Latest blog post from Jason Seib of Primitive Stimulus!
Brace yourself. I’m coming at you with all guns blazing on this one and you aren’t going to believe what you’re about to see. First things first, if you haven’t read my diatribe condemning your bathroom scale, please begin there.
Alright, now that you are caught up, let’s revisit Deb from my last post. Deb has been kind enough to let me exploit her for your education on these here interwebs and I am very grateful. Showing the world where she started isn’t easy, but she is a kind person who wants to help you and she has accomplished some remarkable things in her health and fitness.
So here is Deb at the beginning of a contest we held at my gym in January of last year.
Here she is at a size zero with her nutrition dialed. For the full effect of this picture, place your thumb on your screen directly over the ugly guy on the right.
And here she is a couple of weeks ago after a lot of hard work that has dramatically increased her fitness capacity. I didn’t actually intend for this post to be all about Deb’s accomplishments, so I won’t repeat her numbers here. Suffice it to say, my money would be on Deb versus the average American girl half her age in a contest of any exercise I have ever convinced her to perform. Now for the really good part.
I spent my entire career waiting patiently for the right situation that would produce the picture below.
Now that you are done staring in amazement, eyes darting back and forth between the two Debs and down to “155lbs” to make sure you read it right, let this information really sink in. Let it change your perspective to something healthier. Forever!
Now go throw away your scale.
Faced with the facts above, basing your goals – or even worse, your happiness – on the number on your scale is absolutely ridiculous. I’ll give you an example of why weight is useless information in all but extreme cases. Let’s pretend Deb came to me at a weight of 200 lbs and told me she wanted to get down to 155 lbs. Which side of the picture above do you think she would prefer? Do you think she would have been satisfied with the left side? Look at her face. She is ecstatic with her body on the right, but on the left she can hardly stand to have her picture taken. We can glean from this that goals based on weight are too vague to be useful. If I had only given you her circumference measurements (waist, hips, thighs, bust, etc.) and no photos, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind which 155 lb Deb you would have chosen as the more aesthetically appealing. But when you look in the mirror and see a body like the Deb on the left you probably say, “Damn, I need to lose some weight.” Now you have undeniable evidence that defies that thought. Losing weight is not what you want and pursuing a number on your scale is not the path to success. It will drive you insane, though. But that’s probably not your goal.
Change your perspective to something healthier. Forever!
For those of you that may be having a hard time believing how all this can possibly be true, click here and hit Deb up on Facebook. She will be happy to befriend you and answer your questions, but please be reasonable. She has not volunteered to coach you, just to be your motivation.
Edit: One little point I left out of this post is that Deb totaled up her calories just for fun a few weeks ago. She came up with an average of slightly over 3900 per day. Take that calorie restriction diets!
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I love it! Awesome progress Deb!
Awesome results.. May I ask her age or roughly?
51 years young. Here she is in action. http://primitivestimulus.com/2011/05/limitations/
Wow… Recovering scale addict here. You just blew my mind.
Congrats to Deb!
You finally got me. I read all the other stuff about getting rid of my scale, and my response was always “yeah, but…” I’m done. Throwing out the scale today. Thank you.
I have never been a scale person – mostly because I didn’t need to be. I have weighed the same weight since high school (hovering between 110 and 115 lbs). Three months ago, I found a great crossfit trainer and started eating paleo. I went to the doctor a week ago and almost had a heart attack when I saw the number on the scale – 130 lbs! I had gained 15 pounds in three months! Then I read this post and realized that my 130 lb body kicks my 115 lb body’s butt! I got my first dead-hang pullup, first pistol squat, first handstand pushup and broke 200# on my deadlift. Those are things 115# me could never do.
Deb’s experience is exactly what mine has been in the last 6 months. I started a bootcamp type style of training in January, and I know I’m two sizes smaller, so much more healthy and happy, but exactly the same weight!
Wow! A picture really is worth a thousand words! I have noticed a similar effect in that my body is very different now at the same weight than it was a year ago but I am still addicted to my scale – only difference is now I don’t take it as the be all and end all, just a reference point. I know it ‘lies’ under certain circumstances.
