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Why the Scale and Mirror are the Worst Ways to Measure Your Fitness Progress · FitMitTuro Fitness Podcast

• 1:09
  Turo Virta: Hey and welcome to fit me Turo fitness podcast. In today's episode, I'm talking about how scale and Miro are probably the worst ways to measure your progress, or how they are living, that it's more likely than not that you are going to fail in your fitness journey. But before jumping in this topic, I want to share a quick tip. What is going on like, first of all, I'm planning to start on January 27 my next eight week challenge, and as got very, very many people asking, like that, they don't kind of like that kind of group coaching. So like, sit what is what I have had in the past, and they they would like to more kind of one on one approach. And at this round, I decided that I'm going to do it with the one on one coaching. So it means, on the other hand, you people who are joining are getting a lot better in service, in one on one pace, like weekly check ins, individual meal plans. I'm going to check everything personally out, holding hands and making sure that everyone is individually, making the best, getting most accountability out and getting most out of this eight week challenge. On the other hand, it's it means that there is a lot less spaces available, as I don't have any assistant code, so I'm doing it myself, and there is only certain number of people I can work with at the same time. So it means that spots are limited.
• 2:45
  Turo Virta: So at this point, when this episode is coming out, there is a registration should be already open. So I put the show join for the challenge. And if you have any questions, feel free to reach me out in my Instagram personal trainer, underline Turo or shooting me. Email Turo at hit me. Turo.com and as if you are on 10s to join, there is seven day money back guarantee, as I don't want to take your money if I'm not able to help you. So if, in some case, you hate me. You hate my coaching.
• 3:27
  Turo Virta: You don't enjoy the program of workouts. You have full seven days time to tell me that this is nothing for me. So you have you can start it, try it for totally risk free. So there is you have nothing to lose. So check out link in show notes, and I hope to see you inside.
• 3:48
  Turo Virta: But another thing, what I wanted to talk is, is high protein products, low I, I recently discovered brand new product, like a high protein pasta. And when I, when I bought the grocery shopping, there's so many that marketing is incredible. There is everything at the moment, at least where I where I go, there is everything is high protein, high protein, high protein. And you gotta be really careful to look what is like, because it's, it's understanding that where it is coming from, like, of course, protein is very important. There are good but there are also bad products. So always, if there is, if the label is saying that it's high protein, it doesn't always mean that it is actually high protein. And and I recently tried some I have tried in the past, like several high protein pastas, and I gotta honestly say that I didn't enjoy the taste.
• 4:47
  Turo Virta: So there is, for me, you know, if you get the high protein pasta, what is promising you that there is a there is a lot of protein, but there is, like a shit. It's not for me, it's not part of it. I'd rather get that protein in from somewhere else and not trying to eat something what I naturally don't enjoy.
• 5:06
  Turo Virta: Just for the sake of that, you get the high protein. But now I was in in little actually, here in Italy, and I found a founder.
• 5:17
  Turo Virta: It's called protein gnocchi, or how to pronounce it with my my Italian is not that could as it should be. But anyway, this product I posted in my in our our coaching group, and people actually loved it too, because it was the first one kind of what I enjoyed the taste. It tastes like a regular pasta, but the difference is that it has in 100 grams, around 368 or 370 calories, and within those calories, you get 32 grams of protein. So for someone like me, that's a game changer, because I love to eat like a pasta with with the pistol, with the tomato sauce, and I absolutely love those things. But the problem is that, obviously, if you eat pasta with tomato sauce, you have close to zero protein. But now, within this brand new or this, what I just discovered, this kind of that protein pasta you get if I, let's say I eat 150 grams, I get almost past I get almost 50 grams of protein.
• 6:26
  Turo Virta: So that is a huge that is a great amount of protein just eating pasta. And what you naturally, what I naturally enjoy. So, so it's but this is, I talked with some of my clients about this, and this is all about, like, how you are thinking, like how you are becoming aware, how you change your thinking process, how to get more protein. And it's, it's, of course, you hopefully you are trying to think, like, at least for me earlier, I didn't think I was thinking just that, until I get some source of protein, I'm good, but I never had an idea how much of the protein I was actually eating.
