What does the scales say today?? Who cares!!​

​There are tonnes of reason why the scales go up instead of down every now and again and it has nothing to do with fat gain.

A lot of new clients are always caught up on the scales and ignoring the fact that their body shape is changing as they are dropping inches really quickly, their clothes are getting looser, people are complementing them on how they've lost weight and even other things like their energy is boosted and their skin, hair and nails are in much better condition.

Stand back and look at the bigger picture. Your fat loss doesn't run on 7 day cycles.

In fat many people sometimes drop a few pounds every 7 - 10 days. That would be a frustrating 10 days waiting to see movement if you weren't aware of your weight loss pattern when it comes to the scales.

>>> The scales doesn't show an accurate fat loss result so they are pretty useless.

You might be wondering why the scales isn't very accurate.

I also speak about this in podcasts which I share with clients as it's a point I want to drill home. There is nothing worse than seeing someone losing inches but because they didn't see a drop on the scales for a few days they get upset and order a pizza. What a complete waste of good progress!!

Water Retention

​I discuss water retention in the video below but I want to add some extra reasons on here.

The following are some more reasons why your weight on the scales fluctuates but which has nothing to do with body fat. Remember, if you are seeing positive change in your progress photos and/or measurements and if you are seeing change in your clothes then it doesn't even matter what the scales is telling you. It will catch up anyway in a matter of days in most cases.

These are the main culprits for overnight weight gain i.e. water retention:

1. Menstrual Cycle (regularly as much as 7lbs)
2. Alcohol (regularly as mush as 7lbs - will take up to 5 days to flush out)
3. Extra salt from one day to the next (slight increase and decrease)

If you happen to have more sodium today than yesterday then that will act as a magnet and attract water. So it doesn't matter if it feels like you are taking two steps forward and one back. Losing 2lbs today and gaining one back tomorrow. Look at your weekly result, bi weekly results and monthly results. If things aren't changing when they should be then we will start using a trick to bump things up anyway. So don't panic.

4. Starches or sugars
All starches and sugars are carbohydrates. Your body has a huge capacity to store carbohydrates socking away at least 500 grams. To put that in perspective one slice of bread packs 15 grams of carbs (that's 3 spoons of sugar by the way and includes wholemeal bread). When you eat more carbohydrate than your body immediately needs, you'll store the leftovers in your liver and muscles, which will stay there until they're needed for fuel. And for every gram of glycogen you stockpile, you also put away up to 6 grams of water, so essentially it's a double whammy when it comes to your weight.

This water weight can then take a week to flush out.

5. Being constipated can cause you to weigh more until your body releases the waste it’s hanging onto. It’s not uncommon for women to experience constipation in the first couple of weeks or as part of PMS, but stress, too little sleep, and travel can also be triggers.

What CAn You Do?

If you think you are retaining water try drinking more water as this actually helps your body to release the water that it's hanging on to. Also potassium rich foods like cooked spinach have a natural diuretic effect helping to flush the water out. Just remember that there is nothing actually wrong with water weight other than the fact that it's making you look heavier on the scales.

Weight loss is rarely a steady decline until you reach your goal so this is why I use specific techniques to make sure my clients fat loss results are always as high as possible. 

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​Bottom line: it’s actually normal for your weight to ebb and flow, so if you see a slightly increase, don’t panic. When clients follow our plans which are designed specifically for them taking into account their age then it is literally impossible for them to gain fat.

This means that if their weight on the scales increases by one pound and if they haven’t consumed anything that they shouldn't have then they can rest assured that they haven’t actually gained a pound of body fat. 

So shift your focus away from the scale and toward how you look and feel. It’s very possible to see more muscle definition and even a reduction in inches when your weight in pounds hasn’t budged.

The only time I ever get a mail from someone worried about their results is if that person hasn't updated their progress pics or measurements. It literally never happens otherwise!

This is why I'm always talking about the importance of the measurements, progress pictures and using goal items of clothing. 

Each week we have clients seeing big improvements in their pictures and measurements while seeing little or no movement on the scales for a few days. It changes week to week.

The scales could easily then drop by 7 lbs over night. I've seen it happen tonnes of times. It's too unpredictable. Just ignore the scales, you'll be glad you did in a few weeks. Time and time again I hear people who when looking back at the first few weeks realise it was a big mistake to keep going by the scales. 

BONUS Piece

​The following are the main 3 reasons why someone might not be seeing progress:

1. They are not following the correct plan.

It might have worked for you before but now that you are over 40 you need a specific plan for your age group. This is mainly due to a hormonal imbalance. in lots of cases the hormone in question is insulin.

2. You are on medication which prevents weight loss.

3. You have an allergy or intollerance to a food that you are eating which is causing lots of water retention and bloating.

Did you notice that I have not mentioned eating too much, portion size, calories or lack of exercise. These terms are too broad when working with over 40's

I tell my clients eat as much as they want. Especially when it comes to fats and proteins. I don't use a high protein diet unless someone is looking for rapid fat loss but a diet which is low in fats and proteins is a diet which is high in carbohydrates. Everyone who starts with us is coming from a diet which is high in carbohydrates. My diet was also very high in carbohydrates when I was 2 stone overweight. People need to understand that carbohydrates as written on the labels means sugars. The added sugar in grams just means ........added sugar. The carbohydrates are the sugars which are already in the food. And before you say it...it doesn't matter if they are looked at as being 'natural'. Natural sugars are as fattening as added sugars.

So it's not that people are eating too much. It's that they are eating too much carbohydrates.
Their portion sizes are too big unless they are eating lots of carbohydrates.
Their is no point in talking about calories as all foods are calories so you might as well just use the word food.

And finally, it's very difficult to burn enough calories to lose weight unless you are willing to exercise for hours each day.

It's a lot easier to lose weigh in your 20's. When you are in your 40's and 50's you will need to get this right!