Gaining to Lose and An Honest Prick

I recieved this post on my facebook wall from a great friend and thought that it was definitely worth sharing.  I don't know who Scott Sonnon is, but the paragraph came with the photo and it was a good read.

"Does this photo convince you now, to throw away the scale? You will GAIN weight ...to shape up! Why are you trying to lose WEIGHT? Are you competing in a sport? Weight is irrelevant if you're not fighting in a weight class. Lower fat by upping muscle. Stop worrying about weight, and start increasing the coals in the furnace: muscle. This is especially true for women, who naturally have less genetically given muscle mass. You cut, and you'll gain (skinny fat.) Build to lose fat. Stoke the furnace, and throw away the scale. If you need a measure, how do your clothes fit today?"

By: Scott Sonnon

Okay, so what do you think?  I'm thinking that perhaps Jillian Michaels weighs at least 1,000 pounds...

But really, the reason why I am posting this is because this crap is happening to me.  I have been exercising like one of those healthy people in Lifetime movies (they have severe personal problems though, but there is always a scene inside a gym or of the main character jogging down the street).  None the less, I have been doing a wide range of exercise dvds lately, including some weight training.  I know that I am gaining muscle.  So why is it such a huge disheartening thing when my weight goes up by a couple of pounds?
 

I know that I'm gaining muscle and I shouldn't look at the numbers as a fail.  I have to remind myself that more muscle will burn more calories, and actually I'm creating a great foundation for long-term weight loss.  I need to look at the big picture...or the pictures above!  This image has stuck in my brain and I'm glad that it has - it is a great reminder of health and fitness not being determined simply by a single number.

I will never get rid of my scales though.  Whenever I don't have scales in my home, I gain weight.  The worst incident of this was when I lived in Florida.  I went without a scale for about a year, and managed to gain about 55 pounds!  That's quite impressive for the timespan of a year!  The only significant measure of this was how I felt emotionally - I was terribly insecure at times.  It sounds ridiculous, but I honestly had no idea that I was that much heavier.  It was kind of a funny thing really...like a bus that parks in a compact car parking spot.  You would think that my clothes would tell the story, but they didn't because I wore a lot of baggy type of clothes - straightlegged men's jeans with more fitted shirts...they were either t-shirts, or stretchy type of shirts...

In fact, the only person in Florida who said a thing was an anonymous man at a fun gay bar who came over to me right in the middle of a song he was dancing around to and said, "I used to be just like you, but then I lost 60 pounds, and honey, I've never felt better!"

Honesty is not always the best policy...the prick.  Oh well, it was news to me! haha!