• 7:08
  Turo Virta: And when you start to think every meal that what is going to be my protein source, and I started, I started to look like that, okay, my protein source is going to be chicken. Now it's going to be, in this case, it's going to be pasta, and give me how much I'm going to eat it and how much protein it has. And obviously, if you have never tracked your food, it's it's not easy to know exactly how much protein you are eating, because people like clients who I start working, I said that, are you eating protein? Yes, I try to eat protein. I have a egg for my breakfast, I do have some meat or some steak later at night.
• 7:48
  Turo Virta: But if you don't know, because if you it's a difference is that you are eating some protein, or, you know, actually how much protein you are eating, and that you are aiming to hit your protein goal, and that is the game changer. So for me, if somebody is telling that I'm eating, I'm having a protein breakfast, and your protein source is one egg or two eggs.
• 8:14
  Turo Virta: You have one egg has six, seven grams of protein. So in the best case scenario, you have two eggs, you think that you had a high protein breakfast. It's 14 grams of protein if you have no other protein sources. So that is not actually very high protein breakfast. It's not if your goal is, let's say for me, I try to aim for 150 160 grams per day. I'm my weight is around 90 kilos. So it's if you aim for 1.5 grams per kilo body weight, let's say you wait 70 kilos. You should eat at least 100 grams, 110 120 grams. And if you only 710, 15 grams of protein at your breakfast, you have a lot of work to do within your next two meals, to hit your call and and for this voltage kind of high protein products, they are very beneficial and but just learn to look labels. Learn to know from your portion sizes how much you are actually eating. So that is, that is helping so much. But that was a quick update. What is going on in feed me, Turo community, and the other thing, what I I was actually thinking the other day, how grateful I am, and at the moment, I haven't been posting a lot in social media. I have been still recording podcasts weekly, but been working hard with my groups mid with my ice hockey athletes coming up for the next count, and as work is pretty busy at the moment, but still doing my best and providing providing social media content that at least talking these podcasts.
• 10:11
  Turo Virta: And, of course, this is something, what I truly enjoy doing. And and there's, of course, next year, a big year for our ISO key national team.
• 10:19
  Turo Virta: There's Olympic games coming. So athletes are preparing. There's only 12 months, 13 months time before we go to Olympic so it's going to be exciting journey for my group workouts. I'm so grateful. It was the new personal best record. We had a almost 40 people, 3839 people attending to one workout system, and that's as a coach, it feels such a great feeling to be able to work out with so many people at the same time. And also it's a kind of challenge for me to organize everything that everything is working, everybody is under control. So I can, I know, I can check the techniques everything. And this is something when I think back if I would start it like, I remember when I started, like, nine years ago, doing this, this like kind of group workouts. And if I had a 10 people attending to a group workout system, that was almost like, almost too much. And if there was like a 15 persons I was, I got almost panic that this is, I can't control everything. But now, with the experience, when you know what you are doing, where to look, who to look, it's, it's totally possible and and feeling actually amazing, and because I have a feeling, and as many of people said, That, of course, we are all different, but many of them said that it feels, it's such a great feeling to be able to work out. It's so many people at the same time, it's they rather work out in a more private like only with a couple people, but it's that's for everyone's different. I'm I'm the one who enjoys with the with the big group, and those have been amazing experiences for me and and also for my group. But for today's episode, I want to talk that. Why? Why that scale and Miro are probably the worst ways, if they are the only ways to measure your progress, and what are actually better ways to measure your progress? Because this was something I recently had a long conversation with one of my one on one coaching clients as she was in a situation that she was training herself every once in a while, or kind of almost daily, and then looking into a mural. But there was nothing, no changes, like working hard, getting after a while, workouts in working out regularly, three, four times a week, like not too long sessions. But anyway, anyway, getting that at least two hours, one and a half two hours of strength training and some other In addition, some walking into her workout regime and and also, at the same time, trying to improve diet, making smarter decisions, better decisions, with the with the nutrition. But the problem was that scale wasn't moving. And then she was kind of so frustrated, because looking obviously into a mirror, she's in her 50s, and looking into a mirror, nothing, nothing changes, and then feeling so frustrated, because, you know you work so hard, you start something new, and you want to straight, but scale is not moving, and we had this conversation. Because, why, first of all, why that scale is this probably one of the worst ways to measure your progress.
