When I began my fitness journey, I was 215 lbs. This was nearly 70 pounds overweight for my height!

Admitting that weight is unhealthily high is a necessity in the health journey. Stepping on the scale and letting the numbers slap you in the face is one of the biggest motivators. Some people avoid the scale because they fear what it might say. However, many people face the fear to begin the health journey. Although they hated the scale in the beginning, they come back to step on it again and again. Prior to the health journey, many step on the scale only every couple weeks, months, or years! This changes after the journey begins. After beginning, many will make sure to step on the scale every week or even every day.

Do you know where I’m going with this? The title is “Death by Numbers”. I’ll continue:

Stepping on the scale every day will do more harm than good. Let me explain. Stepping on the scale every day was a prime example of me. Every day, I would step on the scale to see where I was. The question was, “Do I weigh less than I did yesterday”?  Unfortunately, this was repeated for about a year. Each day, I would judge my progress based on the numbers on the scale. If I lost weight, I’d be happy. If I didn’t lose weight, I would get irritated. I cared more about the numbers than my actual appearance. This was a vicious cycle that I never want you to be a part of.

As you begin to track calories, the scale is necessary. However, not every day! Use the scale once a week at most! Every Monday morning, I wake up, use the restroom, and then step on the scale. This should work well for anyone because tracking each week gives you an idea of how you did nutritionally. If you gained weight, the only way this happened is by you eating more calories than you burned. From there, you can decide to either decrease the caloric intake or increase the physical activity. Using these two leverage points will allow you to obtain the weight you want.

You can probably tell by this point that weight is not that important. It is more about what you look like! For example, this girl at the gym is constantly talking about weighing 115 pounds. No matter what she does, she is not happy until the scale says 115. I hate this mentality because muscle is very deceiving. Muscle weighs a lot more than fat. Therefore, BMI reports are often inaccurate. Simply because someone weighs more does not mean they are fat or obese. Currently, I weigh 175 pounds. Based on the BMI calculator put out by the government, I am overweight with a BMI of 26.6. However, if you look at me, you will clearly see that I am not overweight.

If you have a tough time believing this. Look at transformation pictures online. You will see that people can gain muscle weight but lean their physique down. This leaves me with one tip:

1.       Stop using the scale to judge your progress, but instead use a mirror

Additionally, there is a movement that says, “Don’t let the scale define you”. I agree with the overall meaning of this movement, but it has grown out of hand. People have begun saying that jean sizes mean nothing, body fat percentages are not important, and other things of this nature. I am very blunt when it comes to this subject. I act this way because I care about your health. Telling you that your unhealthily high waist size is “all right” is not helpful. Although numbers do not define a person, living an unhealthy lifestyle does. We live in a world that shuns constructive criticism. Well, as your Health Cop, I will not let the world influence me. I care about you. Therefore, I will be honest when giving advice. This is my service to you!

Yours truly,

Health Cop