat.
Great article at a great time! The scale for me has started to move super slow. When I first started Insanity I was dropping pounds like crazy. Went from 305 to 278 by the start of week 7. Went from 49 inches around my gut to 44.5. Scale has since been stuck at 275, causing some frustration. However I just measured my gut again, (reluctantly, I was scared that I would have stayed the same or gained some back) 44 inches! I’m done with the scale until Phase 1 of the P90x/Insanity hybrid is done.
Thanks for reminding me of this. I know better but old habits well still trying to break them. Just finished 2nd week of insanity and I can see and feel the difference just not the numbers on the scale. Thanks again.
Hey Coach,
Paul here, trying desperately to get to 6% body fat so after that i can up my calories and put some muscle on and get ripped , I am currently 7.5%-8% body fat about 3 lbs to loose, I am on fat shredder 1500 average calories per day, after getting my body fat down this low and after doing 150 days of p90x i thought id be ripped with a six pack and obliques but instead i can only really see my abs and obliques under the right light, its so frustrating!!! will i keep going to 6% where i want to be?? and then move up to 3,000 cals 40/40/20, when i do start eating 3,000 will i get big abs and obliques that i want??
sorry for blabbing just frustrated!!
thanks for your help
Paul
Hey Paul, that last bit of body fat is the hardest to lose, so don’t get frustrated. Just know it takes a lot longer for the last bit than it did for the first bit. It’s like that for all of us. Keep it dialed in until you get to your goal body fat %, and then you can switch the nutrition to help you build muscle. You are close, so keep it up!
Ok Coach,
Thanks again
Paul