You can’t always trust the scales

When you start any new training regime or diet, for most people the main metric to go by is obviously weight.  However, this won’t always tell the whole story, often leaving you frustrated, when in fact, things are going well.

Firstly, you begin to notice your clothes feeling better, a few less lumps and bumps in the mirror and wow… ’I’m sure that’s some tone there in the arm’.

Not just this, but your energy is better, your mood is better, and above all, you have more time and energy for the family. And then you jump on the scales!

3 weeks and you have dropped a measly 2lb, what’s the point? You doubt yourself. Why continue? You started this to lose weight, but you aren’t losing any!! [New Blog Coming Soon – Don’t exercise or eat healthy to lose weight]

So, you have a little binge, you eat too much, drink too much, and feel like shit < — That worked!

Before you know it, you have stopped going to the gym, your energy has dropped, and you’re back to square one.  Convincing yourself the progress you thought you had made, was all just smoke and mirrors – with a hint of placebo!

You see, here’s the thing:

1. You were making progress
2. That arm was toned
3. The clothes were a little looser
4. Those lumps and bumps had definitely started to shrink, just a little.

The problem? Your tunnel vision, to the wrong goal. The wrong metric, (yes weight matters) but not immediately.  Someone that is 4 stone overweight, is going to have to reduce their weight to live a healthy, vibrant, energetic life – eventually! But, sustainability is key.

The same thing is happening with Charlotte —> Hopefully you are following her blog here.

4 months of training and less than 2lb lost. To be fair, I would have probably given up at that point, if I didn’t have all the information to know why this was happening. (See the attached body scan images)

Luckily, a 2lb weight loss isn’t the whole truth. Here at Suffolk Strength Academy we are privileged to utilise a full body scanner (InBody) to assess the whole person from muscle mass to fat mass, bone density to hydration, waist to hip ratio, to Metabolic rate!

The real truth of Charlotte’s progress is below:

Skeletal Muscle mass —> Increased by nearly 3kg
Body fat mass —> Decreased by nearly 5kg
And hydration levels up by nearly 2 kg

Now they are results worth keeping it up for.

Imagine averaging 1kg of fat loss every month for a whole year <— This is our aim with all weight loss clients and it works. (Charlotte is ahead of the game). Having succeeded with the all-important foundation process with guidance from the coaches at Suffolk Strength Academy, Charlotte’s transformation is still going to be challenging, but she can be confident that she knows she is getting the results.

That’s 12 kg lighter this time next year, and the year after.

Not only is she now seeing great results from the Inbody Scan, Charlotte can see how she can make this her lifestyle. Working with the Suffolk Strength Academy team has enabled Charlotte to understand the goals that have felt so out of reach in the past are fully within her control, as well as learning about the real life impact these goals, once achieved, will have on her quality of life.   Having never exercised before there has been a lot to get right before moving forward – the first 4 months with the team have simply been a foundation process.

At Suffolk Strength Academy, we like to make people comfortable with exercise, start to enjoy our training programmes; understand how being active is important in our everyday lives and build the foundations of movement that are going to assist in helping achieve long term goals.

Throwing the kitchen sink at training is not the answer, evolving over time is.  We want to educate and support our members about lifestyle nutrition and the positive impact small changes can have on all areas of life.

Like Charlotte, many people know being a parent takes a lot, but having the energy to give it your best sure does help.  These are real reasons to change and little steps make a huge difference.