Not seeing the numbers on the scale go down as fast as you think they should?

You’re not alone. So many people go through the same ordeal in the beginning of a weight loss endeavor. They work hard to maintain a clean diet and exercise religiously, but they don’t see the weight loss they expect in the time they expect it. They immediately conclude what they’re doing isn’t working. But that’s not necessarily what it means. Sadly, this is why many people quit too early, thinking that diet and exercise doesn’t work for them. This short story about one of my clients is not uncommon to many on their weight loss journey. She had actually gotten amazing results, but couldn’t see them on the scale. Watch the short video above or read on below.

A client and I had worked together for 6 weeks.

She was a new mom wanting to lose her baby weight. Even though she has such a busy schedule, she managed to exercise almost every day, pretty intensely, and she was eating all the right foods. At the end of that time, she only saw maybe 1-2 lbs. down on the scale – and she was hoping for much more.

She wanted to speed up her weight loss.

I looked at her diet log and it was superb. I couldn’t recommend with professional integrity she eat any less food. I asked her if her clothes fit any differently, and she said no. Even though I could see her body shape was changing, she didn’t see it. Of course, when you look at yourself in the mirror every day, it’s hard to see your body changes because it happens in such small increments.

I told her we needed additional measurements

to see what was really going on. I figured she lost much more weight in body fat than the scale was showing, especially since she was working out; no doubt she was also gaining muscle. Now mind you, this was not something she could readily believe. She thought I was just saying that to make her feel better. But sure enough, when we took her body fat and circumference measurements they told a very different story from the scale.

Your body can ROCK despite what the scale tells you.

One thing interesting about her circumference measurements

was that she hadn’t lost any inches around her waist, which is where she buttons her pants, and that was why her pants weren’t fitting her differently. But she did lose 2.5 inches around her lower abdomen. It wasn’t obvious to her because she was still wearing her pregnancy pants and they have always been baggy. She lost inches in other places too, but this was the place where it was most surprising to her.

Her body fat measurements were even more impressive.

She had lost 10 lbs. of body fat and gained 8 lbs. of muscle. That’s why, on the scale, she only saw 1-2 lbs. change. Now, after exercising as much as she was and being really careful with her food for 6 weeks, only seeing 1-2 lbs. of change on the scale was discouraging for her, as it would probably be discouraging for anyone. But after we got the numbers she felt so much better. She knew she was on the right track, and her hard work was really paying off.

How can this story help you?

The moral of this story is that you can’t rely one hundred percent on weight to tell the whole story of your fitness and health. You’ve got to get other data.

And, you don’t want to diet off the good stuff.

We lose a significant amount of muscle after the age of 20 unless we do something to keep it. These days a significant part of aging occurs because we lose muscle.

But, you can keep much of your youthfulness, energy, vitality, mobility and good looks if you keep and grow that muscle mass.

At the beginning of a weight loss journey, things happen on the inside long before you can see it on the outside.

This is what I tell all of my clients to prepare them for the road ahead. Just keep doing the right thing and your body change will come.

Because your body can ROCK despite what the scale tells you.

 

Have you had a similar experience with weight loss and muscle gain?

Share it in the comments and give others the confidence to keep going.