2976: Why Tracking Your Food and Body Fat Is Ruining Your Progress

“where tracking literally messes them up because they freak out? It's typically something like the scale, but it can happen with other things as well. Has that ever happened? Certain personnel. Yeah. It becomes an obsession. It becomes a detraction. Don't fall for the trap, Justin. That's right.”

“everything else followed. Before that, it was like measurements, body fat percentage. It was the scale. And we were chasing this thing that was moving all over the place. I'm not saying they weren't valuable, but I was way more successful later when the client would come in and talk about their goal.”

“mirror. Or the scale or even total body fat. Again, once you get extreme, he does start to be a pretty good predictor. Let's talk about one of the first ways that people like to measure their progress, which is the scale and why this one can be such a problem. I've had clients here and we know, first of all, we talked about this on the show before the scale measures, total body mass.”

“and reporting to me. Clothes are fitting better. And then we weigh them 30 days into it or 60 days into it. And the scale hasn't budged ruined their day. Yep. Everything sucks. Now I can't, I feel horrible. I've also had the flip experience where I've had members of my gym who are coming in super consistently. I'm looking at them and I'm like, man, she's not doing well. She's over-training”

“And she weighs herself. I lost another five pounds. So excited, ignoring that she feels terrible. And you can see it on their face. So just, you know, the scale is part of what you're tracking. I get it. Uh, but it can become a problem. And then there's a scale obsession.”

“gallon of water and you could see three to four pounds on the scale, uh, have a day where you had more carbohydrates, uh, as your source of calories versus fat.”

“next day you, you lose a weight, a pound sometimes yet. We know that that wasn't healthy and ideal. So the scale is so such a terrible determiner of whether you are doing well or not. And this is something that I tracked so diligently and realized like, oh man, I gotta be very careful, not only with myself, but then this became a better communicator with my client.”

“And again, when it comes to longevity and health. It's a much better predictor than circumferences, than body fat percentages, than weight on the scale, than all that stuff. It's like, how fit are you? That makes the biggest difference. I mean, I have a different view or opinion on that.”

“My energy is down, but I'm losing weight. Yeah. They don't track it to the thing that's actually, Oh, that's still the gotta be. The scale has to be the number one thing that people still still. Yeah. Do you identify so strongly with that number? Yeah. I mean, yeah, no, I, I don't, I, I fact it's even, even I'd say body fat percentage is, is still very rare.”

“It's not easy to test your, well, they got the body fat percentage scales now, but you're right. It's the scale. Yeah. Like most people are, Oh, I want, I just want to be 10 pounds lighter. I just want this. And it's just like, Oh my God. All right. So I'll tell you guys what happened. So I'll tell you guys what happened to me. I went and got a DEXA scan.”

“I tried to, I tried to show people this and showcase this. I did these things. I did, I, especially as I got lean, uh, I showed people a 24 hour differences on the scale and the way I looked at my picture. Radical. That's crazy. 10, 10 pounds on the scale.”

“It looks very different. Yeah. It looks like you added 10 pounds. We're just you and I were just talking off air. You're like here. Every time I lean out, I look bigger, but I'm down 10 pounds, 15 pounds on the scale. And so it's like you give him that. And that's why I even said I could lose three to five pounds of your muscle and put you”

“I don't track, so I don't know exactly where I'm at, to be honest with you. So I start every weekday, protein shake in the morning with the creatine, protein and oatmeal for breakfast when I get to work. Try to have, always have a source of protein with lunch, yogurt or cottage cheese and afternoon snack, and then try to keep the dinners balanced.”

“I'm getting ready for work. I'm going to school. Nice. Like everyone hears me. I'm like, you got to go lift weights. You got to take creatine. Are you drinking enough water? Are you getting your sleep done? It's like, I don't know. I love you guys so much. Jessica, the other thing you can do too, it takes a little bit more discipline and skill to do this, but you”

“I'm glad I take my creatine and I'm glad I get my protein. I'm glad I got my sleep because I can handle it so much better. That's good. I just hardly, you know, you hear sometimes callers say, I wish I looked like I work out.”

