Why Scale Weight is Irrelevant (And What to Focus On Instead)

If you’ve been following me for some time, you’ll know I’m no stranger to discussing why your health isn't solely determined by the number on the scale. And while you might happily nod along with this approach, I know that many of us *still* can’t escape that nagging urge to weigh less.

If you are someone who tends to fixate a bit too much on what the scale says, I want to use today’s episode as a reminder that our health is so much more than that. I’ll also be sharing a recent example from my own health journey which proves exactly why it’s so important to look beyond the scale.

References

InBody scale

Optimizing Fat Loss and Maintaining Muscle on a GLP 1 Mini-Course

Audio Stamps

01:29 - Dr. Rentea explains why the number on the scale is irrelevant if you are not doing body composition tracking (using her own, personal example).

04:06 - We learn how rapid weight loss often comes at the expense of muscle mass.

06:34 - We hear why the focus should be on overall progress, not just the number on the scale (considering factors like body composition, improved mobility, and overall well-being).

08:26 - Dr. Rentea urges us to stop fixating on a specific weight, and instead focus on the long-term success we could achieve by making small, sustainable changes–regardless of the number on the scale.

Quotes

“When you've lost in the 30 to 40 pound range and you're able to keep that off with lifestyle, that's amazing because most people put it right back on within the first five years.” - Matthea Rentea MD

“This past month, the scale ‘only’ went down two pounds. But I had actually lost five pounds of fat and put on two pounds of muscle.” - Matthea Rentea MD

“One of the things that I really need you to keep in mind is that what the total [scale] number is,  is almost irrelevant if you are not doing body composition tracking.” - Matthea Rentea MD

“People really glorify this fast weight loss. And I have to tell you, my patients that do that, they really sacrifice muscle at the expense of that.” - Matthea Rentea MD

“I don't need a scale to tell me that I am getting stronger and that I am headed in the right direction.” - Matthea Rentea MD

“It's not just what the total number is doing. It's overall, are you more functionally fit or maybe do you have less urges and cravings because you've actually started to bring more protein into your diet and you actually feel better? Maybe your sleep has improved?” - Matthea Rentea MD

All of the information on this podcast is for general informational purposes only. Please talk to your physician and medical team about what is right for you. No medical advice is being on this podcast.

If you live in Indiana or Illinois and want to work with doctor Matthea Rentea, you can find out more on www.RenteaClinic.com