This is amazing…I taken pictures similar to the left side a couple of times! I like to call it my “Sad Fat Face”!
Incredible post and great motivation!
For me, what is more important than my scale is just taking measurements with my tape measure about every 3rd month. I don’t check anything day to day or week to week, but I do measure myself (as does my tailor) just to see what kind of gains I’m experiencing. Seeing a 3″ gain from muscle does more for me than when I saw the 3″ loss from fat!
Great post, I crossposted it.
Thanks for that post!
So, check this out: This past Monday, I went for a DXA body scan. It is considered the most accurate method of measuring body composition, because two low-level X-rays are scanning your body and measuring volume & density of all the various bones / tissues in your body. Using the volume and density measurements, it is easy to calculate masses of all the components. The scanner also produces a false-color image of your body, showing the skeleton, muscle layers, and fat layer. It was 0.4 lb off of what the scale read when they weighed me prior to getting on the scanning bed. Pretty accurate stuff!
I am 5’5″, somewhere between a size 10-12 (to give perspective), and weighed 168.8 lb at the clinic that day. The analysis showed I am 27% body fat, after subtracting out 11% fat from the total composition as “essential” (meaning ‘the fat that surrounds every cell membrane, your brain tissue, i.e. the fat you need for your body to function correctly’). They completed an “ideal composition” analysis, landing me at 18% body fat (for a long-time Crossfitter like myself) to 21% body fat (for a “normal” person). To get down to 18% body fat, they calculated I’d have to lose 13 lb of fat.
Considering that as I continue working at Crossfit, I’ll gain muscle, that “ideal weight” of 155 lb (168 – 13 lb fat) will actually increase, and I’ll probably just go in for another scan in, say, 6 months to check in.
Why am I telling you this? Because the body scan helped me see that I’m not 30 lb overweight like I would have assumed I was. And why would I have assumed I was? Because my ex-competitive-gymnast-turned-Crossfitter older sister had a similar scan performed, and we are almost the same height (I’m slightly taller) and have very similar body styles. And guess what: at 18% body fat, which she was at the time of her scan, she weighed 122 lb.
My summary of this whole situation: I am glad I got the scan. Stepping on the scale was depressing, because conventional wisdom (ha!) says I should weigh less. I actually used to weigh 150 for a while, but that was when I was killing myself doing cardio kickboxing and spinning classes that never helped me ride my beloved road bike any faster. Oh yeah, and I was having chronic stomach problems because I wasn’t eating Paleo.
Yesterday I started using Fitday to make myself aware of what I am eating. I am motivated to dial-in my diet and get stronger and hotter!
Congrats on that revelation! It can set you free. Just don’t get hung up on Fit Day too much either. Weighing and measuring is okay once in a while, but it can get addicting as well.
Well done Deb! And well done Jason. The concept that weight has very little to do with composition and overall health is one that cannot be repeated enough.
Amazing, amazing results Deb…not sure I would have fully believed it until I realized I was seeing the same results just this morning. I haven’t moved on the scales in 4 months but my %of body fat went from 30.8% to 18.3% in one year. Sure I have lost a little weight but not as much as I thought I had to, to look and feel this great!
Keep up the great work
Amazing! I loved the Part One post and resolved to stop weighing myself after I read it. The very next day, I went to the doctor, where I was weighed in the middle of the afternoon with all of my clothes on. When the scale read five pounds higher than I thought I was at, it ruined the rest of my day. Needless to say, this post hit home for me. As a 5’0″ woman, it’s been difficult for my entire life not to think I should weigh 105 lbs, even though I haven’t weighed that since I was twelve years old. I’m finally starting to accept that my level of fitness and attractiveness has little to do with that completely arbitrary number. Thanks to you and Deb for the striking reminder of this.
Had to pass this article on to my boyfriend. He was/is a big guy doing the weight loss thing. He has dropped 50+ lbs but is still looking at the numbers on the scale and not focusing on how he feels about himself and in his clothes. I sent this to him with a note that maybe now the big weight is off it is time to take a different approach to the rest of the getting lean and fit process.
Thanks!
