When the scale is being a bitch

Oh my scale is a bitch...or a bastard, or a frucking liar, it all depends on the day :-p

So many times I see a gain, or my scale stands still on the same number for weeks on end - and that when I worked out hard and ate healthy and definitely at a calorie deficit.  This bothers me every single time. Especially after last week's 300g gain when I did everything right. Yes, last week I worked out 5 times and ate healthy foods at a calorie deficit, but the scale was not in my favour.

That being said, the month of June was not a success when we are talking about weightloss, but cm loss was freaking fantastic.  I mean 8 cm around my tummy, come on, that's just great!

So I spent a lot of time online reading articles on weightloss vs fatloss and why the scale sometimes does not show a loss.

I want to quote a few phrases from this article, as it makes so much sense - and because I want to come back and read it again and again and remind myself regularly not to measure my success to the reading on the scale.

Link to article on Exercise.About website

• "What does your weight say about you? If you think about it, that number doesn't tell you a whole lot. The scale shows your weight, but does it tell you how much of that weight is muscle and how much is fat?  Or how much of that weight is water, bones or organs? A bodybuilder's weight could be off the charts because of extra muscle, but does that mean he's overweight or fat? Most of us would say no because we know that weight doesn't tell the whole story."
• "You now know that focusing on fat loss is much more important than focusing on your weight. When you lose body fat, you're making permanent changes in your body, shifting your body composition so that you have less fat and more muscle. When you lose weight, you could be losing water or even muscle. It's impossible to know if you're seeing real results or just the product of your daily habits, hormonal shifts and changing hydration levels."
• "When you talk about losing weight, what you usually mean is slimming down. But slimming down doesn't always mean losing weight."
• "It (the scale) doesn't reflect the changes happening in your body: If you're doing cardio and strength training, you may build lean muscle tissue at the same time you're losing fat. In that case, the scale may not change even though you're getting leaner and slimmer."
• "It (the scale) isn't always a positive motivator: If you step on the scale and you're unhappy with what you see, how does that make you feel? You may question everything you're doing, wondering why you even bother at all. Focusing on weight may overshadow the positive results you're getting such as fat loss, more endurance and higher energy levels."

This article on the Livestrong website is also great! 

• "If you continue to watch your calorie intake and exercise, the scale will eventually show that you’ve lost weight. The process may just take longer if you’re adding muscle as you lose. Ultimately, if you feel healthier, look leaner and have grown stronger – it doesn’t matter what the scale says."

Yes people, I'm trying to motivate the hell out of myself at the moment.  It's a long 3 months and only one third through now! I need to make it through the full 3 months knowing I gave it my absolute all.  I sometimes feel so alone on this journey, I sometimes feel so sad and yes, sometimes I feel like giving up, but every single time I find a way to keep going. It's just hard when you think you should have advanced further that what you already have. But hey ho, persisting and not giving up at this stage!

At this point I can say with all honesty I gave the first month my absolute everything, one down - two to go!