Saturday, April 6, 2013

Monthly Check In

Wouldn't it be great if muscle weighed the same amount as fat? Yeah, it does, and I'm an idiot for forgetting that until my coach kindly reminded me that a pound is a pound is a pound. What I meant was wouldn't it be great to be able to see our fat loss on the scale even while we build muscle? Because even though we are capable of understanding that we can be fitter and leaner without losing actual pounds, we've unfortunately all been programmed throughout our lives to care what the scale says.

I decided to switch to monthly instead of weekly check ins for that very reason as I didn't want to be discouraged if the number didn't change on the scale, despite feeling stronger or looking leaner. So imagine my reaction when I stepped on the scale yesterday and I still weigh the SAME THING as I did 4 weeks ago!

Thankfully I have my tape measure and body fat calipers to reassure me of the changes I see in the mirror. I've lost another 1/2" off of my waist and 3/4" off of my hips (ie. unhealthy abdominal fat). And, if you believe that I'm measuring correctly (or consistently measuring incorrectly), I've gone down another 2% in body fat.

I will admit I felt a brief twinge of disappointment when I stepped on the scale, but while I want to lose weight and look better, what's most important to me is simply that I'm meeting the goals I've set forth of clean paleo eating and Crossfitting and swimming regularly. If I continue with that as I have been, the rest will fall into place.

2 comments:

  1. I'm the same weight too. I wish I could calculate my body fat, I just know that must have changed

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    1. I'm using body fat calipers, which I suspect are pretty unreliable, but I figure even if I'm not doing it exactly right, if I'm doing it the same way each time, I'll have some idea of what I'm losing. I looked into other options, but they seem to be either equally inaccurate or expensive so I'm making do. The calipers are less than $5 on Amazon. :)

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