Tell him to focus on fitness capacity goals. Lifting heavier weights, performing more work in less time, and achieving new skill (pull-ups, jump rope double-unders, hand stands, etc.) makes a lot more sense than that stupid scale ever will. He will be motivated by accomplishing new things all the time, all the while getting smaller by accident.
All right. I’m officially convinced. I’ve known intellectually for some time that the scale doesn’t matter, but I still weigh myself, maybe perversely hoping that the numbers would go down for my own peace of mind. I’m going to quit weighing myself NOW. Thanks for this reality check!
As a life-long struggler with various EDs, I’m FINALLY (!) starting to get the message. Thanks very much and Deb: you are my hero!
What about when it’s not scale addiction (I usually weigh about once a week) and you’re still 80-90 pounds over where you need to be? What’s wrong with just using it as a sort of a road sign on the way to your goal? It’s weird, some Paleo bloggers only give advice for fat loss, and other Paleo bloggers seem to assume that everyone reading them is in a normal weight range already. I wish people would start realizing there are all sorts of folks lurking out there reading their stuff.
Because I promise you, I can’t turn all that fat to muscle, still be in the 220s (at 5’6″ and female), and look anything like normal.
I LOVE your pictures though. And for someone who’s within shouting distance of normal weight, or already there but with bad body comp, it IS an important wake-up call.
My point is that you have no valid reason for knowing your weight. Nobody, not even you, can look at you and see your weight. People were fat and skinny and well muscled and every size and shape in between for a couple million years before the invention of the scale. And just like today, they wanted to LOOK better. And just like today, the scale can’t answer the question, “How do I LOOK?”
If you had a 200 inch waist you would still be exactly as included in this post as everyone else reading it.
I understand your post as someone who also has a long ways to go to get to healthy….
but one thing I’ve ALWAYS laughed at is what the ‘normal’ range is for me – I’m 5’5 and normal for me is 135 lbs… that would mean a lose of 105lbs for me…. and well that will never happen as under my fat ‘stores’ I do have a lot of muscle and heavy set bones. It’s OK and I’ve come to accept I will always weigh more than the ‘average’ girl…
I no longer use the scale as a comparison to others but something to say OK I’m on target for losing fat… eventually I’ll throw the thing out once I lose the fat and get the body I desire… not a skinny body but a fit, healthy, and strong body!
I now set different goals – by August 30th I want to run 1 mile without walking and complete a CrossFit workout doing assisted pullups (no longer jumping/box)…. and this post was part of why I changed my fitness goal focus!!!
The problem with using a scale as a “road sign” in a muscle-building and fat-burning program is that eventually that road sign will point you in the wrong direction. I have experienced this every time I have been on a program that “worked”. For example in in mid-May 2003 I started on a weight lifting, clean eating type of program (only 20-30 min of cardio in the morning), I started out in a women’s size 28! By July 4th of 2003 I was in a size 18. Professional trainers at the gym I was working out at all thought I had lost at least 50-60 lbs, some thought I had gastric bypass surgery. My scale said I had “only” lost 15 lbs, my tape measure said I had burned lots of fat – especially off my middle.
I started getting discouraged with my “lack of progress”, and eventually abandoned the program. The scale is not your friend and it lies!
This post makes complete sense to me now. When I first started doing Crossfit 2.5 yrs ago, my results were amazing in the first 6 months once I got my nutrition in line. But over the past year my actual weight has crept up slowly. I was getting very frustrated with the scale. I have gained back the 20lbs that I initially lost. Even though my before and after pictures aren’t as dramatic as Deb’s are , I now know that
I’m okay. As long as I keep doing Crossfit and staying on track with my nutrition, I’ll be healthy which is all I ever wanted. Thanks Sara for helping me to say goodbye to my scale.
Sarah, were you a “scale addict” yourself when you first started? If so when did this change for you?
