I am 10 pounds heavier than I was a year ago, when I last had my body fat measured. That is the same weight that I was three years ago when I “realized” I had let myself get fat—or at least when the BodPod confirmed what I had already suspected. I cut my calories and lost 10 lbs of fat (but gained no muscle in the process). Over the course of three years, my weight has gone up and down as I tweaked my diet and exercise to “recomp” my body (recomposition—to shift my body weight to be composed of more muscle and less fat). I have not been overly strict with the diet.
Looking at numbers on the scale can be frustrating. They are frustrating because the really don’t tell us what we need to hear—only what we want or don’t want to hear. The numbers are meaningless without context.
If the weight on the scale is not changing, one must ask a few questions:
Am I eating the right diet? Now, remember, the primary factor in fat loss is caloric balance. If one is hypocaloric, one should be losing weight. The weight being lost should be fat. (We don’t want to be losing muscle—even if bodybuilding is not our focus. We want to maintain muscle as we age for long-term health and function!) So, if you are not losing fat, you might still be eating too much or have too little activity—probably both.
What you are eating is also important. Are you eating the right balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats? What is your consumption of alcohol? Even if your diet is hypocaloric (on paper—after all, by definition, your diet is hypocaloric only if you are eating less than you need to maintain your present weight) you may not be eating the right foods or enough food. Too little food can sometime alter the metabolism and slow fat loss. We all respond to foods differently, so macro balance isn’t the same for everyone.
Am I losing fat? Our goal, after all, is to get leaner. The goal should never be weight loss. Pay no mind to the height-weight charts the doctors and insurance companies have used. They are all bull****. Kellogg had it right in the old Special K cereal commercials when they asked us to “pinch an inch”. The best monitor of fat loss is going to be fat loss. Skinfold measurements can give an accurate measure of body composition, but a less precise self-measurement can tell us whether we are gaining or losing fat. The mirror does not lie. Clothes don’t always “shrink”. If you are looking better in the mirror, who cares what the scale says? (Unless you are an athlete who competes in a specific weight division—then your coach might care!) The scale is just a number!
Am I gaining muscle? Now, don’t just assume that because you are working out that you are gaining muscle. It takes much effort to gain muscle. It is especially difficult on a “hypocaloric” diet. Muscle gain may not be quite visible when the body fat composition is high. Muscle is denser than fat and, therefore, takes up less volume. If you are looking leaner in the mirror and not losing weight, you are probably gaining muscle. Be honest with yourself. One of my favorite scenes in Heavyweights is the weigh-in where Ben Stiller’s character is weighing in the campers and discovers they have been “cheating”. In an initial state of denial, he exclaims: “Muscle weighs more than fat.” This is often what we tell ourselves when the diet and exercise program isn’t working.
If you are not gaining strength or significantly increasing your volume (i.e., weight x, sets x repetitions), you are not likely to be seeing significant muscle hypertrophy. If, however, you are training intensely—with proper volume, diet, and recovery—you will gain muscle. If you are gaining muscle, the scale might not be changing. It might even go up.
Over the last several years, I have shifted from what was essentially a maintenance lifting plan to a strength/hypertrophy plan. It has taken a while to find the right plan for my body type and lifestyle, but I am getting there. At 55 years of age, I am seeing gains without going crazy with the diet or supplementation. Sure, they could be better, if I took a more regimented approach, but progress, albeit slow to moderate, is my only goal. I have learned that it is easier to “grow into my fat” than it is to lose fat and maintain muscle.
The scale has jumped 10 pounds (truthfully, it topped off at about a 15 lb gain—I am down 5 from several months ago) and is has stayed plus or minus 2 lb for a while. The truth will be clear when I step into the BodPod on June 1st, my target date. I trust the lean body mass will be up and the fat mass will be down. How much? We’ll see. I had hoped to see the number on the scale go down, but the scale refuses to change. I am seeing gains and losses in the mirror. Moreover, my weights are going up—nothing to write home about, but pleasing enough for me.
I enjoy life. I am moderate with my enjoyment of food. I don’t waste calories on crappy junk foods (Good junk foods? Yes.) or crappy beer/wine. I eat out more than I should to be able to have six-pack abs, but I don’t care—as long as I can keep Dunlap’s disease* at bay. My workout time is limited, and I don’t want to sacrifice family time to work out more (opportunity costs).
The mirror and the workloads tell me I am doing alright. I care very little about what the scale says.
If the scale doesn’t tell you what you want to hear, listen to the mirror and your progress. They won’t lie.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!