How to Measure Progress

Calvin and Brooke Masters: Thanks for tuning in to Master Your Metabolism. If you found value in today's episode, it would mean the world to us if you'd hit subscribe and share this episode with someone who could use a little guidance in their health journey. Ready to take the next step? Head over to www.mastersfitnesscoaching.com and you can book a free call right from the site. You've counted every calorie, tried every diet, spent hours in the gym, and still something's missing. You want more than just weight loss. You want your energy back. You want your confidence restored. You want a way of living that doesn't feel like punishment. Welcome to Master Your Metabolism, where we cut through the noise, ditch the fads, and give you a real plan to become the healthiest, strongest version of you. Brooke Masters: Hey there, everybody. Welcome, welcome to Master Your Metabolism. I am here with Coach Amanda. And we are talking today about progress, because I think that people that entering either a fat loss phase, recovery phase, whatever it happens to be, the only thing that ⁓ they really at when judging if they're making progress or not is the scale. Calvin and Brooke Masters: so we can chat about your goals and how we can help support you. forget to join our Facebook group where we're sharing coaching tips, support, and tricks to help keep you on track and continue making progress. You don't have to do this alone. We're here to walk with you ⁓ step of the way. Until next time, stay consistent, stay kind to yourself, and keep mastering your metabolism. Brooke Masters: I have found it is very challenging for people when they see that number. And want to have a little insight on the mindset around why that number is so for people ⁓ and can them ⁓ into a of, I'm not anything, is progressing, and I might as well just stop. And it completely throws them track. Calvin and Brooke Masters: hosted by our team of expert coaches with proven strategies, science-based tips, and real life encouragement, not just to help you lose fat, but actually create that lifestyle that you love. You've tried everything. Now, let's try what actually works. This is your turning point. Let's go. Amanda Blumenstein: So traditionally, the only unit of measure for weight is the scale. You have those old scales that you see in the doctor's office, you have the bathroom scale, and it's really hard for to wrap their heads around the fact that the scale is not the only unit of measure as far as their body is concerned. Calvin and Brooke Masters: Let's do this together. Amanda Blumenstein: think the reason that the scale has become the number one unit of measure is because it's simple and it's concrete. It's a tangible number. So it's not vague like clothing size, which could vary from store to store. It's not as complex as body fat where you need a specific instrument to determine the but people get stuck on their weight because that's the number that's been expressed to them over the years as far as the value of their body composition. So you go to the doctor, they weigh you every time you go in, no matter if you've eaten breakfast, no matter if you've got your shoes and a winter coat on, and that number goes in your chart and that number goes into the BMI chart and that tells you if you're healthy or not, the end. That's kind of the perception that we've had to live in Western medicine with. I think that as far as that number, we have been conditioned to think that that is the only value that matters. And unfortunately, we have been conditioned to think that that value ⁓ less a measure of the complete individual's weight, but is a reflection of their body fat. Because what people often forget is that when you step on a scale, everything about you is being weighed. Your hair, your bones, your skin. It's not a reflection of pure body fat percentage as something you could get measured somewhere else. But just having that number in our heads, we also have values associated with being overweight, being underweight, and being a normal weight. And because we have those values established and they've been reiterated by our doctors over the years, it kind of solidifies that perception in our brain that our weight really is determined by the number on the scale. And that is what measures our progress. Brooke Masters: Yep. And it's definitely something, and I always tell people it's not a bad thing. It is a number, but it is one metric. the problem is, is if you put all of your value on that one metric, that truly isn't a reflection of body fat, like you said, because you can step on the scale, step off the scale, drink some water, step on the scale. It doesn't just weigh body fat. It is weighing anything, you said, and you could be holding water from a cycle. You could be, you had salt the day before, you had more carbohydrates that brought more glycogen into the muscle. You ate later that night, you didn't sleep well. All of these things impact that number. it's when people's emotions get wrapped up with that number and you can logically see, okay, you ate the same exact thing that you did yesterday. Literally, have clients that are eating the same foods. and you step on the scale, you have to comprehend that it is not body fat and it does not reflect your effort because they all of a sudden will say, what did I do wrong? And it has to be looked at differently. has to, you know, and that's where we try to educate our clients of understanding even those in-body scans that some people are like, well, the in-body scan told me my body fat percentage. We've had clients and the way that that machine works is it's measuring water in your system and it is measuring between the muscle and what is in your body. So we've had clients that are in competition prep. They are completely depleted because they haven't had carbs for a couple of days. You measure their body fat and their percentage of muscle mass on those scans evening and they have all of sudden more fat and less muscle mass. The next morning, once they have had carbs put into their body, all of a sudden they have gained six pounds of muscle overnight. Because the way that there is no unit of measurement or no tool that is going to measure it completely accurately. What you have to look at is biofeedback. And that does come to some of the things you mentioned about how your clothes are fitting. If your clothes are fitting different. When you are on the beach, nobody is looking at you going, know what? bet she's about 150. Like they don't. They are looking at your body and I've seen bodies, lots of bodies that actually weigh more and look better. They look tighter. They look healthier. you have think of what is your end result? What is that you are trying to accomplish? Are you trying to look more toned? Amanda Blumenstein: I mean, I am. Brooke Masters: Are you trying to look that your body is tightening up and that you don't have as much cellulite? You know, because you have to think about also when you are using carbohydrates, if you are losing body fat, but carbohydrates are now your body is using them effectively. And when you eat them, it brings glycogen into the muscle and that will bring water inside the muscle. So that will weigh more on the scale. But when you look at the body composition, all of a sudden your arms look more tone and you look more lean that is because for the same reason that you want to think about all of the aspects. So looking and seeing how you're fitting in your clothes, how you see in the mirror, how you look in pictures, pictures by far are going to be the best way to judge if you are making progress because you look at those pictures and it is literally in front of your face to be able to see this is what I looked like before, this is what I look like now, does it look better or not? no matter what happens with the scale. And let alone some of the other biofeedback markers, am I now sleeping better? Do I have more energy throughout the day? ⁓ going to the bathroom every day? Are my cycles more regular? Am I not getting the same types of symptoms before I get my cycle? All these things are going to tell you that what you're doing, your body's happy. And the ultimate goal is that when you improve your health, a lot of people think I gotta lose weight to be healthy, but weight and body weight and body fat will accumulate when your body is in unhealthy state. So when you start improving your health and working on the things and being consistent with the things to move you in the right direction, by default, your body will look better. that's that that you have to kind of look at because we all have the moments that you look at that scale, like, come on, why won't it move? I've done it. I literally asked my coach today for a diet break. Hey, can we do something like we want this to move faster? We all want to get to the end result faster. We all want to have that body that we want yesterday, but you have to look at this like a lifestyle, like a journey. And you start allowing the scale, that's where you start having that relationship with your body, with yourself and with the scale, with your food that is unhealthy. Amanda Blumenstein: this morning. Brooke Masters: And that's not how you want to live your life. That's not how you want to kind of go through the process. You really want to get to a point that you're like, you know what? doing the things. So eventually it's going to work. Like it may take longer than I would like. It usually does. But if you keep doing it and you keep doing the things, you're going to get there. Amanda Blumenstein: There's two things I think that hit me the most with weight and one going out to all of my females, which is the cycle. And prior meeting with Calvin and Brooke, when I was just a client, I didn't really understand ⁓ that it was for my weight to go up during my cycle. And... Brooke Masters: Thank Amanda Blumenstein: Some people only gain like a pound during their cycle. I gain up to six pounds every month I gain it I hold it for a couple days during my cycle and then it drops back down But in the beginning it was such a mind fuck because you're like I ate what I was supposed to eat I'm going to the gym. I'm doing what i'm supposed to do Why did the scale go up six pounds which significant amount of weight? And I think it's really important for women to understand the impact of the cycle and what it's doing to the body and why it's causing you to retain water knowing that that's water and not pure fat, which is probably what I thought it was beforehand. But for women, can be really stressful to see that number go up. But if you know that your cycle is coming, you see the scale go up you can say But I knew my cycle was coming if you're not tracking your cycle and you all of sudden get a huge weight spike It can be really jarring So I think that for women, it's really important to remember around your cycle. And that's not just when you get your cycle, but during ovulation as well. Your weight can fluctuate and that's totally normal and not at all an indicator that you've fallen off plan and that you're going to fail your weight loss journey. Brooke Masters: Yeah. what's even more fun, is during perimenopause because estrogen is a That's when you fluid and it happens with cycle a little bit more regularly. So you can in your head, tell yourself, okay, this is happening. ⁓ But those are my 40 plus your estrogen is fluctuating. You will have moments out of nowhere that things will happen and you just have to expect it and know. Okay, why am I feeling so puppy? Why can I not see any lines anymore? Why is this happening? That's because estrogen is just deciding to do its thing. So knowing that as long as you're staying on track, as long as you're doing the things, your body, this is unfortunately what we have to deal with. And what you had brought up before about certain women that gain a lot, those of us that are vertically challenged and we are only five feet tall, we are not We don't have as much space. are not going to hold as much water as someone who is much than us. The more space that you