By the way on a completely different note, you have the best giggle on the podcasts
I was not a scale addict. As a kid I was super skinny and weighed in at a whopping 95 lbs and that’s how much I weighed when I first found out I was pregnant with my oldest son Coby. I forever in my head had the idea that I was “supposed” to weigh 95 lbs and of course I haven’t seen that number in over 16 years. I never obsessed on my weight but after I gained a ton of it and stepped on the scale right before I started working out/eating paleo, that was the last time that I did that because fortunately I had this awesome coach named Robb Wolf who told me to throw the thing out the window. I know that currently I weigh a heck of a lot more then my old “perfect weight” of 95 lbs but at 95 lbs I could never dead lift what I do now and I like how I look a heck of a lot more both at my fattest and my skinniest so caring about the numbers on the scale is not anything I even think about. : )
This is mind blowing!
This is so awesome! Congrats, Deb!
I did throw my scale away! Good riddens!
Deb looks fantastic! What an inspiration.
Wow those pictures are amazing. I’ve heard people say don’t watch the scale before but I’ve never seen it set out like this. Great post!
You’ve convinced me…I’ll throw it away. Or at least stash it in the garage
Is there a 12 step program to getting rid of a scale? I can already admit I have a problem.
Just a 3 step program:
1. pick up your scale.
2. walk to the garbage can.
3. drop your scale in the garbage can.
Fabulous! The only time I have lost measurable amounts of weight was when I had pneumonia. The only time I dropped dress sizes was when I did aerobics while at the same time gaining three pounds. Its all about the inches.
This is exactly what I needed to hear! I’ve been eating a mostly paleo diet for a month or so, and focusing less on what sort of work outs I ‘should’ be doing and more on having fun type of body movement. The scale has barely been moving, which has given me many depressed days. I’m WAY over what my healthy weight, or body size should be. But I’ve had people notice that my shape has changed. The tape measure doesn’t even catch it, but just over all build is shifting even though the weight isn’t moving much. So great to see how much muscle can change the body without major weight changes. And GO DEB! That’s amazing
Wow – absolutely wow! It sure goes to show that 155lbs can look drastically different. I will now stop agonizing over my scale. Maybe I’ll weigh myself monthly, or not at all. Or it will sit in my bathroom and my kids will weigh random household objects (a game at my place). I would much rather myself look and feel better than reach a magical number.
Holy smokes! That’s amazing.
I can admit I too stress over my weight rather than function too much. I stayed the same weight even when training for Ironman Texas but my fitness level is years above what it was. But damn that scale number still bugs me. I’ll get over it some day.
This is GREAT! And yes, since recommitting to being strict with COMPLETELY dialed in food etc, I have dropped about 5 dress sizes without too too much change on the actual scale. I hate that I need to weigh myself for Oly meets though…especially as I want to drop a weight class. Now I realize that I need to be wherever I will be at the morning of the meet.
Thanks again and Deb, you LOOK and must FEEL fantastic. And I am a similar age and all my friends are gaining weight from inactivity and perimenopause. I love feeling and looking great!
Thanks for the follow-up post. This is very poignant and smart. I feel that this was everything you were trying to communicate in the first, but much more concise and brilliant. Wonderful!
I’m glad you got my point this time without having to infer that I might be sexist.
I was hoping you would reply to my reply in the last one.
I want to thank you for you AMAZING cookbook. Paleo was always hard for me as my family wouldn’t eat what I was eating. Now they ask for seconds! It was also difficult to stay on track as I would get bored with a piece of chicken and lots of vegetables at just about every meal. Your cookbook makes every meal exciting and VERY tasty. Even for someone like me who is not a very adventurous eater. Thanks again. Here’s to a better life for my whole family.
I agree with this post 100%. I recommend that every individual ditches their scale just like they ditch grains. That number on the scale is completely meaningless.
You can look at yourself in the mirror and tell if you are losing weight or not. It does not even matter week to week. Ask yourself how you feel. Do bodyweight exercises and keep track of how many pull-ups, push-ups and squats you can do!
Ditch that scale. It’s stretching you out. Eat whole food and stop worrying. I am even telling people who are more than 300 lbs to do this. Just try it. What do you have to lose?
Me sentiments exactly. Thanks for chiming in, Todd.
