The Ups and Downs of the Scale

The podcast episode discusses the scale and how it can be a source of frustration. The speaker advises focusing less on the number on the scale and more on fat loss instead of weight loss. They suggest using a scale that measures body fat percentage and using clothing as a measurement tool instead. The speaker explains that muscle weighs the same as fat but takes up less space, so increasing muscle and decreasing fat can make a person appear smaller even if the scale number stays the same. They also discuss factors that can affect scale weight, such as water retention, undigested food, poor sleep, and stress. The speaker emphasizes that small fluctuations in weight are normal and encourages a healthy mindset and mindful eating. Hi, my name is Beth, and this is the Canna Fitness and Nutrition podcast, where we are sitting at the intersection of fitness, nutrition, and cannabis. And today I would like to talk about the scale, the scale, the square thing in your bathroom that we step on and we look at the number and we have a reaction, because this is one of the most common questions I get from clients. And I probably talk about this just about every day with clients, because that square with the number on it can be a major source of frustration for us. And I know there's a lot of us that like to step on it every day or maybe every other day or once a week, and we look at that number and then we tend to have a reaction, right? And sometimes the reaction is good, because the number went down, right? And sometimes the reaction is frustration, because the number went up. And my advice is to spend less time focusing on the number. The number is helpful, yes, absolutely. And I know our doctors pay attention to the number, but it's actually a disservice and this is why, because the number on the scale isn't a complete accurate reflection of what's going on in your body. And when we look at the number on the scale and if we're trying to get that number to go down, that may not actually be what we truly want. We talk a lot about weight loss, meaning we want that number on the scale to go down, but what we really want is fat loss. And especially talking to women and women over 40, because that's me and that's my age bracket, we tend to get really focused on that number and wanting that number to be small. There's a lot of reasons for that, but we want that number to go down. But what we really want is fat loss. And fat loss doesn't show up in that number on the scale. If you like using the scale as a tool, I do recommend looking for one of the scales that measures body fat, because we really are looking for our body fat percentage to go down and our muscle percentage to go up. Now, here's the thing. You may have heard someone say, oh, muscle weighs more than fat or muscle is denser than fat. Well, here's the thing. Here's the truth. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat are still a pound, right? Five pounds of muscle, five pounds of fat, still five, right? Still five pounds. But five pounds of muscle takes up a lot less space than five pounds of fat. It's denser, right? That's the truth of it. And this is not a visual platform, so I can't show you, but imagine muscle, and if you can feel it on your body, you know it's dense, right? It doesn't take up. But fat is less dense, so it spreads out and it takes up more surface area. So when we're talking about being smaller, we actually want our fat percentage to go down and our muscle percentage to go up, so that we can be smaller size, but not necessarily a smaller number on the scale. So along that same vein, we can be the same, two people can be the same number on the scale, so let's use a round number, so say 150 pounds. Two people could be 150 pounds on the scale, but look very differently. They could be two completely different size clothes. And what I advise my clients to do is pick out a size clothes that you want to be. Try to get away from using the scale quite so frequently, because it's just one tool. But instead, focus on picking out some clothes that you're going to feel good in. What size do you want to be? That's how I encourage my clients. Use your clothes. I always have people try to find something. A pants are great, a top is fine, a dress is great if you wear dresses. Whatever you're uncomfortable in now, take that out, hold it, put it up, keep it out, so that you can look at that and try it on regularly. So I have, I'll tell you what I do, is I have a pair of jeans. I'm not a big jeans person, but I do keep a pair of jeans, because I find jeans aren't very forgiving, not like I'm a personal trainer, so I wear athleisure and yoga pants all the time. But jeans, or slacks, am I old if I say slacks, slacks, like dress pants, work pants, if you will, they're a better barometer of what's going on with your body, because they are elastic. My elastic yoga pants are not giving me an accurate picture of what's going on with my body, but the jeans do. Anyway, I take, I keep a pair of jeans and I try them on once or twice a year, and just to see where I'm at. And fortunately, they've been fitting for the last however many years, a lot of years, because I've been on this path of mindful eating and using cannabis to help me eat mindfully. But clothes really tell a big picture, and I can tell you that there was a time when I felt like I was eating too much and suspected that I was, and