Losing Your Fat Mind

Losing Your Fat Mind

By Scott D. Wilson

“No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat. Without a brain you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office.”

–Covert Bailey

I work on a web site that helps people to change their lifestyles in order to lose weight and keep it off.  One of the biggest mistakes that I see people making there every day is this:

They believe that losing a pound equals losing a pound of fat AND gaining a pound means gaining a pound of fat.

This is just plain WRONG and it is a self-defeating way to think. We are complex creatures. It would be so nice if our bodies immediately counted every calorie eaten and every calorie burned through living and activities and then either sent out messages to the fat cells to shrink or grow. We want that level of control over ourselves. Unfortunately, it does not simply work that way.

First off, the number that we see on our scales is composed of our bodies' fluids, bones, muscles, tissues, organs and fat. In an ideal world our bones, fluids, muscles and tissues would be in perfect unchanging equilibrium and only our fat would fluctuate based on our eating and activity. Alas, this is not so. All of these things that are NOT fat are subject to change for many many reasons.

Intense workouts can result in heavier muscles, not just from growth, but from fluid build-up as the muscles repair themselves. Likewise, both muscle and bone mass can deteriorate if our food intake is too restricted. These non-fat elements fluctuate naturally throughout the day, month and week. They are affected by our foods, our activities, our environment, our hormonal cycles, our sleep patterns and many other factors. Unlike fat, calories are not generally a factor for these pieces of us and we need to accept that we do not have the power or control to keep their weight stable all the time.

Next, our bodies are not waiting with baited breath to turn food into fat or to in turn take fat and turn it into energy for activities. Many and various processes take place between the consumption of food and its disposal.  Also, food is not purely fuel, it is also the building blocks for replacement cell like skin, hair, muscle, blood, etc.  When starting weight loss it is good to focus purely on learning about calories, however eventually it will be wise to also look at the quality and type of foods that we eat. Salty foods cause retention of water and fluids and this can result in significant spikes on the scale. Different foods are all digested differently and this means that their effects can vary both in the generation of fat but also in their effect on the mass of all our other body parts.

Finally, it should be noted that each of us has both a unique metabolism that is the result of our past lifestyle and our genetics. Consequently, it is possible that merely counting calories can reach stages where weight loss will slow or stall for prolonged periods because we are eating foods that are not working well with our bodies or we are not choosing activities that optimal for our physiques. We may need to tweak and experiment with various elements of our eating to see the effect they have on our weight.

Like food, activity and exercise have different components. Endurance, or aerobic, activities increase your breathing and heart rate; these are the activities most associated with weight loss. Strength and anaerobic exercises make your muscles stronger; stronger muscles also burn more energy and thus improve weight loss. Balance exercises improve your agility and stability, and flexibility exercises stretch your muscles and can help your body stay limber. In truth, our life activities should have a variety of all the exercise components. It is up to each of us to determine what that will look like and what works for us as individuals.

Change your thinking and your focus when you step on the scale. Lose your fat mind. Whether the numbers move up down or stay the same, breathe easy and know that it is composed of many elements, not just fat. Fat is actually in the minority, even in the obese. Remind yourself that all you bones, fluids, tissues, organs, and yes, fat make up that number. You generally cannot take complete control over all these parts. Some of them will fluctuate beyond your control.

If you are confident in your logging of food and exercise then use the number on the scale merely as a variable that helps you to adjust your efforts and your lifestyle. Know and remember that if you are earnestly choosing to take control of your eating and your activeness then you are already winning despite what the scales says.

“It's true, the scale can only give you a numerical reflection of your relationship with gravity. That’s it. It cannot measure beauty, talent, purpose, life force, possibility, strength, or love. Don't give the scale more power than it has earned. Take note of the number, then get off the scale and live your life. You are beautiful!” ―Steve Maraboli

©2017S.D.Wilson