A boot camp student of mine sent me a wonderful article by fitness guru and trainer LaRue E. Cook, MHA, JD. The article was called “Pounds vs Inches.” In this article, the author explained how his clients always claimed they wanted to lose weight, when excess inches and fat were really the problem. According to LaRue Cook, “I constantly remind my clients, if your goal is to develop a leaner, healthier body composition, forget the scale.” This article was interesting to me because often my clients and those I train deal with this same dilemma.
One of the things I often tell my students is, “if you want to lose weight, chop your leg off and you’ll be around 50 pounds lighter. But now you have two problems, you only have one leg and you’re still fat!” Friends, weight is not the issue, unless you’re in some type of competition where you are required to weigh a certain amount. No one knows your weight and really no one cares what it is. Another truth I tell my students is “I bet that no one has ever walked up to you and said, ‘you weigh good.’” They may have said that you looked good, but that has nothing to do with weight, but has everything to do with body composition.
As you assess your fitness and goals, rather than focusing your attention on the scale and weighing yourself, focus your attention on how you feel when you work out. Relish the positive feelings you gain from walking, running, lifting, training or eating well. If you spend your energy on significant daily effort, the fat will come off, and you’ll feel better and look better. And really, isn’t that the point?
