I hear it almost every day from frustrated clients, “I have been exercising and watching my portion sizes, why haven’t I lost any weight?”  Most people trust the scale to tell them whether or not their efforts towards weight loss are justified.  Using only the scale to measure weight loss is unreliable and it can lead to feelings of uselessness and hopelessness, which often motivate people to quit at their attempts.  I wanted to write this article to make people realize that there are many more markers for success besides the scale, which in the long run are more important to take into consideration.

What exactly are you weighing?

Do you ever think about what you are weighing when you get on the scale?  To make things simple, I will describe 3 main constituents that contribute to weight.  When you step on the scale, you are weighing fat, muscle mass/organs, and water mass.  When one decides to start an exercise plan and to make better food choices, one can actually see an increase or no change in the scale for up to 4-6 weeks.  The reason for this is that your body needs to hold on to more water during this time in order to build and repair your muscles. In other words, you are losing fat, but the scale does not show this because it is weighing everything, not just fat. Once your body gets used to the exercise you have presented to it (after the 4-6 week period), the scale begins to move in the right direction.  

If I can’t use the scale to measure my success, what should I trust?

There are quite a few things that you can use as markers of success:  

Measurements:  One of the simplest ways is to measure yourself before you start an exercise and diet program.  After only a month of exercise and making better food choices, you can measure yourself and see that you have lost inches or centimetres. This is so because your body has started to utilize its fat to fuel its exercise regime.  Remember also that muscle is denser and therefore takes up less volume than fat.  This means that if you gain 1 kilogram of fat, it will take up more room in your body than if you gain 1 kilogram of muscle (again proving that the scale is unreliable).

% Body Fat:  Measuring ones body fat is also a good way to gauge your body composition.  When we say that we are trying to lose “weight” what we are really saying is that we are trying to lose fat.  For example, one might only lose 3-4 kilograms in 3 months, but will look like they have lost 8 kg.  The reason for this is what I stated before, fat takes up much more room in the body and muscle mass weighs more.  Therefore, if you have increased your muscle mass through exercise and lost fat, it is only natural for the scale to show a decreased weight loss, but for your body to look great!

Clothes:  Notice that your clothes have been fitting better but the scale still hasn’t budged?  Again, you are losing fat and gaining muscle.  Are you starting to notice a trend here?  If you want to see that you are successful, after a month, try on a pair of jeans that were snug when you started your exercise and diet program.  You might see that you can easily fit into them instead of jumping up and down to get into them.

Energy levels and psychology:  Don’t let how your body is looking be the only factor to your success.  If you have more energy and have become more positive about life, know that what you are doing is working.  Don’t be discouraged if that darn scale has not moved!!!

The moral to the story is, by keeping exercise in your life and making better food choices, you will see a significant change in your body and health without depending on the scale to tell you that.  The scale should only be part of the picture and you should not be losing more than .5kg-1kg per week.  If you only have 4-5 kilograms to lose, you should aim for .25-.5kg per week.  If you have 20 kg or more to lose, you should aim for 1 kg per week.  Please keep in mind again, that these numbers are RELATIVE and you should use the markers mentioned above to really know how your body is responding to positive health changes.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .