Don't obsess about the scale when trying to lose weight: YMCA trainer

Morning North5:28Wellness Column - the weight scale

In this edition of our Wellness Column, we talk about the scale and how to have a healthy relationship with the weight minder. The CBC's Jan Lakes spoke with YMCA wellness coach and trainer Brian Woods and aquafit instructor Beverly Mann.

If weight loss is your aim, it is hard to resist the temptation to step on the scale every day to see how you are doing.

YMCA wellness coach and trainer, Brian Woods, doesn't want people to fall into that trap.

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If you really want to keep track, don't step on the scales more than once every week or two weeks.

But it is also very important when you do weigh yourself. Woods suggested pickinga day mid-week, in between weekends.

"Usually a Wednesday morning ...is a typically average day. [Weigh yourself] first thing when you get up in the morning no clothes after you've gone to the bathroom and before you have any food."

Following that basic routineis how you can get a good accurate weight reading, he said. Then skip a week or two before weighing in again.

Weighing yourself constantly is just not accurate, Woods noted.

"I personally will gain or lose 3 or 4 pounds in a day, just depending on my hydration state, and whether I've had some salt or sugar carbohydrates."

Let your clothes be your guide

When what people really want is tochange their body composition or shape, focusing on the scale is the last thing they should do, Woods said.

People who are losing weight and gaining muscle will be able to tell by the way their clothes fit. It's a simple as that, said Woods.

The YMCA's aquafit instructor Beverly Mann advocates ditching the scale all together.

"We focus on it so much that we lose our minds, become obsessive," she said.

Mann believes it is better to avoid the scales and listen to our bodies.

She also pointed to the reality there are too manyvariables in any given day.

"What we've eaten, how we've eaten, when we last ate, how our digestive system is working today, who's scales we are on?"

All those fluctuating numbers don't really reflect health said Mann.