• 14:13
  Turo Virta: So scale, it doesn't tell you.
• 14:13
  Turo Virta: It doesn't tell a lot from your health. So it's some number, what you are tracking. So like, and I believe it's the worst number you. It doesn't tell like, how is your how how you are feeling, how is your health levels. So if you like, of course, this is a good example.
• 14:37
  Turo Virta: What I always like to put up like that. If you want to lose weight fast, you cut your leg off so you are losing rapidly, a lot of weight. But obviously that's what you are not going to do. But then how the methods, how you are actually trying to lose weight, if those are that it often makes you, makes that situation even worse, because until that scale is muscle, you have, how much fat you have. So that's why it's important to know those percentages. So for example, for someone who is losing scale weight very quickly in the beginning, and this is something what most coaches, they use, also in their marketing, like that, somebody lost, let's say, 15 kilos. But if they don't tell you that how much muscle they have lost, maybe you have lost five kilos of muscle, five kilos of water, five kilos were fat.
• 15:38
  Turo Virta: But your situation, despite you lost 15 kilos, it might be actually worse than it was in the beginning, because it your scale rate doesn't tell how is your metabolic health and what is called, how it's going to impact in the future. So let's say that you lost this 15 kilos.
• 16:01
  Turo Virta: Five of them were water, five of them muscle, five of them fat, and actually how it's impacting you. So earlier, you would need your basal metabolic rate. So how many calories your body needs to keep you alive if you don't work out, if you happen to be sick, or, in the worst case, like it's as an example, if you happen to be in coma. So so you can do anything, but your body still requires some amount of energy, but that amount, when you lose a lot of muscle mass, is actually going to be lower so and so it makes in the future, maintaining your weight, maintaining your health, and it makes everything So much harder.
• 16:47
  Turo Virta: So who's let's say that you would need with earlier, with the 15 kilos more your body would need 2000 calories to maintain your weight, and now, all of sudden, you lose so much muscle mass and weight you you might need 1600 so in the end, it makes it so harder, so old, you have to eat all the time, less and less and less to be able to maintain it. And then you think that if you can do it, you are planning your willpower, that you just don't have it and and that's why it's it's not that scale rate, it doesn't tell. It doesn't tell how much if you lost water weight, if you lost muscle, if you lost fat, it's all the same and but for your health, those they those are not the same things. So think it, think it that scale weight, it's important, but it shouldn't be the only way to measure your progress. And the other thing is mirror like, if you think like that, you are like in in that, my client's case, Monica, she's she's in her 50s, and if you think that she's looking herself mirror every single day and thinking like that, you know you don't like the way how you look. And where is that coming from? Like she thinks that she was looking great in her 30s, for example, and now, if you think that she's not happy, what she's seeing like in the mirror, she feels like, okay, she have lost all muscle. They don't show as much as before, or there is still some fat. What is causing and I believe that this is, at least in some level, some body dysmorphia, which means that you are kind of not happy what you are seeing. Because if you think like that, you think that you were, you are chasing somebody what you had, let's say, 1015, years ago. But if you go back and think at that time when you looked into a mirror, did you really like what you saw in the mirror? Most likely answer is no, you didn't like in that point, but now you think that in that time you actually look like better than now. And now you are chasing the same thing, what you think, what you were in the past, but you are not actually happy. And maybe think if it's going to happen in, let's say, 1015, years from now, you might be looking back to this time that you are actually you are chasing for that what you are, where you are at the moment. So Miro is not the best way, because if you and it's something what you are, if you are seeing yourself every single day you don't see if there is some changes. So if, if you happen to see someone who is not seeing you for months, they might recognize the difference, or your partner might recognize the difference, but yourself, you are going to be the last person who sees the progress. So this, that's, that's the reason why the mirror and scale. It's they are the best ways to make yourself feel frustrated, make yourself never being happy about your progress, because they are going to make you feel just frustrated and, uh, that, then other ways, from in my experience, a lot better ways how to measure your progress. So let's get started with with the workout. So, of course, workouts, they matter, because let's say that you are, you are trying to lose weight. You are you are seeing that scale is not moving. And the next way you feel every day, you are unhappy every week it you are very frustrated because you don't you feel like that. You don't see any progress. So what you are going to do, you are going to cut your calories down, like Monica said that she need to find more willpower to cut calories. Maybe you are putting adding some cardio system to burn more calories or or kind of punish yourself to see even more results and how it's that going to impact so obviously you are eating less. You might lose water weight. You are going to feel hungry. You think that you are feeling if you are able to do it for a week, two, three, maybe even month, you feel great about yourself because you were able to, you had that willpower to do but sooner than not, you will. You will going to fail.
