I am going to over simplify everything in weight loss. I am also going to warn that I do not recommend simple sugars or processed foods, but this approach has worked time and time again regardless of what is eaten. The method: Burn more than is eaten. Yes, it is that simple. If someone burns 2500 kcal and only eats 2000 kcal consistently they will lose weight. The problem is that their body composition does not change, they only get overall smaller. But that numeric amount will get smaller.

Weight is just a general number associated with mass and gravity. Most people do not want to lose weight, they want to lose fat. They don’t want to look like smaller versions of their current self. They want to see lean muscle and some definition. Few want to look small and skinny. The calories in vs calorie out method will not do this.

      Almost every time I talk to a client about fat loss, they give me a number they want to weigh. I ask them where this number came from and it is usually either what they used to weight in high school, or they have a friend at this body weight, or just a number they thought up that sounded right. Either way is fine, but I like to know what we are working towards. As they begin to lose fat the number usually changes. Often, that number increases. They begin to see the way their muscle fills out clothes better and becomes more toned and they do not want to be just light weight anymore. They want to look fit. It is common knowledge that muscle is denser than fat and therefore looks leaner when compared side by side, but it isn’t until they see the proof for themselves that they begin to believe it. Female clients are usually off by about fifteen pounds from where they find they look and feel best. Men are all over the map, but you know, they are men.

              This tells me that most of the time the scale is a terrible measuring stick. The only time I worry about a client’s weight is if their sport has weight classes such as combat sports or weight lifting. The tool I strongly prefer is the mirror. No one walks around with a scale to measure others. They use their eyes and humans are terribly inaccurate at this. (That’s why there is a “Guess Your Weight/Birthday” booth at every fair.) The scale causes more stress and anger than any other health tool on the market.

My advice is to throw the scale away and buy a full-length mirror. Stand in front of it and smile because you are not a number; you are an athlete who is reaching their goal of feeling, looking, and being great!