Numbers — I never have liked them!  That comes from being a word person instead of a math person — and also because of a decades-long fight with the numbers on the scale. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.  That’s why it’s so important NOT to focus on what the scale says.  It’s not the amount of weight but the kind of weight that matters.

This picture explains it best.  When a large proportion of your body weight is made up of fat — you will look bigger, be less healthy, and feel worse.  Fat just takes up more room than muscle.

Muscle, on the other hand, is actually heavier than fat. Yes, I know a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weight the same — a pound.  But a pound of fat takes up more space.

Muscle also burns calories more efficiently so that you can get by with eating more.  Muscle enables you to do more for a longer stretch of time.  And that’s what matters most.  That’s why you need to 1) Do aerobic exercises like walking to empty out the fat cells, 2) Eat a moderate amount of  low glycemic foods so you won’t keep stuffing the cells with stored fat, and 3) Do exercises that strengthen your muscles. You don’t have to go to the gym, if you don’t want to.  You can strengthen your muscles with something as simple as stretch bands.

More on building muscles later — but for now remember that success or failure of your healthy living journey isn’t dependent on those fluctuating numbers on the scale.  Don’t let them get you down!  Notice instead how you feel and how your clothes fit.  Focus on changing your weight from fat to muscle rather than on losing the weight!

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown