Most people track their weight gain or weight loss by the numbers on a scale.  Imagine this scenario: you weigh yourself but to your horror, the scale shows 160lbs.  Stop right there!  Let’s go on a field trip to the moon.  Once on the moon you jump on the scale, and obviously, you weigh less.  Did your appearance change? Do your clothes fit better? What is the reason for this, if the scale shows a lower number?  The fact is a scale measures your body under the control of gravity. It can’t distinguish if you’re losing water, muscle (which diets do quite effectively), or fat.  So why judge your progress on something that can’t possibly tell you how much fat you’ve lost?

At this point it seems the right thing to do is to have your body composition measured (body fat percentage). Well, hold on a second. The problem with body composition tests is that they’re not 100% accurate. Don’t misunderstand; Read the rest of this entry