Why I Broke Up with my Bathroom Scale

So last Saturday, Nic (my life partner and number 1 supporter) and I headed to Move after teaching my morning Yoga class. We have been planning to get a body composition analysis for quite some time now but never had the chance. This time, we promised ourselves we would do it.

I haven’t really been monitoring my weight through a scale for the past 4-5 years. It used to make me feel bad about myself ALL THE TIME. As a teen, I would step on the scale each morning to see whether I lost or gained any weight. Whenever I gained a pound or two, I would go on a frenzy of fad diets and exercise. But then it occurred to me that what I have been doing was just a vicious cycle and it was no longer making any sense. It was affecting me negatively and it had to stop.

I’m not sure why I never realized that the word weight when used in the context of the human body is still defined the same way my Physics teacher defined it. The number on the weighing scale is literally just the amount of matter in your body relative to gravity.That amount of matter could be anything, water, fat, muscle. That number ALONE won’t tell you anything relevant to your health goals. Then I learned about body composition analyses. This gives you a better view of what’s going on in your body and provides you with something you can actually work with. Each person’s analysis is based on your age, height and gender.

Here are some of the details from my latest analysis:

In general, my body composition is Muscular which means I have moderate to abundant amount of muscle with little to moderate amount of fat. There are four types according to Simple Science Fitness and it helps to determine your body composition in order for you to set your health goals.

There are A LOT of details included when you get yourself assessed. But we’ll just take a look at a few things that, I personally think, need to be clearly understood.

1. Weight- Your weight is the total amount of mass in your body. Not just fat. This number comes from the amount of water in your body, your muscles, your bones, your organs, etc. The normal range will depend on your age and height. Mine is between 97-131.2 Lbs. I fall somewhere in the middle at 115.7 Lbs.
2. Muscle Mass- Muscle Mass is the amount of muscle you have in your body. Your skeletal muscles are responsible for movements such as pulling and pushing. Since these babies do all the work for you, they are the ones that are fueled by the food you take in. They burn calories to keep the body going. This is why ladies shouldn’t be afraid of building muscle. Not only do they make you stronger, but they also keep the pounds off even when you’re at rest. The normal range for my body is between 42-52.7 Lbs based on the results.
3. Body Fat Mass- This one shows the amount of body fat you have in your body. Gone are the days when fitness goals are ultimately just weight loss. Bringing this number down and increasing the amount of muscle you have is clearly the way to go. Naturally, women have more body fat than men. Now, before you go “boohoo” and cry “that’s unfair”, take a look at your body and that of your hubby, boyfriend, brother or whoever. The fat makes up the cushion that gives you those curves, girl!  So don’t obsess over losing all of it. 😉
4. Body Mass Index- Your BMI is used to determine whether or not you are in an ideal weight for your height based on a scale. This is still very commonly used but there are ongoing debates about the usage of this system. As I mentioned, the number on the weighing scale doesn’t tell you how much of your weight is fat, muscle, or lean body mass. There may be a chance that most of your weight comes from muscle (especially in men) and not fat. When you calculate your BMI, the result may fall past the normal range and say you are obese. Pretty inaccurate if you ask me. Coach Chappy Callanta of 360 Fitness wrote about this on his blog. Go ahead and learn more here.
5. Percent Body Fat- This tells you how much of your body is composed of fat. The ideal body fat depends on your gender and age. I saved the body fat chart from Coach Chappy’s blog below and use it as a reference. The normal range for my age is between 18-28. Just a couple of months ago, before I started a regular strength and weight training regimen, I was at 22.7. Today I’m at 19.7! Yay! Now, my next goal is to lower my body fat percentage further to 18.9.

You see, this is why I think “weight loss” alone as a fitness goal is too short term. Weight can easily be lost through water and muscle, not fat. So if you’re looking at sustaining a better lifestyle and getting a better, stronger, fitter body, go for the numbers that actually count.

Lastly, if looking at that scale makes you feel bad more often than it does you good, why keep looking at it? Pay more attention to how you are fitting into your clothes, how your body performs at the gym, studio or outdoors, or better yet, just sit quietly with yourself for a few minutes each morning and notice how you feel about yourself overall. These are things no scale can ever tell you. <3