Blog - Page 48 of 48 - 12 Minute Athlete

Why You Should Throw Away Your Scale

Admit it… it’s depressing.

You work out on a frequent basis. You do resistance exercise and high intensity cardio like you know you should. You try and eat nutritious, healthy foods (and not too much of them) 90% of the time. But the scale refuses to budge.

And you can’t help wondering…

Do you just need to be patient, waiting for the numbers to finally get smaller?

Or could it be possible that the numbers on scale doesn’t really matter… and you’re actually making progress, despite your stagnant weight?

Why weighing yourself doesn’t work

People have been using scales to determine their physical health for ages. Long ago, someone determined that what you weigh is somehow the pinnacle of how fit and healthy you are. And society wholeheartedly accepted this.

Heck, I remember hearing about cheerleading squads in high school who wouldn’t accept anyone into their team who was over 120 pounds, despite their level of skill or overall appearance.

Not even two pounds over. Does that seem right to you?

Well, the ugly truth about the scale is that it doesn’t actually tell you how in shape you are.

Why? Because the scale only looks at your overall weight… it doesn’t consider other (more important) factors such as how much muscle you have, how dense your bones are,

If You Can Do This During Your Workout, You're Not Working Hard Enough

Are you one of the thousands of people who wastes their time in a gym on a regular basis?

I hope not.

But it’s not uncommon. In fact, I’d say it’s the norm, rather than the exception.

Practically every day, I take my dog on a walk down our little neighborhood street in San Francisco. Every time, I pass by a little gym. When I peek inside, it’s full of people on reclining bikes, elipticles and treadmills (I’ve never seen anyone lifting weights, probably because the only weights in there are two to eight pounds).

Every day, I notice something very, very wrong about the picture I see inside that little gym.

Nearly every single one of these people is reading something — a magazine, a tablet, their phone.

Reading while exercising? Don’t do it!

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried it, but reading while you do the types of high intensity workouts we do on this site is close to impossible. Whether you’re doing plyometrics, jumping rope, wall balls, or sprinting… you won’t be able to keep your eyes still enough to focus on the words.

If you like to hear stories, recent news or learn something new while you’re working out, listen to a podcast or e-book instead (I often do, though I make sure it’s something I don’t have to pay too close of attention to – This American Life is one of my favs). Don’t read a physical book.

Healthy On-the-Go Snacks You Can Take With You Anywhere

Are you food obsessed?

Don’t feel bad answering yes (most people are, to some degree).

I am, and I’m not afraid to admit it. I think about food constantly. Just ask my husband — I’ll be finishing breakfast, lunch, or a mid-afternoon snack when I’ll suddenly ask him, “so, what should we have for dinner?”

I can attribute this food obsession to three things:

1. Low blood sugar.

Being hypoglycemic means I need food often.

In fact, if I don’t eat every two to four hours, I get dizzy, light headed, and CRANKY. Anyone who knows me knows that if I say I’m hungry, I need food right now.

2. Being vegetarian.

Especially as a kid, there weren’t many options available to vegetarians outside of making your own meals.

At restaurants, all I’d often be able to eat was salad and bread. At friends’ houses, the parents would often try to shove meat down my throat, disbelieving that a child could make her own decision about what she puts into her body.

As a result, I developed a slight (or maybe not so slight) anxiety about getting enough substantial food.

10 No Nonsense Ways to Get Motivated to Work Out

What motivates you to get off the couch and get moving?

Is it the desire to fit into a smaller pant size or to get a flatter abdomen?

Is it the need to burn off the day’s stress and take a few moments entirely to yourself?

Or is it something else altogether?

Whatever your reason, we all have those days when it’s just not enough… And we need a some additional motivation.

Here are 10 ways you can get that extra push and get motivated to exercise today:

1. Keep track of your progress

If you feel like you’ve hit a plateau, you’ll be less motivated to work out because, well, if you’re not making any progress… what’s the point?

To avoid this, one of the very best things you can do is to keep an exercise journal. Whether it’s an online document, or a physical journal, it doesn’t matter—the important part is that you keep track of your progress so you don’t lose perspective.

Write down your reps, your completed times, your clothing size, your weight, your fat percentage… whatever is important to you. Be diligent about keeping track. Then make sure to go back and look at how far you’ve come every once in a while to keep motivated.

2. Have an accountability friend

When it comes to keeping commitments, most of us are pretty good at following through—at least when other people are involved.

Find someone to be accountable to for your workouts, and you’ll be much more motivated to keep your goals—simply because you have to answer to somebody else and you don’t want to look like a fool.

Another way to do this is to use a website like Stickk.com where you can set your goal and put money on the line to help motivate you to complete it.

For example, you could set a goal of working out five days a week for 30 days in a row. Stickk.com will make your goal public, and if you don’t achieve it, you’ll have to pay up—either to a friend, relative, colleague, charity, or worse, an anti-charity (an organization you hate).