This post really couldn’t have come at a better time. I have been starting to feel slightly depressed about my weight because I really feel as though I am gaining weight even though I am doing everything the same than say, 6 months ago when I was “lighter”… but really what I think it is, is muscle gain. Or so I am going to just continue to think because it psychologically makes me feel better. Ha Ha. I try really hard NOT to weigh myself and these days, I will NOT look at the scale. I may just keep it that way regardless because honestly, I like the way I look – that’s all I need.
youtube.com/user/laleapfrogging
Usually don’t comment on blogs but this is unbelievable ! Thank you so much for posting this i have been exercising and have seen a huge difference in my body but staying the same weight. I really needed to see this.Thank you so much again!
Like the BMI chart, the bathroom scale is a lousy indicator of HEALTH, which is what we should be focused on–not some number of how much our fat and muscle weigh.
We should be more concerned with what we CAN’T measure in our own bathrooms: cholesterol levels, long-term blood sugar levels (A-1C), inflammation (C-RP), and urinalysis. Daily blood sugar we CAN monitor for ourselves–in the bathroom and elsewhere. These are indicators of health, not some “guilt device” like a scale or BMI chart.
It doesn’t matter how much we weigh–are we healthy enough to carry it around?
Remember that Arnold Schwartzenegger in his body-building prime would be considered obese by scale and BMI metrics!
Avoiding intake of sugar through grains, starches, and dairy is doing more for my HEALTH than feeling guilty about my BMI and how much I weigh. Yes, I’m overweight by traditional measures, but my internal indicators all have me in better shape than my own doctor…with no drugs!
Great work! But don’t waist your time worrying about cholesterol levels. A1C, CRP, triglycerides all can offer usable info, but not cholesterol. And yes, BMI is a gross generalization.
Wait, so you’re saying at 5’6″ 190lbs I may not obese like the BMI chart tells me? Whew…what a relief.
Congratulations, Deb! You look so healthy and vibrant!
I also used to obsess about the scale. About a year and a half ago, I cut refined sugar out of my diet and lost 18 lbs. in three months. I was not exercising. I barely went down a size and still lacked muscle tone. A woman I “know” through an exercise forum lost 36 lbs.–only twice what I’d lost–and went down EIGHT sizes! She is strong, healthy and happy with her body. As she also likes to say: Throw away the scales!
Oh,man. Scale addict here. I weight EVERY morning. I’ve lost 75lb in the past year. Starting at 202lb for being only 5ft tall! Obese, for sure. I’m going into a size 6 now, but honestly, I still feel like crap. I’m actually beating myself for eating too much fruit. (I have reactive hypoglycemia so I need to watch sugars/simple carbs.) Did she get to eat so many calories because of weight training or because her calories were paleo? Combination? I’m intrigued!
Deb is a true carnivore and has always loved meat. This translates to lower than average carb intake just because of her personal taste preferences. Deb works out 3 or 4 times per week, always less than an hour, and never does cardio. She lifts weights like a monster these days (examples here: http://primitivestimulus.com/2011/05/limitations/) but she was severely regressed when she came to me. It actually took me 2 weeks to get her a single unweighted squat. Now she can back squat 190 lbs!
The one thing that makes Deb truly special is her dedication. She is every trainer’s dream. She did EXACTLY what I told her to do. She never questioned me and she never cheated.
I should also mention that we have many great success stories at our gym. Deb is amazing, but I don’t want to detract from the hard work so many of our clients have put in to achieving their amazing goals. (You guys know who you are. I hope you don’t feel left out!)
What an inspiration- especially for those of us older than models, but want a healthier life for ourselves and our families.
After 5 months Paleo and 6 weeks of Crossfit, I pitched my scale too. Only down 6 total pounds but the difference in the mirror is immeasurable! Never felt or looked better in my 39 years! This cookbook has been a HUGE part of my success, by the way. Thanks for all you do, Sarah!
This is a fantastic post. Thank you… so many people, women in particular… NEED this information.
WOW … I have become a scalaholic myself. I joined Crossfit close to 3 months now and the scale isnt moving but my body shape is. I just can’t get away from the scale but after reading this post I have realized alot. Thank you so much now off to my Crossfit class!!!
Thanks for sharing.
