The Weight Loss Conundrum

Confidence is the Key

Mark Brown

February 22, 2022

I weighed myself on my scale at home Monday morning on February 21 after I showered and dried off. It said 282.2 pounds. This isn’t anything new. I have been hovering around this weight for almost 2 years now. Weight loss isn’t something I have not particularly emphasized over the last couple years but I am not blind to it. This entry stems from a very specific issue from frustrations posted by people at the Shaw Elite Club, which I am a member of. Brian Shaw, 4 times World’s Strongest Man, opened up a 10-week transformation contest to members about 5 weeks ago and the issue of weight loss has been brought up quite a few times by members. I find that confidence is the most important thing to the success of any goal. It keeps discipline in line and motivation high. The confidence I speak about comes in 2 different forms. Both are very important and require each other to get the job done. The first is an emotional confidence that keeps the psyche positive, especially on bad days. The second is confidence in the plan that one is using to achieve the goal, in this case weight loss. Loss of confidence is catastrophic the success of anything and must be avoided at all costs.

Scales are more damaging to one’s psyche and confidence than public derision because it stems from a deeper place: The Truth. There’s no blowing off the number that appears on the scale and no mental gymnastics one can do to wiggle around the issue. What makes the goal of weight loss frustrating is that weight fluctuates wildly from day to day. This isn’t exactly news. The only way to understand what is happening is to get on the scale everyday under the same circumstances the way a scientist employs a control in an experiment. That can lead to a lot of pressure accumulating over time if the numbers aren’t saying what is desired. Frustration is the expression one makes when they start to lose confidence in the plan that has been chosen. They think that they know what should be happening by a certain time but the lack of expected results causes one to question the plan. When one loses confidence in it, discipline wavers and they can start to “cheat” on their plan. This can result in anything from going off the planned diet, changing the exercise part of the plan, turning to medication or PEDs. The key thing to remember what is happening here: Frustration is the loss of confidence in the plan. That must be dealt with immediately. If one doesn’t, failure is all but guaranteed. The easiest and most effective way to deal with it is through emotional stability. This is when that emotional confidence I referred to becomes the more important of the two. It’s the thing that keeps motivation high and tells one they can do it, whatever “it” is. If one is mentally strong enough on their own, then a need for a team around them isn’t absolutely necessary but is helpful. For those lacking the mental training necessary to accomplish a task as daunting as weight loss, then having that team around them is necessary to keep a positive mindset. The acquisition of a sustained positive mindset is the thing that will ultimately bust through that frustration that builds up over time so that one can ride the daily changes. One might even get some enjoyment out of it. The “process” can’t all be business.

I weighed myself 3 weeks ago. The scale said 266.6 pounds. I laughed because the scale indicated that I had lot about 9 or so pounds in about 2 weeks. This is what I mean by the wild swings that can be seen on the scale. Is it more lean muscle, fat, water or all the above? I don’t know. If I had prioritized weight loss over this time period, the 282.2 would have provided more of a freak out moment than a semi-hearty laugh. Nothing in my diet has changed. My lifting schedule and plan hasn’t deviated, as seen in my training logs. I’m still getting the same amount of sleep. I’m still getting the same amount of steps and miles in a day. I literally couldn’t tell anyone why there is a 16 pound swing up in my weight over a 3 week period. Just like I couldn’t tell anyone why I had lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks because the same things were just as true during that time frame. This is a major reason why I don’t emphasize weight loss during this phase of strength training. If I was entering a competition and needed to make a specific weight, then that would be very different. It would also change everything about everything that I am doing.

These numbers need to be put in proper context. In August 2020, I weighed myself on the gym’s scale when I was there for leg days. It was consistently reading between 295 and 305 pounds when I weighed myself. I knew I was potentially that big but that wasn’t really the sign that I needed to drop some weight. That came from my freshly purchased $123 Rogue 13-millimeter-thick 4-inch-wide powerlifting belt. I had gotten the biggest size I could have and I was barely getting into the very first hole. Belts have always been a good way to judge weight loss or gain. A powerlifting belt is even better because they are worn around one’s true waist, which is navel height. I needed to lose weight to fit into my expensive powerlifting belt. By the start of 2021, I had dropped to about 280 and have stayed there since that time with fluctuations as low as just above to 260 and as high as 285 or so. I vacillate between the 5th and 6th holes on the powerlifting belt right now. I even reached the 7th last fall but it didn’t last long. I am comfortable where I am right now. I have always been big. It runs in my mom’s side of the family. It’s one of the main reasons I lift as hard as I do. I know what my genetics are telling me if I don’t do anything about my fitness.

Scales are not the devil and are just one tool in the shed for gauging weight loss and health. Belts, clothes and how one feels physically and mentally are fairly good indicators of what one could be doing better or worse. Weighing consistently the same way everyday will help read the tea leaves better. Wild swings in body weight have to be accounted for and understood so they don’t start to mess with one’s psyche and confidence. The most important thing to take away from this essay is that maintaining confidence is everything. Once confidence is lost, the loss of discipline is all but inevitable. If they are doing things right and just not seeing the results on the scale, then they have to maintain confidence in their plan to keep it on track. Do whatever it takes to keep that confidence high because the consequences of losing it are bad in every scenario.

By the way, the Shaw Elite Club is a very good place to go for positive group engagement if one is wanting to get better. It isn’t free but the the price is well worth everything that one gets by joining, especially getting to watch the Shaw Classic. I’ve gotten more engaged there since I started the blog and it’s been very helpful.