EUGENIZATION.

What’s the most harrowing moment of your day?

For many of my clients, it’s that sobering moment when they step on the scale (or when the skinfold calipers are drawn) and their efforts are quantified.  The culmination of a week’s worth (or whatever the timeframe may be) of grit, determination, and effort is encapsulated in the relative change of the number on the scale; it’s more than a mere measure of mass, it beomes a determination of their worth.

Alas - the numbers are the same.  The horror!

What do you do when you’re trying your best and you don’t seem to be losing any fat?

Focus on your actions, not on the outcomes.

You can’t control how fast you lose weight; your body is too adaptable to be fooled, at least for long (anyone who’s lost tons of weight on a starvation diet only to regain it all and more can vouch for me on this one).  Some people are so metabolically damaged that fat loss may occur at a snail’s pace, even if you’re doing all the right things, so keep at it.  If you’re using a sound method to accomplish your goals (i.e., scientific, has a proven track record, etc.), then assuming you’re following that method correctly, you’ll achieve them.  

It doesn’t serve your purposes to have an unhealthy fixation with a number on the scale.  Instead, key in on executing everything properly: eat, often, eat the right things, exercise, lift heavy things, get away from time to time, etc.  Concern yourself with things you can affect (your daily behaviors), rather than concern yourself with things out of your control (your body’s rate of lipolysis).

Bonus list: What might cause you to weigh more on a given day despite fat loss?

1. Water retention
2. Fully-stocked muscle glycogen (see#1)
3. Menses (for women)
4. Creatine ingestion
5. Having a full GI tract (some people like eating before they get weighed in, apparently).

Any other possibilities?  Post to comments.