so I took out those pants, put them on, and sure enough, they did not zip. And that's how I knew that changes needed to be made, because the number on the scale, the problem is, as soon as we see that number go up five pounds, it can lead to a freak out, for lack of better words, it can lead to a minor freak out. So what I usually tell people is, okay, well, that may not be what you think it is. So try on your try-on clothes, your pants, or your dress, or your shirt, or whatever it is, and let's see, let's see, is it really that you've put on five pounds, or is it just the scale being its inaccurate self? Because again, it's not really an accurate picture of what's going on. And this is why, is because scale weight can be affected by what we've been eating, like, for example, a lot of sodium, so say maybe you had Chinese food, right? And your body has a lot of sodium in it, so your body holds on to water, and then that water is going to make the scale weight go up, but that doesn't mean you gained five pounds of water. That's not five pounds, it's water, it's not fat, you didn't gain five pounds. And so the big question I've been getting a lot, or I tend to get a lot, is the scale's up five pounds. Did I gain five pounds? And I usually say no, it's possible, but it's unlikely that you gained five pounds since the last time you weighed yourself, especially if it's only been a day or a week. Because a lot of times it's water, water retention happens from what we eat, and if you're working out a lot, what happens when you work out, especially if you're lifting weights, or even if you're doing cardio, your body uses water to help with the recovery process. So when you're breaking down your muscles, working out, your body actually holds on to water to help your muscles recover. So it's a good thing, you want that, but if you were to weigh yourself during that recovery process, your weight's going to be up. But again, that's not fat, that's just your body holding on to water so it can recover. Now, there's also undigested food, which we know as poop. Well, if that's still in your body, that can be quite a few pounds, actually, depending on what's going on with your body. Which is, again, another reason why it's so important to eat lots of fiber, so that that doesn't stay in your body too long, but that can cause the scale to go up, right? So water retention, undigested food, poor sleep. If we're not sleeping properly, or enough, then your body's going to hold on to water, and it's not going to metabolize as well. So you may see the scale go up a little bit if you haven't been sleeping well. And then there's always stress. And the stress hormone that triggers water retention and poor metabolism is cortisol. You may have heard of cortisol because it is talked about a lot these days, as it is elevated when we're in that fight-or-flight response of high stress. So if we're in a high-stress state, your body's metabolism isn't running properly, you're holding on to more water, you're holding on to more food, it's not digesting quickly, and that can make the scale go up. But it's probably not fat. It's unlikely that you can gain pounds worth of fat in just a day, or two, or even a week. Because here's the real truth. A pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories. 3,500 calories. That's a lot. An average person eats anywhere between 1,500 to 2,500. An average person, I should probably say average woman, because most of my clients are women, and in our 40s and things, we tend to eat about 1,500 or 1,500 to 2,500 calories on average. But it would be unusual to eat 3,500 calories. And it would be more unusual to eat an additional 3,500 calories to make that be a whole pound. Now, can that extra calories add up over the course of months and a year? I mean, I'm talking weeks, months, year. Yes, that can add up, and you can absolutely accumulate fat because you're eating 3,500 calories total more than your normal. But most people aren't eating that much more. So to the client who said this week, the scale's up three pounds from yesterday, that she said, did I gain three pounds overnight? And I said, did you eat 3,500 calories extra? And she said, no, I had Chinese food last night. And I said, okay, so it's water. It's definitely water. And so that's just a little synopsis of the scale and why it's important to not get too tied to the scale because it's really easy to do, and I know it's a habit for a lot of us, but it's not the only tool. And I encourage you to use it as a tool, but not the only tool. And just make sure you're keeping in mind all these factors so that we don't have such strong emotions tied to that number, whether it's going up or down. It's just expect that it's going to go up and down a little bit, three to five pounds a day is absolutely normal. And use your clothes to measure and have an accurate picture. And if that's frustrating too, then definitely reach out and let me know because maybe there's some more things that we can look at as factors that might be causing what's uncomfortable in your body right now. But I want you to be comfortable in your body, and I want us to have healthy mindsets. And that's what CanaFit is all about, is having healthy mindsets and being able to eat mindfully, eat in moderation, and trust ourselves around food, trust our bodies, and appreciate what our body can do for us. So that's all for today. I will see you next time.