2592: Don’t Obsess Over the Number on the Scale AND 7 Quick Tips to Lose Weight This Week by Chalene Johnson

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[00:01:39] and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. This is Optimal Health Daily, episode 2592. Don't obsess over the number on the scale. And 7 quick tips to lose weight this week, both by Chalene Johnson of chalenejohnson.com. And I'm Dr. Neal, your host and narrator.

[00:01:59] Hey there, happy Monday. Thank you so much for being here and welcome back to a new week of Optimal Health Daily. This is where I read to you from some of the best health and fitness blogs

[00:02:08] on the web, kind of like an ongoing audiobook. And with that, let's get right to today's two posts as we optimize your life. Don't obsess over the number on the scale by Chalene Johnson of

[00:02:25] chalenejohnson.com. Are you one of those people that obsess over the number on the scale? Do you weigh yourself almost daily or even more than once a day, hoping that each time you step on the scale,

[00:02:38] the number will go down? Well, it's good to check in from time to time. Obsessing over this number isn't healthy, nor is it always an accurate reflection of your fitness level. Here are three things to keep in mind when weighing yourself so that you have a healthy relationship

[00:02:53] with the scale. How to have a healthy relationship with the number on the scale? One, set an increment by which you will weigh yourself. While you don't want to become obsessed with weighing yourself, you also don't want to get on the scale willy-nilly. If you don't check

[00:03:11] in periodically, you could find yourself stepping on the scale one day wondering, how did I gain 10 pounds? You need to monitor whether or not there is an upward or downward trend in your weight. So, set a time increment by which you will weigh yourself. Typically,

[00:03:27] once a week is sufficient. But if you do end up weighing yourself once a day, be okay with the fact that your weight may fluctuate 2-4 pounds from day to day depending on a number of things.

[00:03:39] Which brings us to… Two, know your weight can fluctuate 2-4 pounds from day to day. There are so many things that can affect your weight, where you are in your cycle,

[00:03:51] the amount of salt in your diet, when you had your last meal, and when you had your last bowel movement. Even the rotation of the earth believe it or not! So, if you step on the scale and you're

[00:04:01] 4 or even 5 pounds heavier than the day before, don't freak out. On the contrary, you also don't want to get on the scale every day and make an excuse like, oh I must be 4 pounds heavier today

[00:04:13] because of the earth's rotation, when your weight keeps going up and up and up. You simply want to monitor whether your weight is consistently going up, down or remaining the same based on whatever fitness goal you have. And three, make sure the number you're striving for is realistic.

[00:04:33] Too often, people get a number stuck in their head that they think they should weigh and they obsess over it. Maybe it was a number at which they felt comfortable in their own skin.

[00:04:42] However, based on a variety of things, it may no longer be healthy or realistic for their body type. Here's an example. For those with children, after pregnancy, it may be difficult to come close to the same size you were pre-pregnancy. But after pregnancy, you may become skinny fat,

[00:05:02] where you end up with less muscle and more fat even at the same body weight. And this is because muscle is more dense than fat. If you're striving to hit a particular number on the scale,

[00:05:14] make sure that number makes sense based on the amount of muscle you have. If you're strength training, you'll want to add 4 to 5 pounds to that magic number. The bottom line is don't judge yourself based on the number on the scale.

[00:05:27] Keep sticking to those healthy habits and don't obsess over your weight. Know that your worth is based on who you are as a person, not whether or not you can see your abs. 7 Quick Tips to Lose Weight This Week by Chalene Johnson of chalenejohnson.com

[00:05:47] I don't want your weight to control you, but these tips will help you take back control of the bad lifestyle habits you've developed. Though I am not a big supporter of words like

[00:05:57] quick, fast or rapid when it comes to weight loss, I do think that there are certain quick fixes that can help you reset your mentality and get you on the right track to health. Tip 1. Drink More Water I used to have a horrible diet soda addiction,

[00:06:14] like horrible. And one of the things that helped me was to substitute the diet coke with lemon, ginger, cayenne water. To get myself in the habit of drinking more water, I bought 4 insulated bottles and make sure that I drank it all by the end of the day.

[00:06:30] Generally, you want to consume about 75% of your body weight in ounces of water each day. Tip 2. Close the Kitchen Set a time in which the kitchen is closed. It's crazy how flat your stomach will be if you don't eat a few hours before you go to bed.

[00:06:49] Tip 3. Cycling Your Macronutrients On your heaviest training days, eat complex carbohydrates. But take note that on your higher carb days, you do want to consume less fat. So for example, 2 days of a higher intake of complex carbs followed by 2 days of eating

[00:07:07] less carbs, more protein and more fat. Tip 4. Use Smaller Plates This will work with your brain to help you not eat as much. Weight gain isn't just about what you eat, it's also about how much you eat. You need to do a better job of portion control,

[00:07:23] and that starts with what you're putting your food on. Tip 5. What is Your Nemesis? What is that trigger food, the food you mindlessly eat, the food you have no control over? Well, stop buying it or give it away.

[00:07:39] Just basically, stop putting it in your life. Tip 6. 3-Day Cleanse Okay, hear me out. Look, this is not a permanent solution. But it can spark your motivation to get on the right track. Cleanses often help you tap into your emotional reactions to food. Please make

[00:07:55] sure you check with your physician first. And Tip 7. Give Intermittent Fasting a Try Intermittent fasting does not mean you necessarily consume less calories. It means you consume about the same amount of calories but in a smaller window of time. So for example, you would start

[00:08:12] eating your daily calories around 11am or noon and would stop eating around 6pm. Intermittent fasting is something you want to learn more about before you start it. So, take some time to really research it and maybe consult with a healthcare professional first.

[00:08:32] You just listened to the post titled, Don't Obsess Over The Number On The Scale and 7 Quick Tips To Lose Weight This Week, both by Chalene Johnson of chalenejohnson.com and I'll be right back

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[00:09:54] Dr. Neil here for my commentary. I want to go back to Chalene's first post, not obsessing over the number on the scale. I often get asked about how often we should weigh ourselves. Is once a week

[00:10:06] enough? Is every day too often? I love it when I can dig into the research and try and find an actual answer to this question. And sure enough, recently a group of scientists conducted a meta

[00:10:17] analysis asking these very same questions. First, does weighing ourselves regularly help with weight management? And second, if it does help with weight management, how often should we weigh ourselves? What we know so far is that yes, self-weighing is useful to help prevent weight gain or to help with

[00:10:35] weight loss. So, that's a yes to the first question, meaning weighing ourselves regularly does help with weight management. So how often do we need to weigh ourselves to help manage our body weight? Well, it turns out that consistency is most important, not necessarily frequency.

[00:10:54] What that means is, whether we weigh ourselves every day or once a week, that doesn't matter as much as staying consistent with whichever one you choose. So, we just need to decide how often

[00:11:08] we want to weigh ourselves, whether it's once a week, three times a week or every day, and then stick to that number for as long as possible. For example, if you find that weighing yourself

[00:11:17] every day is just too much of a burden or you start obsessing over your weight, then try every other day. The goal is to decide whatever works best for you without stressing you out, without

[00:11:29] overburdening you, and of course, without you obsessing over your body weight. All right, that'll do it for the Monday episode. I hope you have a great start to your week and I'll be back here tomorrow as usual where your optimal life awaits!