have, I've seen guys that will hold 10 pounds. That is because they have a lot more area, a lot more surface area for this water to be. So also understanding that if you are five foot six or taller, you are going to hold more water. And as fast it came up, it's as fast as that you will lose it again. but it comes and goes. And understanding that, you know, when you drink water, it will help to flush out the water. Things like asparagus and things like that are diuretics you can have, you know, they are natural diuretics that will allow you to release some of the water. But understanding that it's temporary unfortunately it is a thing. So the only way that you can gain a pound of body fat overnight is if you eat. 3,000 calories above your maintenance. So most women, their maintenance calories, depending on your height, activity, et cetera, is about 2,000. So unless you went out and ate 5,000 calories, you're not gaining a pound of body fat. And if it's more than that, that's how much food you would have to eat. So chances are, unless you went ham and decided to just eat all of the things, you didn't gain that much body fat. So. It's almost like you have to have, you tell me that logical brain and that other brain that is just going to say, okay, go ahead and sit down in the corner. This is not real. And really talking yourself into it just saying, you know what? It's up, but I'm just going to keep doing what I'm supposed to be doing because eventually it's going to come back down and then I'll get back to normal and feel okay in my brain again. Amanda Blumenstein: brain. The other time that was hardest for me with the scale was during my own reverse and recomp, because I was dropping body fat, but gaining muscle in the gym, which ultimately led me to the body I wanted, but the scale was either staying the same or even going up a little bit. Brooke Masters: yes. Amanda Blumenstein: I think something I hear a lot on social media that from female bodybuilders is the body you want is heavier than you think it is. You know, in my, I'm five foot eight, 160 pounds, I'm heavy, but I can't be 120 pounds. There's no feasibility there on that. So it's really understanding if I'm doing the right things and the scale might be going up a little, but I'm changing in other ways that are positive, like those biofeedback markers, then I have to kind of calm down my emotional brain, turn on my rational brain, like Brooke said. move through the discomfort because ultimately it is about getting the body that you want and how that looks versus you're not going to the beach and judging everybody on there how much you think they weigh. Brooke Masters: Yep. And it is hard. always tell people it's everyone here is like your muscle weighs more than fat and it absolutely does. But you want to think, is it really muscle? And the way to know is, are you getting stronger in the gym? Are you lifting more? If you are, you're on muscle. If you're every, you know, you're going into that gym and you were able to lift more than you did a week ago, more than you were able to lift two weeks ago, you're getting stronger. You're building muscle. That's how it works. You're eating enough protein to be able to maintain your muscle and build muscle. You're having enough carbs to be able to fuel those workouts and recover. Great. You're putting on the muscle. And again, taking data, looking at the scale. So you are doing something, just like you track your food to track your progress, like you track your numbers when you are ⁓ money because you're going on vacation, tracking food is something that allows you to see that you are not. gaining body fat because if you're tracking your food and see that you're eating the same amount, then you can know in your brain that you're not. And it's something else that you can watch because if you are staying the same weight or within a couple of pounds as you are recovering the body, so you are slowly increasing calories, if your body weight is the same and you have brought your calories up, say 800 calories than when you started, and your body weight's the same, that has to mean that your metabolism is speeding up for more energy coming in. So if your body weight stays the same, that has to mean that fat is being burned and that you are fueling your body so that you can put on muscle. all aspects, using, know, when we work with our clients, we are looking at their weight every day. We are looking over time, not fluctuations throughout the day, because I have some people that will go up and down all the time. Stress will bring water. Cycle will bring water. So many things going out to dinner. You can gain three pounds and it'll stick up there because of the fats and the sodium they're using. But if you look over time and you're hitting new lows every week, that means you're losing body fat. That means you're losing what you want to be losing. In the reverse, same thing. If you're staying the same, some people drop, some people, as long as you're within a couple of pounds and you're staying the same as you are increasing calories, again, improving your body composition is the ultimate goal. We don't all want to be like skinny, frail old ladies. We want to be strong and healthy. females. in order to do that, you have to be fueling your body, giving your body the nutrients it needs, ⁓ able to watch everything from a lens of, I better? Do I have more energy? Am I getting stronger in the gym? Is my digestion on point? Is my am I sleeping through the night? Is my libido okay? All of these things give us clues as to how our body is responding. And if our body is happy, if your body is happy, the body will release the body fat. It's just how it is. And if you were in a caloric deficit, obviously. So, all right guys, so hopefully this shed some light on the devil scale you guys get a little bit out of it. So thank you, thank you for joining us and until next time, if you wouldn't mind sharing a review, we would greatly appreciate it and anything you'd like to hear about, please drop it in the comments. Have a good one.