Transcript

0:29

Welcome back to another episode of the podcast. Today, I'm going over one of those topics that I have just seen. So much of this week, and that's always when it's podcast time. So we talk a lot on this podcast about how your health is not just the number that you are on the scale. Or you could say in the same way, your health is not just your BMI. And I think when I say that, some people say, well, yeah, yeah, yeah. But really I need to weigh less. And I want to just reiterate today a few things to keep in mind about your metabolic health. If you are someone that is only looking at what that net, I call it the net scale number, if you're only looking at that and not thinking about other things. And I want to give one of my own just personal examples this past month that's been really powerful to me. And, At some point, I, I've not ever made an episode on all the trials and tribulations of what, what I've gone through with my health journey, but I think maybe that's an episode worth making. You guys let me know if you want to hear about that. But so I've always been someone. that has lost weight very slowly. I'm talking like a pound a month and I just really came to acceptance with that. I had lost a bunch of weight with lifestyle alone and then over this past year I have integrated the use of Wigovi as another tool to help me keep going. And When I was on Wegovy, I still experienced slow weight loss. Now, I could continue to lose weight when there had been about a year or two where I wasn't able to lose weight anymore. Now I was maintaining. So that's amazing, right? When you've lost in the 30 to 40 pound range and you're able to keep that off with lifestyle, that's, that's amazing because most people put it right back on within the first five years. So that meant that the things I was doing was actually working. So here I am on Wegovy and I'm losing slower and I've just totally married the journey and I'm okay with it. Well, here recently I've been doing more strength training and actually looking at what's actually happening with my body composition. This is not something that I always was doing, let's say, five years ago when I first started doing this. Here I am. Doing these very minimal strength training. Yes, I do walk daily a lot more and I'm doing all these things getting the protein and this past month the scale quote unquote only And we, you know, we don't use that word around here only went down two pounds, but I had actually lost five pounds of fat and put on two pounds of muscle. Now I use the scale, the in body scale, I N B O D Y. It tends to be very accurate for the skeletal muscle mass. A lot of the other cheaper scales, they, they, again, I talk about this in my course, optimizing fat loss and maintaining muscle. That's we'll put the link in the show notes. If you haven't. And if you're not in that course, I have as a bonus in there, how to interpret the data from this. So I used one of my patients was nice enough to let me use their data, but now I can literally use my own data as well. Just to show you this, if you look at only the total weight loss. You are doing yourself a great disservice because if I had sat there, I knew the work I had done the past month and I was very, very happy with the amount of protein I was eating and how I was feeling and what I was doing. And when I saw those two pounds, number one, a miracle because I had never lost that much, but to also see that it was actually much more fat and I had even put on muscle To look at that, that is a very different health metric than just looking at two pounds going down. So one of the things that I really need you to keep in mind is that what the total number is is almost irrelevant if you are not doing body composition tracking. Now everyone either can't afford the scale or doesn't live close to a location where they can get it done, that's fine. But what I need you then to do is to be doing some body measurements, maybe once a month, literally just do the abdominal circumference. So that's the top of the hip bone in the back where the iliac crest is, if you look up that term. You come around in a circle, that's the circumference, and you breathe out at the end of expiration, that is your abdominal circumference. Follow that measure monthly, and look at, are there any things that are ever changing for me? Are clothes fitting easier? Is that measurement going down? If you're able to do body composition tracking, you look at any of those changes. Because often a lot of that stuff is shifting before you're really seeing the scale go down significantly. And why this matters is that people really glorify this fast weight loss. And I have to tell you, my patients that do that, they really sacrifice. Muscle at the expense of that and they cut it out really quickly once they see what I'm talking about So if you're losing more than about 1 percent body weight per week Which for most people if your weight is sort of under the 300 pound category, let's just say in general It's usually not more than 1 to 2 pounds per week again You do the math based on where you are if your weight is higher You can lose more weight per week for it to still be in the acceptable range. But if you're losing faster than that, you tend to be losing a huge percentage of muscle. In my course, I kind of go over what's acceptable and not as far as muscle loss. And so do not sit there and glorify what the total number itself is doing. I see so many people online. I don't even know why I keep watching these videos, but I'm human too. People that are just crying and I'm putting all this work and the scale isn't changing and I'm thinking, but you have no idea. You've been, you've done this for one month. You just have not, you don't have the track record of 18 months down seeing what happens. I really want you to not just focus on the number. And if you're not able to do body composition tracking to look at how is my fat mass, meaning the pounds of fat, how is it changing over time? And how is my skeletal muscle changing over time? Remember, skeletal muscle is the one we have control over. So we want a scale that actually shows us that and not just including a bunch of other parameters, like. ligaments and other things that, you know, we don't have control over. I want you to look at not just what this number itself is doing, If you can, what the body composition's doing, and then if you need to throw measurements in there, if that's a tool you're using, or just in general, do I have pants that are fitting better? Do I feel like I can walk around easier? Can I move my body easier? Right? I started out this episode, or no, sorry, last episode. I'm like, that was in this episode. Last episode, or one of them back here, I talked about how I had that moment suddenly where I didn't need to do modification anymore with with push ups and planks with being on my knee. I could do it fully how it needed to be. And that moment, so it's like, listen, I don't need a scale to tell me that I am getting stronger and that I am headed in the right direction. So I want to just really reiterate that for all of you reiterate that today that. It's not just what the total number is doing. It's overall, are you more functionally fit or maybe do you have less urges and cravings because you've actually started to bring more protein into your diet and you actually feel better. Maybe your sleep is improved. This is something again, I'm always shocked by this. Whenever I really make sure to be. Watching what I'm eating, not in a restrictive way, but just like so loving and balanced, I always notice my sleep improves. Of course it's going to help me out during the day. That's something I talk a lot about, the importance of sleep, right? So, looking at that all these other things matter as well. Fast weight loss is not going to be your friend. You don't want to lose more than 1 percent per week. You want to be doing the strength training. You want to be eating the protein. You want to be getting your sleep. You want to be worrying about stress reduction. If you need some help in whatever capacity it is, mindset, therapy, whatever it is, you want to get that help. You want to look at ways, how can I not make my work life? for me to feel so horrible about it? Are there ways that I can think differently about it? Can I offload certain tasks? Do I need to find a new job because this job is just not working with my nervous system? I don't know what the answers are for you, but the answer is not just that that scale goes down. Now, what I want you to say is long term, so 18 months out, am I still going to be doing this, building on this? What would I love to happen at that point? People are never telling me, oh, it's that I want to be XYZ weight. I mean, that's the exception. And when people say that, I say, why? Like, I'm like, you know, where'd you come up with that number from? And often people will tell me, when I was at that weight, I was able to go hiking. They were able to go do all these things. They felt amazing. So stop focusing on that number. What if you could have that amazing feeling? You could go do all those things and it could happen in a different way than you expect. Maybe the scale is 10, 15 pounds heavier than you thought, but because you've been working on your functional fitness the entire time, you were able to do those things. And so I just today want to just re hammer home. You do not need to lose weight fast. You can work on these changes slowly. You can make these things systems. You can really learn to work with your body. You can work through any side effects you might have. You do not need to do this fast. There's no prize in you losing it fast. In fact, the more scenarios you have worked through on the way down, your body is going to be so grateful for it. I hope that you all have a great week and you just remember you do not need to be going about this in a fast way. You've got the rest of your life to keep tweaking this and fine tuning this. All right. Talk to you next week.