When I first talk to prospective clients about their training goals, invariably the first response is weight loss. This is then proceeded with an explanation of how much they would like to lose and what their scales say now to where they would like then to be. So....I dig a little deeper looking for an explanation as to why they have placed a numerical value on it....in other words why that number? Again the response is usually centred around when they felt most confident, felt they looked good, clothing choices were based on what they felt like wearing rather than what still fits. I takes them back 5-10 years or more to a different period in their lives when they say they were ‘happier’ with how they looked.
For me this is one downside of using scale as THE metric for judging progress. Don’t get me wrong it’s one way and one I use with them, but I also encourage them to think a little deeper as to other areas they may seek to judge progress by. Things such as body measurements, energy levels, improving health markers, less joint pain maybe and better mobility, improved body and self confidence based on how they ‘feel’ about themselves when they look in the mirror, no matter the scale reading. Scale weight is your relationship to gravity it does not define your self worth.