Well, like many others, I am obsessed with what the scale shows.
But today we will play with your mind. We will program it to motivate you in your weight loss.
The best moment to get on the scale is the day you start your weight loss program. Why? Because what you see on the scale will freak you out and will determine you to take action. If you have a scale with 'memory', save your current weight.
The next thing to do is to put on one of your pair of pants that is still fitting you, but barely. Something you can wear but is so tight on your legs that you cannot move. Watch the buttons or the zipper ready to explode on your tummy. Take a few steps around dressed like this. You did put some weight on, didn't you? Now that you know how you feel and look in this pair of pants, take it off and put it aside.
You have two standars of measurement now. They are better than normal measuring and watching the inches drop, at least for now.
Grab a bit of your inner thighs between your fingers and see how much of fat there is. Do the same for your tummy. Good. Feel that fat! Don't worry, it will start melting once you want it to go away!
I asked you to measure yourself against pants for two reasons: scales are highly sensitive and might not record your little weight loss during the first 4-5 days and even if they do, the difference is small and not encouraging. Two - I bet you want to fit in those pants more than you want to lose 3 pounds without fitting.
Fat melts slowly. If you go on strict diets - which I do not recommend - you will lose water and the scale will show the difference. But it's water that goes, not fat. Fat is extremely light and shows less on the scale at the beginning. Muscles weigh a lot, however, and if you do exercise, at the beginning the scale will not show as if you lost weight, because you built muscle. But trust me, you did lose fat! Also, right after intense exercise, the muscle tends to swell and retain the milky substance that creates the muscle. That is a good sign however, because when the situation goes away, your newly built muscles will start eating a lot of fat from your body.
Also, I made you feel the fat because the first thing that happens when you lose weight is that the fat becomes less dense. On your inner thighs for example, where you can feel it better, the fat will start disappearing, but to your eye it will look the same. Only grabbing and feeling its density at the beginning will make you understand that you *did* lose weight.
About the pants: try them on again in a week - don't do the mistake of trying them on every day - and feel the difference around your legs and tummy. Also, don't start with a pair of pants that don't fit you at all, because you cannot measure yourself weekly against them. After the pants fit you perfectly, grab another pair that is very tight on you. Follow the same routine with this new pair. Go also in shops and try clothes on. Try your old measure and your new measure. Now, doesn't THAT feel good?
As for the scale, you can get on it again in a few days, but don't bring yourself down if there is no significant loss. You want to look good for others and yourself, not for the scale, right?
Anyway, start exercising now. Start with fun exercises like winsor pilates or yoga. Download them online if you can't find them otherwise. Personally, I hate routine exercise and I hate aerobics and fitness. But pilates is fun. Same is yoga.
Good luck with your losing weight program.
If you have any questions, let me know. Post a comment and I'll answer for sure.
Losing weight and staying healthy is easy, when you care. Forget famishing yourself: there are other ways.
Since I was 15 I've been obsessed with healthy diets, losing weight, sports, and everything included. I read books after books and I collected articles on staying fit and healthy. Even now, 12 years later, I am still reading everything I find on the subject.
I will share with you, step by step, everything I know. Free advice.
About Me
Name: Andreea Home: Bucharest, Romania About Me: Post graduate student, happily married, who has found the perfect job in a perfect company. :) See my complete profile
