Most women and men start their fitness journey with one goal in mind – weight loss. The food we eat nowadays is highly processed, unhealthy and bad for us. Not everyone can afford fresh, organic and food better in quality. Most people settle for what they can get their hands on, and what their budget allows. Furthermore, This leads to people making the wrong choices for their health, while obesity is a growing factor in our society. It’s no wonder that we get obsessed with losing weight, nowadays, it can be such a difficult thing to do. Even food that is marketed “healthy” and “diet” friendly, is processed and full of sugar, and the scale keeps going up, so what do we do?
Undoubtedly, its important to set realistic goals in order to take care of our mental health and promote healthy weight loss. Measuring your weight every day, and counting calories of every bite you eat, will not help you. Your goals should be measured in healthy ways that will motivate and help you push forward to be the healthiest version of yourself. Here are 3 reasons why you shouldn’t measure your goals on the scale:
1. Being skinny doesn’t always equal being healthy.
Excessively dieting and over exercising can lead to many issues such as malnutrition, weakened immunity system and heart problems. Your pursuit of the “perfect body” can lead you on the wrong path, being underweight can be as bad as being overweight!
2. Your body changes as you age.
Your body goes through a lot of change during your lifetime, this counts for both men and women. The biggest changes happen during your teenage years when growing into your adolescent body, and after the age of 40. You can’t expect to have the same weight at 18, 28 and 38. It’s normal for your body to grow and go through change, so you have to accept the change and work with it!
3. Your goals might change with time.
Goals change along with your fitness journey. Firstly, you might start exercising and eating healthier in order to lose weight and be as thin as possible, but then you change your perspective. You notice how you start feeling better and stronger, and wish to look more like you feel, so you end up wanting to gain more muscle! Consequently, this change will affect the number on your scale, but there is no need to panic. Gaining weight isn’t always a bad thing, and it might be a sign of you achieving your goals, but your mindset about it is what matters the most. What’s important is that you feel and look better, stronger and healthier, do not let the number on the scale mislead you.
You may have trouble accepting your weight and your body, especially if you let how much you weigh bother you, so, here’s how to measure your goals instead:
1. You look better
One of the first things you notice after a few months of exercise, is the way you look. You slowly notice your “beginner gains”, meaning that you gain some muscle, lose some fat and your body is starting to look more toned. During these few months, you’ll probably lose some weight. In the next few months, you’ll notice that the scale is going up again. Now you wonder, “why do I look better, but the scale is going up?” the answer is that your body is replacing fat with muscle, and that’s good news! This is the first reason why you should probably ignore the scale, and trust yourself instead.
2. You can find clothes that fit you.
Picking clothes that fit well can be a nightmare. Not everyone enjoys shopping, especially if it reminds them of their insecurities. Overweight and underweight people can struggle with their confidence and buying clothes for themselves. No matter if your goal was to lose or gain weight, when you start achieving it and building confidence in your looks, shopping gets easier. You can finally find fashionable pieces that make you feel and look good, and that’s a good reason to motivate you to keep going. However, extrinsic motivation may not be enough , so your best bet is to focus on your how you’re feeling inward.
3. Finally, Its most important that – You feel better
The most rewarding thing about practicing any form of fitness or exercise, are the countless benefits! Not only will you look better, but you will feel better, in every way. Your mental health will have significant improvements: you’ll get more dopamine and serotonin, making you happier, feeling more energized and getting better sleep. You’ll have more strength and endurance, energy and willpower to live your life, and that is the ultimate goal!