Her Q: Hey, Steve...this past Wednesday while I was at a friend’s house I got on their scale and grew completely discouraged and utterly disappointed. I've been training my tail off for almost a year now. I haven’t set foot on a scale for nearly six months (mainly because I don’t have one) but I’m as mad as a wet hen because the reading hasn’t changed since that time.
I know I’m in much better shape since then... and for sure all of my clothes fit better. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in since college (I played volleyball then) and I also realize that muscle is more dense than fat. In fact, if I may say so myself...I look fantastic. However...
Just by stepping on the scale it threw me for a mental loop. I mean, with those numbers staring back at me, unchanged, the same as they were six months ago, well, I feel like I’ve just been spinning my wheels. I feel like I’ve made no progress whatsoever.
My A: What? Let me see if I understand this: your clothes fit better; you're in the best shape of your life since college and, by your own admission, you appear to look “fantastic”.
Nevertheless... the sole reason you're so bummed out is because the magic, “all seeing eye” of a friend’s restroom scale (the one which you don't even own) didn't register a new number of your liking.
This is something akin to marketing and advertising psychosis. You've drunk the proverbial Kool-Aid.
The following is a variation on some insight I once read by Alwyn Cosgrove, who apparently heard it from Chris Shugart.
Let me query you this: What if I had a magic fat loss machine, an FTD (Fat Transformation Device) that you could sit in, flip a switch and you would emerge appearing EXACTLY as you’ve always felt you’d like to appear?
I mean you would have the precise blouse, dress or trouser size you’ve always desired; you’d have the EXACT level of visible muscle definition you’d want; you would achieve the specific body-fat percentage you seek. Perhaps you’d have “six pack abs”, striations in the muscle structure of your legs, or "cuts" in your shoulders, (if you so desired) and more.
Would that be something you could get in line with?
You betchum, Red Ryder!!
Now consider this: what if the "cost" of the FTD was that it amplified your muscle and bone density by no less than 100%.
In other words, you’d would absolutely, beyond a doubt look and feel like you have always dreamed . . . but the scale would now read somewhere in the neighborhood of 50lbs more than you've ever weighed.
In other words, a 135 lb woman would emerge looking like a fitness model or a glamour queen (in essence, amazing), but every scale she stepped on would now read 185 lbs.
This is the BIG Q: Which would YOU prefer...the look, or the number?
Let's look at it from another angle: let’s say the FTD worked the opposite way.
An individual would step in and sit down, flip the switch, the lights would flash, the buzzers would sound and they would emerge looking exactly like they’ve looked for the past five years (or ten, or twenty, or ...) only now, according to the scale, they simply weigh 50 lbs less.
If this was you, would you be happy with this result?
My money is on the "not at all" side of the table.
Let’s get one thing straight: how a person looks & feels AND how much they weigh are not necessarily connected in the least.
Imagine a spaghetti squash and a red delicious apple. This picture is a representation of the difference in size between five pounds of fat (the squash) and five pounds of muscle (the red, lean looking thing).
As you've no doubt inferred, there's a demonstrably noticeable difference.
Let's put this mental image, as well as what we've ascertained so far, into perspective:
If, due to your hard work, effort and consistency, you add just 10 pounds (according to the scale) of muscle while simultaneously dropping 10 pounds (again, according to the scale) of excess fat, it will appear as though you look at least 20 lbs lighter from head to toe.
Just understand; the scale ain't gonna move a bit.
Have you still got a problem with that?
God bless,
SP
I know I’m in much better shape since then... and for sure all of my clothes fit better. I’m in the best shape I’ve been in since college (I played volleyball then) and I also realize that muscle is more dense than fat. In fact, if I may say so myself...I look fantastic. However...
Just by stepping on the scale it threw me for a mental loop. I mean, with those numbers staring back at me, unchanged, the same as they were six months ago, well, I feel like I’ve just been spinning my wheels. I feel like I’ve made no progress whatsoever.
My A: What? Let me see if I understand this: your clothes fit better; you're in the best shape of your life since college and, by your own admission, you appear to look “fantastic”.
Nevertheless... the sole reason you're so bummed out is because the magic, “all seeing eye” of a friend’s restroom scale (the one which you don't even own) didn't register a new number of your liking.
This is something akin to marketing and advertising psychosis. You've drunk the proverbial Kool-Aid.
The following is a variation on some insight I once read by Alwyn Cosgrove, who apparently heard it from Chris Shugart.
Let me query you this: What if I had a magic fat loss machine, an FTD (Fat Transformation Device) that you could sit in, flip a switch and you would emerge appearing EXACTLY as you’ve always felt you’d like to appear?
I mean you would have the precise blouse, dress or trouser size you’ve always desired; you’d have the EXACT level of visible muscle definition you’d want; you would achieve the specific body-fat percentage you seek. Perhaps you’d have “six pack abs”, striations in the muscle structure of your legs, or "cuts" in your shoulders, (if you so desired) and more.
Would that be something you could get in line with?
You betchum, Red Ryder!!
Now consider this: what if the "cost" of the FTD was that it amplified your muscle and bone density by no less than 100%.
In other words, you’d would absolutely, beyond a doubt look and feel like you have always dreamed . . . but the scale would now read somewhere in the neighborhood of 50lbs more than you've ever weighed.
In other words, a 135 lb woman would emerge looking like a fitness model or a glamour queen (in essence, amazing), but every scale she stepped on would now read 185 lbs.
This is the BIG Q: Which would YOU prefer...the look, or the number?
Let's look at it from another angle: let’s say the FTD worked the opposite way.
An individual would step in and sit down, flip the switch, the lights would flash, the buzzers would sound and they would emerge looking exactly like they’ve looked for the past five years (or ten, or twenty, or ...) only now, according to the scale, they simply weigh 50 lbs less.
If this was you, would you be happy with this result?
My money is on the "not at all" side of the table.
Let’s get one thing straight: how a person looks & feels AND how much they weigh are not necessarily connected in the least.
Imagine a spaghetti squash and a red delicious apple. This picture is a representation of the difference in size between five pounds of fat (the squash) and five pounds of muscle (the red, lean looking thing).As you've no doubt inferred, there's a demonstrably noticeable difference.
Let's put this mental image, as well as what we've ascertained so far, into perspective:
If, due to your hard work, effort and consistency, you add just 10 pounds (according to the scale) of muscle while simultaneously dropping 10 pounds (again, according to the scale) of excess fat, it will appear as though you look at least 20 lbs lighter from head to toe.
Just understand; the scale ain't gonna move a bit.
Have you still got a problem with that?
God bless,
SP
