Numbers Do Lie

This is a classic of fitness puzzles: can we lose inches and not weight? Yes, not only is the phenomenon possible but it is also common and often distressing for so called «weight-loss» program beginners.

First, let us reconsider the wording. Was your initial goal to become lighter or to become thinner? Unless you are a professional jockey, aiming for the lowest category before a race, solely weighing less may not have been the point. Chances are, you aimed at fitting into a smaller size of clothes, such as a wedding dress or at getting rid of love handles before bikini season. In this case, your combined diet and fitness plan becomes an “inch-loss” program, which is less catchy name, I agree.

The good news is, you may not have to choose between both, as they tend to come in pairs, eventually. And the last word is essential, as it stresses the long term component of your program results. Indeed, as they fail to see the numbers drop on a scale, several people give up on their program, believing it was ineffective. And this is a mistake.

Indeed, while the scale provides a rational, internationally understandable, and impartial measure, it remains wildly misunderstood. First, users tend to forget that the scale does not only weight tissues, but also water (on average 40 kilograms in an adult man of 70 kg), organs (the brain alone is about 1.3 kg and the skin is between 3 and 4kg), and bones (on average 17 kilograms in an adult man of 70kg). Interestingly, you may be interested in keeping those. As such, there is only a marginal part of the number you get that is reducible. For men between 20 and 40, the average body fat is between 8 and 20% of the mass. For women, in the same age range, the average body fat is between 21 and 32% of the body mass, as it has to allow child bearing. As you can now understand, the weight cannot discriminate between muscle and fat or between water and organ. It does not provide any information about your body composition. This is how, you could lose 3kg of fat and not be any lighter on the scale, if for instance, you gained 3kg of muscle. In a similar way, you could occasionally suffer from water retention (may be subject to hormonal changes) and be heavier on the scale, even if your body fat has remained the same.

This does not mean that the procedure of weighing yourself is useless. On the contrary, weight can be an important proxy for health. Obesity is a serious medical condition, which must be addressed by professionals and in such specific cases, weight loss may become imperative, to reduce stress on joints or the cardiovascular system, for instance. You should be careful to think of your weight as a relative measure (to your age, gender and size) and not as an absolute measure. There is a difference between a 1m child weighing 50kg and a 1.70 adult weighing 50kg! To do so, a medically recognized measure, the body mass index, can help you figure in what index ranges you stand: severely underweight, underweight, healthy weight, overweight, obese of class 1 (moderate obesity), obese of class 2 (severe obesity), obese of class 3 (morbid obesity). Note that the associated indexes will vary between men and women and across the age spectrum. It is computed as a ratio: your weight divided by your squared height. Applications are available online.

However slightly more informative than weight alone, the BMI also fails at providing body composition information. Fortunately, there exist body fat monitors of all kinds, for most budgets: hand-held, incorporated in the scale, …etc. Generally, these have metal pads, which release a very small (safe and painless) electric impulse, and compute the time it takes to run through your body and come back to the pads. As water is an excellent conductor of electricity, the current will travel faster as it pass through muscles, which are essentially made of water, than through fat. If you do not feel like investing in one for yourself, ask at your gym if they have one available. At any rate, these monitors can be very useful at tracking your progress, regardless of your scale, taking into account your body composition.

This being said, when you don’t want or cannot obtain a body fat monitor, there remains the measuring tape option. Imagine living in a remote place, away from gyms and equipment stores, or on holiday and you don’t want to carry your scale in your luggage. All you need in a measuring tape, or a small rope, marked at meaningful intervals (every 2 or 5 centimeters, for example)! Recording the circumference of the areas of your body you want to work on will allow you to track how much thinner you become. Remember, though, that this measure does not tell you about your body composition either. Regardless of the method you wish to pursue, there is a universally valid element you should keep in mind: the measuring frequency. Body weight and shape is intended to vary across biological cycles: hormonal, digestive, sleep… etc. As such, make sure to either weigh, monitor your body fat, or tape measure yourself at the same period of time and at the same time of the day (people are generally lighter at the beginning of the day). I would suggest a monthly basis. At any rate, do not measure yourself on daily basis. This is only nerve breaking. Did you know that stock brokers and investors are also recommended to track their activities at larger intervals, in order to have a clear and realistic idea of their results?

Last but not least, whatever your goals are, remember the basics. The program must be realistic. If it is weight loss, aim for slow but consistent loss (about 1 kg a week). If it is inch loss, remember that muscles need rest (generally 24h), proper fuel (oxygen, water, and nutrients) and are prone to long term injury when not ready or accustomed to a specific move: warm up, start slow, control your moves, and stretch out.

The program must be medically sound. You should make sure that your body can tolerate the stress from change and what type of diet-exercise combination is possible for you. Consider consulting a physician, a fitness coach and/or a psychologist, if you have any question or doubt. Remember that a program is highly personal: what works for someone else may not work for you.

Last but not least: make sure you do it for the right reasons and that health and wellbeing are essential. You do not need to look like someone or please someone. You should aim at feeling strong, energized, and self-confident. Remember that numbers do not have meanings. We give them meaning.