Weight loss is identified as one of the top goals in athletes who are committing to nutritional counseling.

When I read this on an intake form or hear it directly from an athlete, I take pause. Not because I don’t want them to achieve their goals, but because I understand the dangers in defining a goal and tracking progress by the number on the scale. 

Why focusing on weight is counter-productive:

• Weight loss is influenced by numerous factors and interactions, the complexity of which is still not fully understood. In addition to the most commonly identified factors of diet and movement, weight loss is influenced by hormone balance and hormonal regulation, metabolic factors, brain governance, history of weight loss/gain, and genetics!  When you have a goal like this where there are very many regulatory systems involved, it makes the goal too vague and obscure to be an actionable goal. It is instead an outcome of a multitude of variables.

•  Achieving a reduced weight, does not equate to maintenance of that reduced weight. In many cases achieving weight loss is the easy part – the maintenance of it is the real challenge. This can be attributed to the complexity of weight loss (surprise, surprise) and the tactics used to get there. In general, the literature on the maintenance of weight loss shows that the amount lost in the intervention period is not fully maintained in the follow up periods.

•  Negative feedback from the scale can derail long term success and greatly impact overall well-being.  One important distinction to consider is body composition. Many people are aware of this, but conveniently choose to ignore/forget/place little value on it because –  the scale. Body composition focuses on the ratio of fat to lean mass (muscle, bones, ligaments, tendons, organs) in the body. One pound of fat and one pound of muscle occupy different volumes due to their differing densities. Muscle is denser than fat, meaning that you can weigh the same but appear significantly different depending on your body composition. Let’s say that you start a weight training program in an effort to ‘lose weight’ and after a few weeks you notice that you weigh more! You may have noticed that your clothes fit better or you’re feeling more fit in general, but that number has really sent you into a tailspin. What do you do? For some folks this can lead to reduced commitment to their exercise programs, restrictive eating, or eating things they wouldn’t usually because – nothing is working anyway!  The reaction to the scale never leads to behaviors that help with sustainable body composition change. 

How did we get here?

Societal norms frame weight in a moral context, equating thinness with virtue and associating higher weights with negative characteristics. These societal pressures can lead to unhealthy behaviors and distorted self-image, driving people to feel that their worth is tied to their weight. It has become so ingrained in our society that once you start to pay attention to how many times you hear weight mentioned in an approving or disapproving context, you may be shocked. There is a phrase often quoted in my industry that the behaviors identified as an eating disorder in thin people are the same behaviors prescribed to “overweight” people. I can assure you that these behaviors are not healthy for anyone. This highlights the stigma that our society places on certain body types and implies that we don’t care about your health, we just want you to look a different way.

This perspective can impact a person’s self-worth and create a cycle of frustration, inadequacy, and behaviors that are counter-productive for sustainable health and exercise performance. 

What can we do?

Instead of fixating on weight loss, redirecting focus to concrete goals—such as having more energy, increasing strength, enhancing endurance, improving flexibility, or having a consistent, mostly well balanced diet—can lead to more fulfilling and sustainable outcomes. When athletes shift their focus they often find greater success and happiness in their pursuits. 

BUT the first step is fully recognizing AND accepting the complexity of weight loss and the negative influence it can have on your life and goals when you give it center stage.