Did you know that self-love is the way to weight loss? 

By Lori Hammond

Coach and Professional Hypnotist. Giving you simple tools to stop overwhelm and harness joyful forward momentum.

Has anyone ever tried to get you to believe that standing on that terrible "S"-word... the SCALE will let you achieve permanent weight loss?

This cheat sheet gives you 5 reasons why the SCALE = FAIL.

Have you ever stood on the scale to decide if you've been "good" or "bad"?

Many people believe if they don't check their weight, they'll spiral out of control. 

By the end of this cheat sheet, you'll understand how the scale keeps people stuck and I'll give you a new way to measure success.

5 reasons to stay off the scale

1. It takes 3500 EXTRA calories to create a pound of fat.

That means you have to consume the equivalent of 15 cheeseburgers or 16 Snicker bars, on top of your daily caloric needs, to gain one pound of fat.

Have you ever stood on the scale after a day of "eating right" and it's actually gone up? 

It is scientifically impossible for you to gain a pound of fat in one day without a pretty astonishing binge.

Then why is the scale up? 

Read on, my friend. . .

2. The average person's weight changes about 4 or 5 pounds EVERY DAY.

As a formerly obsessed scale-stander-onner, I can vouch for this.

I’m consistently 4 pounds heavier at the end of the day than at the beginning. Even on days, in my former life, when I starved myself during the day.

So let's say you weigh yourself on Monday, eat really well all week then weigh yourself on Friday and the scale is up a couple pounds. 

You get discouraged. . . 

You say, "Why should I even try?"

You go pig out on all the food you passed up during the week.

You just let an inanimate object (the scale) hypnotize you to feel bad about yourself and derail you.

The scale is not a good judge of success OR fat loss. 

3. Many things happen inside a person’s body to change the number on the scale.

Most of these things have nothing to do with fat loss or fat gain.

EXAMPLE: Sore muscles from exercise. 

Sore muscles mean lactic acid is causing your body to retain water. This happens because extra water creates a protective cushion for swollen muscle tissue.

EXAMPLE: Hormonal fluctuations can cause the scale to go up several pounds for a few days (then it goes right back down).

Again, it is scientifically impossible to gain several pounds of fat in just a few days without a massive binge. And fat is what we care about, right? 

Fat. Not a number on the scale.

4. You retain 4 grams of water for every 1 gram of carbohydrate you eat.  

If you eat extra carbs, the scale will almost certainly go up a few pounds. 

This is an indication of extra water in the body, NOT extra fat on your body. 

Your body will release the extra water within a few days when your carb consumption goes back to normal. 

Thanksgiving Mayhem!

One of my clients became discouraged after gaining 4 pounds on Thanksgiving. She threw up her hands and kept overeating because of the number on the scale.

She pigged out and gained even more weight because she felt discouraged.

But she would’ve had to consume 14 thousand extra calories to gain 4 pounds of fat.

That’s 35 pieces of cheesecake!

Or two entire thanksgiving turkeys . . .

in addition to her daily caloric needs.

There are many other reasons the scale may have been up... 

Perhaps her scale was faulty or she was retaining water from eating extra carbs. 

If Thanksgiving was stressful, increased cortisol from the stress of the holiday could cause water retention, which brings us to the 5th scale fact. 

5. Stress makes you store fat and retain water. 

When a person experiences stress and anxiety, it causes their body to release stress hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, and ADH (the "store water" hormone).

These hormones increase fat storage, slow metabolism, and cause water retention. 

Whew! 

Stepping off my soapbox now. . .

Here's the good part!

3 Better Ways To Measure Success

Here are 3 changes you can make right away to keep you inspired and peaceful as you move toward your new physique.

1. Measure your waist, not your weight.

What if the scale moved down 3 pounds but your jeans actually got tighter? 

The whole point of weight loss is to look and feel better, right?

When a person has a healthy height-to-waist ratio they are more visually appealing.

And a smaller waist is an excellent indicator of health. 

ACTION: After you've thrown your scale out the second story window, replace it with a tape measure. Measure your waist, exactly at your belly button, once a month.

Congratulate yourself when the number gets smaller (You get more of what you notice, so notice what you do right.)

2. Measure your peace level.

When a person eats in a stressful state it causes the metabolism to slow down. Stress causes fat storage and blocks the absorption of nutrients. 

The solution is to eat in peace. 

Does that sound too simple?

It can take as little as 30 seconds to turn OFF stress hormones and turn ON peace hormones that let you digest food better, absorb more nutrients, and stoke up your metabolism.

ACTION: Turn on happy chemicals by taking a deep belly breath (pretend to inflate a balloon in your waist). Exhale for twice as long as you inhale. Repeat 3 times. 

It really can be that simple. 

3. Monitor your self talk.

This may seem a little out of the box but experience shows that it works.

A person's self talk is their #1 indicator of success. 

Go back and read that last sentence again. It just might change your life. 

ACTION: Talk nice to yourself when you look in the mirror. Talk nice to yourself when you button your jeans. Talk nice to yourself when you "fall off the wagon". 

I know this one seems tricky, right?

Here are some really awesome resources to help you love yourself, even if it seems impossible right now. It can happen more quickly than you realize.

1. Watch this short video about self-love.
2. Use this amazing NLP technique to change the critical voice in your head to a positive one.

Important Note: When it comes to weight loss, the journey dictates the destination. If you try to get to your goal weight by beating yourself up, you're still going to find reasons to beat yourself up when you get there. 

If you love yourself to your goal, you'll be able to look in the mirror, see your healthy fit reflection, and accept that this is who you are from now on.

You now know some things you can't un-know about the scale and I believe it will lead you to real success. 

Thanks for letting me get on my soapbox for a minute. 

Love, 

Lori