Working hard on our diet and exercise regime surely only means one thing – that we lose weight and we notice it in our clothes that begin to feel too loose and, on the scales, where the numbers begin to fall. 

But is it that straightforward?

Actually, no. Because there are times on our healthy eating and fitness journey where we’ll be sure we’re losing weight, but that it doesn’t actual appear so on the scales. 

So why is then that you could be losing inches, but not actual pounds on the scales? Here’s why!

1. Your body composition is changing – with all that hard work, comes more lean muscle mass and less fat mass as you burn fat and replace it with muscle. You may have heard the saying; muscle is heavier than fat. But a kilo of muscle weighs exactly the same as a kilo of fat. So, what’s going on? Well, muscle is actually more dense than fat – this means that muscle takes up less space than fat as it’s packed together more tightly into a smaller space. That is, your body size is actually shrinking as you replace less dense fat with more dense muscle, but they weigh the same. So your weight loss journey isn’t just about the numbers on the scale! If you’re really interested in the numbers, it may be worth investing in a bathroom scale that uses bioimpedance to measure your body fat percentage vs your lean muscle mass percentage, then you can keep an eye on one vs the other over time. You should see body fat drop whilst your muscle mass increases, even if the numbers are steady on the scales. 
2. It may also depend on your cycle – when your period is due, and when you’re actually on your period, your body tends to retain water, causing it to bloat. The same goes if you’re eating a high salt diet or you’re suffering with stress. So, you may actually be losing fat, but the scales are telling you that you’re not losing weight because you’re holding onto water. Drinking more water may actually help to flush you out by forcing you to go to the toilet more often. 
3. Bloating and water retention can also get worse during the day, so weighing yourself in the evening could make it look like you’re not losing weight when its actually down to water retention, undigested food and whether or not you’ve been to the toilet. Weighing yourself in the morning after visiting the toilet and before breakfast may be the best and most consistent way to measure your progress in terms of weight loss on the scales. 

We hope you can see from this, that it’s not only the number on the scales that’s important when it comes to weight management. Taking physical measurements of your waist, hips and thighs, along with how you feel in certain clothes are just as important. 

So don’t give up, and don’t lose faith. You’ve got this, and you’re most definitely going to Own Your Goals!