Confidence is a big part of successful fat loss.
While the basic physiological tenets, such as a sustained calorie deficit, HAVE to be in line, a So-So Plan that you believe in 100% will be more successful than The Perfect Plan that you just don’t think is good enough (or cutting-edge enough) to work.
That’s one important reason so many people can get into shape following wildly different approaches.
As long as the basic principles are respected, anything can work, if you can stick to it for an extended period.
One of the keys to sticking to it, along with individualization, is CONFIDENCE.
(Actually, side note here: confidence and individualization go hand-in-hand. When you’re committed to sticking to something that you believe in, it’s easier to make the necessary tweaks and customizations that will keep things going smoothly but which won’t mess up the one or two fundamental parts of you plan that made it work in the first place.)
The thing about confidence is that it comes from within and it doesn’t always come easy. While some have it in spades, for most of us, confidence is one more thing we’re working on. It’s even something we need to protect.
In fat loss especially there are MANY things already trying to erode your confidence:
- media & social media
- life-long, insecurity
- dysmorphia
- rude or subtly nasty comments
- well-meaning but moronic comments (don’t lose too much fat, you’ll look old)
As you can now imagine, the LAST thing this confidence-shattering list needs is feedback from some $49.99 device that you step on once a week in order to get an out-of-context number.
I still see the Weekly Weigh-in, usually Saturday AM:
Get up, pee, hop on the scale… get a number that determines progress & your mood for the next 7 days.
STOP.
Many things affect weight, from sodium to bad sleep.
Weigh in DAILY or every month or two.
Weekly is the WORST.— Bryan Krahn (@BryanKrahn) June 19, 2021
Now, the scale isn’t useless. I’m not saying you should throw it out.
Combined with other data like tape measurements, your own biofeedback and an accurate food log, a daily scale weight is helpful. (I like daily because it forces you to get used to the daily fluctuations so that they actually begin to seem normal. You still have to get a sense of the trend somehow, but you learn to appreciate that it’s not a simple, linear path.)
However, even then, on its own, the scale’s utility is limited. You need a dose of common sense to account for the wider context that an individual number, on its own, isn’t gonna give you.
But that classic once-a-week scale reading? The one that fails to account for the normal day-to-day changes in body water, intestinal volume, sleep quality, and stress & disruption?
The one that makes you think the whole week was a waste? (One of those thoughts which, even though you “know” it’s bullshit, you still can’t help entertaining?)
Yeah. A confidence torpedo.
The. Worst. Ever.
You owe it to yourself to treat yourself better.
– Coach Bryan
PS: Change the batteries in your scale. Especially when you lose 42 pounds in a day.