The Smaller You: Success Beyond the Scale

Why inches lost are more important than pounds!

One of the most common questions we hear in Customer Support is, “I haven’t lost any pounds! I feel so much better, but the scale isn’t moving. Why is this happening?” When we hear this, the answer is always: "Have you lost any inches?”

And almost always the answer is YES!

When following the GOLO for Life® Plan, most people start to see results sometime within the first 2-4 weeks. Some will lose pounds first and others will lose inches. It is important to remember that both tools are important and that everyone loses weight differently.

While on a weight loss journey, finding small victories are important to stay motivated and confident, but we need to consider the overall picture. That’s why we always remind members who may not be losing pounds as fast as others that the scale is not always the best representation of progress.

Many things can affect the number on your scale, so you can’t let it get you down if you aren't seeing progress right away.

We also remind our members that GOLO is not a “lose weight fast” gimmick or a fad weight loss program. GOLO is a sustainable way to lose weight for the long term and to keep it off for good!

We don’t claim that you will lose 30 lbs. in 30 days because not only is that type of loss not sustainable, it is also not healthy.

Everyone likes to use the scale to measure success. It’s fun to share with your friends and family how much weight you lost. It’s a useful tool, but using it in isolation could be very misleading.

Here are several reasons why could be losing inches instead of pounds: 

Exercise: If you are exercising but aren't losing weight, you may think it's because “muscle weighs more than fat”. This is a common misconception and isn't exactly true. 

Muscle is actually denser than fat, so when you lose fat and increase muscle mass with exercise, you've also increase your resting metabolic rate. This means that you will burn more calories each day simply because your body is comprised of less fat and more lean tissue.

Re-composition: If you aren’t exercising but are still noticing a loss of inches before pounds, what is likely happening is that your body is simply going through a re-composition.

In other words, you are losing fat, which takes up a lot of space, and are left with a greater proportion of muscle mass, which takes up less space.

This is actually way more exciting than losing weight on the scale because you are improving your body composition, which could set you up for much bigger wins in the future!

Sodium or alcohol: There are other situations which could affect your overall weight in the short-term, such as recent meals that have a high sodium content (basically any time you eat out).

Another factor is alcohol consumption. Even just a few drinks per week can cause weight loss on the scale to stall. This doesn’t mean you can’t ever have a drink, but it is important to remember that if you consume alcohol, you could be inhibiting your weight loss progress. 

Misc. factors: Things like meal timing, hormones, stress and, believe it or not, even the phase of the moon can affect the number that shows up on the scale!

How you look and feel is the most important thing! 

At the end of the day, how you look and feel is most important. Have you lost inches? Do you look better in your favorite outfit? Do you feel healthier, less tired, happier and more productive?

Remember, if you have lost inches then you are smaller! And people see a smaller you, they don’t know the number that shows up on your bathroom scale.

During your weight loss journey, we strongly suggest that you weigh yourself and also measure your waist. It’s optimal for you to do this once a week — preferably at the same day/time — then keep track of those numbers over 60-days in order to monitor your results.

Don’t get down if that scale number goes up one week. As long as you are trending downward over the long-term you are doing great!  Enjoy the SMALLER YOU!