The Battle with the sad step

Ok so this is a subject that is discussed DAILY! Women inparticular are so hung up on the scales, well more so, their weight! But why does the buck stop at how much we weigh???

At Mission Fitness we do a body composition analysis with all of our clients who want it on a monthly basis. We try to teach them that actually what is more important than weight is everything else going on inside your body. Your weight in the grand scheme of things means very little. 

So let's look at example A: Sandra weighs 10 stone she is comfortably wearing a size 10-12 dress, Sandra is one of these "lucky" people who doesn't need to work out to stay "slim". 

Now let's look at example B: Jill weighs 13 stone she is wearing a size 14/16 dress and wants to "lose weight", Jill exercises regularly by attending the gym and tries to follow a fairly balanced diet. 

Now, whilst Sandra might look and feel comfortable, does her weight tell us what's happening on the inside of her body? Upon further investigation it turns out Sandra has a high Visceral Fat reading (visceral fat is the fat that surrounds your internal organs, this is the fat that contributes to heart problems, strokes, diabetes etc) now, does Sandra look "fat" ... No! But her health is currently at risk if she doesn't do anything about it. Do the scales tell her she has a potential health issue... no. 

Jill however, she works out regularly and tries to eat healthy 80% of the time and this is helping keep her visceral fat levels down, in fact lower than Sandra's reading.

Question... Who has a bigger health risk? 

Ok so this is just an example and these people don't exist, but the point I am trying to make is that your weight tells you a lot of things, it tells you how much YOU (including your bones, muscle, organs, water, fat etc) weigh. It does not tell you how much body fat you are carrying, which by the way, is what you ACTUALLY want to lose. 

Recently I myself have stepped on our scales and the first number you are greeted with is the weight, and I will be honest I initially felt disappointed, BUT as soon as the readings had finished with the other numbers I was really pleased. So, I didn't put on weight, but I didn't lose any either (disappointment) but I had dropped body fat AND visceral fat AND increased my muscle mass (no I don't look or feel like Arnold Scwarzenegger - that's a completely seperate blog post). So I hadn't lost, nor had I put on but the result is actually very good! 

For too many people this result would be disappointing, disheartening, demotivating WHY because the weight numbers hadn't changed. Let me tell you this.... this result tells me that I am now even LESS likely to have a heart attack.... Now how would you feel about these results... surely your HEALTH is more important than how much your body actually weighs? 

So... here is a task for you... go get yourself on a set of scales that actually break down your body, find out what your fat reading is, then decide whether you want to lose weight or lose fat! They are 2 very different things! 

Worried about your fat levels? Here are a few tips to help you make a start

1. Cut out the alcohol (full of trans fats which contribute to visceral fat) 

2. Eat a balanced diet (get more fruit and veggies in and increase your protein intake)

3. Do some resistance training (lifting weights has proven extremely effective for reducing visceral fat) or HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training is particularly good at dropping abdominal and visceral fat levels)

But take note... this isn't about aesthetics anymore... this is about HEALTH, this is about living longer! 

Do your body a favour and look after it!