Five people weighed themselves in the 45 minutes I spent at the gym, and it got me thinking about how much power we hand to one number.

The other day I was on the bike right beside the gym door. And right beside the bike, there were scales. I'd never even noticed them. I figured maybe the PTs use them, and kept pedalling.

But over the 45 minutes or so I was there, someone stepped on those scales roughly every ten minutes. The gym wasn't even busy. There were only about 20 people in there, and five of them decided to weigh themselves mid-session.

That blew my mind. Do they do that every time? You don't see results that fast. You don't finish a workout and expect to be lighter than when you walked in.

And one of those people was a client of mine. She stepped on the scales right in front of me and said, "I'm getting there, I've lost 8 kg." In my head I thought, great, so what we're doing is working. But out loud I said, "That's really good. And how do you feel?"

That's the question I want people to start asking themselves. Weight is a side effect of nourishing your body and moving it well. It isn't the goal, and it certainly isn't the whole story.

What I know would happen if it were me

I couldn't help but think, imagine if I did that. When I have a good workout and walk out of the gym, I feel really good. The endorphins have kicked in and I'm buzzing. But if I jumped on the scales and the number hadn't moved, or I'd gained a kilo since the last time, I know exactly what would happen. I'd feel deflated, I'd start to feel like the gym was pointless, and it would take away all of those endorphins I'd just earned.

And it's not only about weighing yourself at the gym. It's the scales in general. I don't have any issues with my body, and I'm very grateful for that. I don't normally weigh myself. But every time I hop on, no matter what, I'm disappointed by the number, which sounds ridiculous for someone who doesn't have body issues. Then again, we all have our on and off days. Some days you feel a bit bloated and not that stoked with how you look, and other days you feel really good, but it's still the same body.

The story I tell myself

If I jump on the scales and I've lost 2 kg, I think, oh no, I've lost muscle, I'm weaker. If I'm a kilo heavier, I think, I've put on fat.

But what if I've actually put on muscle, and that's why I weigh more? Or lost fat, and that's why I weigh less? For some reason, whatever the number does, whether it stays the same, goes up or goes down, I decide there's a negative reason behind it, when realistically it might be a positive one. Muscle is denser than fat, so building it can nudge the number up. Fluid, food and hormones can shift it from day to day too. One number can't tell you which it is.

What to focus on instead

The weight on the scales is really just a number. The best thing you can do for yourself might be to throw out those scales and focus on:

  • How you feel, and your energy levels

  • Exercising in a way that matches those energy levels

  • Sleeping well

  • How you feel in your clothes, in your body and in your mind

Your body and your mind have a really good way of knowing what you need. It's time we started trusting those needs and nourishing our bodies, rather than freaking out about a silly number on the scales.

I hope this resonates with you, and inspires you to focus on how you feel rather than what the scales say.

If your doctor or health professional has asked you to track your weight for a medical reason, keep doing that.