Weighing In: Fit or Fat?

I threw away my scale years ago, but most people still weigh in frequently. Personally I don't think it's necessary because your body fluctuates day by day and scales just tell you the mass of your body, not the details. Just because someone is thin does not mean they are fit. People can be skinny and still have high body fat content due to sedentary lifestyles or poor eating habits. So the scale does not tell all -- don't let it control your body image perception!

When it comes to the T-Tapp workout it's all about the inch loss. If you have weight to lose it will come off, but you'll see your body tightening and toning up first. T-Tapp builds internal muscle density around your spine and joints as well as strengthening large muscle groups to create long, lean, cut muscles. Most people gain about 5-7 pounds of muscle around their spine and joints within the first few weeks. To track your T-Tapp progress it's very important to measure yourself, not weigh, because your inch loss is where you're going to see results first.

Your actual Body Composition is much more important that how much mass your body weighs. Figuring out how much fat you have compare to muscle and then retesting it to track your progress after using a healthy exercise and eating plan is a better way to tell how well you're doing than just jumping on any old scale. Here's a link that talks about the options for Body Composition Tests.



Muscle versus Fat

This is where the misconception of weight comes in, especially when it comes to the T-Tapp workout program. Since you're building so much muscle with T-Tapp, your body is cinching in while you burn off the fat reserves. Inch loss results come quickly -- most lose inches weekly and an average of a clothing size per month. Weight may or may not change right away. Most people notice that if they do have weight to lose that it comes off around the 2 month mark. Some people report losing a few sizes and still weighing the same if not a couple pounds more. It depends on the individual person. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be a size or two smaller than just lose 10 pounds (of probably fat AND muscle)!

The picture (below) is a replica of 5 pounds of Fat (the yellow mass) and 5 pounds of Muscle (the red mass). Since fat takes up a lot more space than muscle, you can see how you could gain 5 pounds of muscle and lose 5 pounds of fat and actually be smaller even though the scale says you weigh the same. It's amazing how the body works!

Women lose about 10 pounds of muscle every decade. One pound of muscle burns 6 calories a day where a pound of fat only burns 2 calories a day. This is why your metabolism slows down when you lose muscle and speeds up when you increase lean muscle tissue. Even more of a reason to STAY active and keep your body moving!

Weight on Other Planets

Last Friday when I attended the Social Media for Business conference I got to walk around the Orlando Science Center during our lunch break. This scale caught my eye... Weighing in: find out how much you weigh on other planets.

According to this scale, on Earth I weigh 121 pounds! Honestly I haven't weighed that much since high school. When I do weigh myself (at the doctor's office or grocery store occasionally for fun) I'm usually around 130-140 pounds, which is a healthy weight range for my height (5'9").

I thought this was really cool because it gives you a chance to see that weight doesn't really matter when it comes to the galaxy. Most people would probably LOVE to live on Mars and HATE to live on Jupiter just to weigh less.

Why Weight Doesn't Matter

In my opinion it's about how you look and feel, not how much you weigh. No one will ever know your weight unless you a) tell them, b) weigh yourself in front of them or c) they try to bench press you. If you are confident and happy it will show through and people will want to be around you no matter what size you are. Take care of yourself with regular exercise (try T-Tapp!) and healthy eating (double your veggies!) and the results will follow.

What do YOU think? Leave me a comment!