Michele
I haven’t owned a scale for several years. I recently considered getting one as the “need” to keep up with weight started creeping on me-I started getting nervous that I should watch my weight more closely. Thank goodness this article came at just the right time! I am considering declining being weighed at the doctor’s office! I am in the best shape of my life with Crossfit and Paleo. I don’t need that number to know things are OK.
Great job! Very impressive. It’s nice to see the side by side comparison. Believe me, I’ll be sharing your excellent blog with all of my clients!
The scales that we need to be concerned with is the input scales, the kitchen scales. Getting the proportions right, see where the calories are coming from, and clean out the garbage out of the diet. Using caloric density and a kitchen scales puts numbers to the food, and soon the mis-information becomes much more obvious.
Keep up the struggle.
For the record, “clean out the garbage out of the diet” is the only part of that comment I can agree with. Don’t weigh and measure your food and don’t count calories!!
Some of us have gone through life being hunger, and remain hungry. No one is offering any solutions to that. Until you come up with a solution, and provide it ….
I need to control my intake. You can criticize the use of a kitchen scales, but without it I would be even larger. I had know idea how much I was eating before scales and recording my food.
As it turns out, the mathematics show the bullshit on the web and forms. Bullshit remains bullshit even from a PHD educated pureblood bull.
As I said in my edit, Deb ate 3900 cals per day while we took her down to a size 0. She goes through life hungry, too. She just doesn’t eat foods that stimulate fat storage. I would venture to say that the majority of my clients are probably eating more than they were when they were bigger. Fat storage and hunger are driven by hormonal responses to the foods we eat. Educate yourself on human nutrition from an evolutionary perspective and weight loss and satiety are easily attained.
I’m sorry, I don’t understand your last paragraph.
For me, that sort of hunger finally went away when I dropped my carbs very low.. I stay at 10-20 grams per day and it’s the only thing I count (exact amounts would surely vary by person).. I know I am eating much more than before but I do not gain weight..I am still slowly losing… I always eat until I am full at each meal.. plenty of animal fat and meat and I find I can go from 4 to sometimes 10 hours before I am hungry again.. and it’s an easy, gentle kind of hungry.. not the shaky gotta eat something carby NOW kind of hunger from the old low fat, high carb days. The only way to describe it is: a relief.. Hunger no longer runs my life and cravings are non-existent. Plus, I am well over 100 pounds lighter!
I was so happy to read part 2 of “ditch the scale”. My body weight initially went down when I first started cross fit. Now it is up but I noticed I have more muscle mass and I am becoming stronger. That is all with the beginner class! Because of my schedule I can only go to a normal class maybe once a week. I am in month 3 now. I will not weight myself again!!!!!! As long as I see improvements in my workouts I am happy. Today I finally did proper squats with the medicine ball.
I can do reverse negatives jumping off the box but when I started all I could do was jump pull-ups.
Deb, you look sssssmokin’ hot!! Way to go. I felt positively giddy when I saw your daily calorie intake. I’ve gone from a big size 12 (ok, probably 14) to an easy size 8 and I weigh the same. I eat a TON of calories now (paleo 100%) and I’m shaking my head thinking about how sad I spent the previous 15 years of severe calorie restriction and whole grain eating. Ugh, just so sad to think about it. I’m so sharing this post with everyone I know!
I like my scale! It has those fancy-dancy numbers that tell me body fat & hydration percentages. But, I concur: since I started this Crossfit/Paleo journey only a few months ago, the weight hasn’t changed more than a couple of subjective pounds, but my body fat is down 9% and everyone tells me I’m looking ah-mazing. LOVE THAT.
Adore this post.
I, too, have had very minor weight changes with a paleo/crossfit lifestyle. But, I’ve lost 4 pants sizes and have actual, real abdominal muscles. It’s not a numbers game – calories or weight – its a fitness and focus thing. Thanks for shocking the world into seeing that the only thing scales are good for is determining how much less you weigh after you poop.
@Robin, your post made me laugh out loud, that is a fun thing to do…
I started a Whole30 a bit ago, and I was going to cheat and weigh myself prior to starting. Took the scale out – batteries were dead… okay, Universe, I get it
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What a great post!!!
Great post! I repurposed it for my blog with a link back to yours. I got great response from men and women!