The dreaded SCALE

As long as you feel you're eating enough, you don't need to eat back all of the extra calories. Exceed 1200 calories and feel satisfied with what you're eating and it's enough.

Weigh yourself as often as you feel comfortable. If the number bouncing up and down every day doesn't bother you, weigh daily. If it does, weigh weekly. Always weigh at the same time each day in the same conditions, preferably right after waking and sans clothing.

Keep in mind that the number on the scale is simply a measurement of progress, the same as body fat %, the measurement of body parts in inches, the number of pounds one can bench press or squat, how far or fast one can run, etc. I believe that any one of these measurements should not be the end-all-and-be-all of a person's efforts to become more healthy and fit but neither should any of them be discounted. We cannot out-exercise a bad diet. Running and weight lifting doesn't make one thin but neither does getting our body fat % below a certain point make us healthy and fit.

The simple fact is, our society places a lot of emphasis on that scale number and it's one of the easiest and most obvious ways for a person to measure "progress". The number gets smaller, progress is being made, QED. There are TV shows built around people trying to make that number go as low as possible in the fastest amount of time. I abhor those shows. I think they've done at least as much to distort people's perceptions of what weight loss should be about as the diet industry has.

I believe that another measure of progress is when one realizes that the scale number shouldn't be the only goal or even the most important one. I spend quite a bit of my free time in here trying to help people realize just that.

Throw the scale in the trash and eat your macros and live the dream. How much the earths gravity pulls down on you does not determine your fitness or your worth. We lose fat not weight, and we replace it with heavy sexy sleek muscle! Screw the scale and keep working hard.

ambermarygarrison777 wrote: »

Thank you for your quick responses!
Thanks for all the good advice!
I am logging EVERY single morsel that goes in my chomper!! Im eating about 800 calories a day, including my coffee and milk habit! Im living on low starch veggies, raw almonds, coffee and milk.

You need more food. Don't go under 1200 calories - at least not on a regular basis. If you have one day every couple of weeks where you just don't seem able to eat thats not a big deal but consistently starving yourself is detrimental to your health and counter-productive.

Glad you like it! I know when I first get back to watching what I eat, it feels like there are only three things I could possibly have while being reasonable, then I give up because I like food! hahaha

saradaley667 wrote: »

Keep in mind Amber that by eating less than 1200 a day you're body will go into starvation mode, and every calorie going into your body will be stored as fat, making you actually bigger than if you eat the proper amount.

It also sounds like your really lacking in the protein department. Plant or animal protein it doesn't matter, but protein adds muscle and helps burn fat. I'd say that will make a big difference in how many calories your getting in.

I don't how much I truly believe in the whole theory of this type of starvation mode. What is clinically referred to as "starvation mode" is actually what those who eat low carb would call "ketosis". Your body isn't getting enough carbs so it switches over to burning fat, instead of glucose, for energy. It's not a bad thing.

However, if you constantly undereat, your body will cannibalize your lean muscle mass instead of fat. It doesn't "need" the muscle to survive and if you aren't actively working to maintain that muscle by lifting weights and eating lots of protein it will take it away. This has the effect of lowering your metabolism which makes it even more difficult to lose weight.

Eat enough so that you're still slowly losing weight. This isn't a race. You aren't hopefully planning to hit some magic number on the scale and then go back to eating like you were eating before because you will end up right where you are now except with less muscle and a lower metabolism than before. Eat now like you're planning to eat for the rest of your life, just eat a little less so you can shed some fat. In fact, if you figured out what the calorie needs would be to maintain your goal mass and ate that way now, you'd eventually get there. It'd take longer, but you'd get there.

Not sure if this helps, but for me sometimes the scale will stay the same, but I have lost 1/2 an inch around my waist.. I do alot of strength workouts.. So maybe sometimes you loose fat but gain a muscle.. Scale stays the same, but fat comes off