Total Weight v Size

I was speaking to a client at one of my classes this week and she told me she was rather upset.  I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she'd just come from her weekly weigh in at her local slimming club and she had gained weight! 

She explained that she's been really good, eating healthily and going to the gym and classes regularly.  I asked her if her clothes were fitting better and she said that they were.  I explained to her that this meant that she was changing her body composition for the better and some of her body fat had been converted into muscle.



Because muscle is denser and therefore takes up less room compared to fat you can get two people who weigh exactly the same but one can look bigger due to more body fat and less muscle compared to the other who is carrying less fat and more muscle.

Of course because she was exercising more she gained more muscle and lost fat and therefore gained weight but was smaller.

Despite this explanation she was still upset as in a lot of these slimming clubs and in society in general I think we put too much emphasise on total body weight and not enough on body composition.

I've invited her to a 'Wellness Assessment' where I can let her know what her body composition is made up of, such as her body fat % and total muscle mass.

If there's a shift in moving from looking at total weight and moving over to body composition than I think there will be a lot more happier and healthier people out there.