“I do a two-day split. I work out from home. It's all dumbbell-based, body weight-based, bench. I have a bench. I have a band. So I introduce the bands, but I sometimes get inflammation and joints and then take a break that way.”

“50, 60 pound dumbbells. I don't want to be, you know, inactive. I am, I get my 10,000 steps in a day. I summer months, I cycled very casually to keep active.”

“Actually, we'll see rapid progress of the 90-year-old if they just start strength training. But if you've been doing it a while, you're using 50, 60 pound dumbbells, the name of the game now is to maintain. So as we start to hit our mid 60s, get into 70, even being fit and consistent, there's still going to be somewhat of a decline.”

“And I'm reading my question now. The first question I have is about a weightlifting belt. My trainer thought maybe that would be the route to go, but I remember from previous episodes, you guys have discussed the pros and cons of weightlifting belts.”

“So I don't, if you guys could speak to that first. Sure. So, so here's what a with a weightlifting belt does. Okay. So let's say your max deadlift for your set is 225 and you normally would lift it without a belt.”

“Okay. But this is what happens. You would end up adding weight to the bar so you could lift heavier weight. So a weightlifting belt does increase core stability, but it does so through an unnatural way. Okay. It's the opposite bracing effect.”

“a few days a week. But a full body routine, three days a week, incorporating some barbell work would probably get you some gains. OK. So instead of doing, you know, two upper, two lower. Yeah. You're going to the gym.”

“And the intensity is moderate to high, not super intense. And I think cutting it down to three days a week at full body, adding in some barbell work, like practicing a box squat, practicing a trap bar deadlift once a week. I think you'll see some progress with that for sure.”

“It's all dumbbell-based, body weight-based, bench. I have a bench. I have a band. So I introduce the bands, but I sometimes get inflammation and joints and then take a break that way. And then I try to do some mobility.”

“You're pretty consistent twice a week and you're pretty active, which includes an hour and a half of pickleball. I heard you mention sometimes your joints bother you a little bit and so you'll use bands. I haven't had to do that in a while because what had I haven't probably had to do that in two or three years because of the fact that I started rotating exercises.”

“I work out from home. It's all dumbbell-based, body weight-based, bench. I have a bench. I have a band. So I introduce the bands, but I sometimes get inflammation and joints and then take a break that way. And then I try to do some mobility.”

“Hey, listen. So here's the thing. So I knew this, by the way. I did message you before, too. I know this. Caliper measurements for me always measured me closer to what you would think I was at. So you can look this up. You can go online and say, what does 10% body fat look like on a man?”

“mobility stuff. I do my, and that's something I always do. I always do my 90-90s, I always do my foam roller a little bit to roll out my back. I do the world's greatest stretch, I do, and it depends on what I'm doing that day.”

“And that kind of is what got me through my first pregnancy. And then I actually started doing some glutathione injections and that really, really helped. But then it was kind of dependent on my activities. And then it was really good through my second pregnancy up until I delivered the baby.”

“I don't track, so I don't know exactly where I'm at, to be honest with you. So I start every weekday, protein shake in the morning with the creatine, protein and oatmeal for breakfast when I get to work. Try to have, always have a source of protein with lunch, yogurt or cottage cheese and afternoon snack, and then try to keep the dinners balanced.”

“I mean, you can make a body look radically different. There's a whole category of supplements that initially started with ads like that. Yes, the pre-workout pump supplements, it was the first, it was the first ones that came out had before and afters that were before the workout and right after the workout to show the pump or whatever.”

“I don't track, so I don't know exactly where I'm at, to be honest with you. So I start every weekday, protein shake in the morning with the creatine, protein and oatmeal for breakfast when I get to work. Try to have, always have a source of protein with lunch, yogurt or cottage cheese and afternoon snack, and then try to keep the dinners balanced.”

“work. Try to have, always have a source of protein with lunch, yogurt or cottage cheese and afternoon snack, and then try to keep the dinners balanced.”