• 21:23
  Turo Virta: You will going to you that willpower is not going to be there anymore. Your energy levels are so low, and then what you are going to do, you are going to eat more. You're going to feel sick again, scalability, most likely, or it will go up.
• 21:35
  Turo Virta: So it's that same cycle, what you are repeating. So instead, if you think what is the right way to do it, if you take some other measurements, let's say tape measurements from your belly, from your hips, from your arms, from your legs, so you have some visible things. What to measure, actually, to see if you have lost some fat, because you don't if you obviously, if you have a possibility to use there are very accurate body scales, like you see your body fat percentages and but also with those, you have to remember, like I have, I weighed myself every single day. It's with the fat protein disease. It doesn't like it. There is a huge difference depending what I have been eating a day before. So if I had some cut, let's say I had a pizza last night, and I jump into that scale next morning, my fat percentage is going to look higher. Obviously, I it. Pizza didn't make me gain fat that you can you can see it on on that my fat percentage when moved up like a 1% within overnight, so stealing a pizza, but it impacts slightly, or if I had some cat fees. For example, my cat percentage shows higher depending obviously, how much water your body is holding, and that's why. But if you get those kind of how I like to use it with the scale is those averages I so I wake myself every single day, so I see my average, that percents. I see average weight, and that is a great way to measure your progress. So you see trends, where trends are going, like when I measure myself every single day, I wake myself every single day. I know that there is going to be those fluctuations which are totally normal, and at the same time it the same thing happens with the fat. So there is going to be fluctuations which are totally normal. But when I see, let's say, in a week average per week fat percentage body weight, and then comparing those week weekly averages to another weeks, I see trends recognizing i i learned to recognize trends, where trend is going. If I don't like to drink, then obviously it means that my methods, what I'm using, they are not working at the moment. If I'm happy, if it everything stays same. If maintaining is my goal, I'm doing a great job. But if it and if it goes higher, then it or lower, I'm doing great. So you can, you can tell pretty much about trends, but just if you think that, how, then what are the ways and how to feel less frustrated. So for your workouts, what I wanted to talk already before, is that thinking like that, how what is like a course, scale rate doesn't tell lot about your performance. So the better way is to actually set some performance based goals, and not that body weight goal. What is it? Could be ultimate goal kind of side effect. But if you, if you think that what matters actually more is that if you are able to get stronger, like with my other clients, like this kind of daily teams, what you are suddenly able to do what you haven't been able to do before, like opening some, some, some awesome what is very tight to close it, or lifting your suitcase into in an airplane, then 15 kilo suitcase by yourself, without asking help. Those are just examples.
• 25:24
  Turo Virta: What my clients have said or or able to climb five floors of stairs without taking a break.
• 25:34
  Turo Virta: So those are kind of examples of how those performance based goals are improving your quality of your life and and these, these things actually matters more. So if you, if you sit kind of performance based goals like I like to how to do, it actually is like you could take some, like, one or two your favorite exercises, and sitting like would be, for example, dead lift or or bench press or squat, and setting some kind of goals, like how much weight you are able to use, or I like to use, like, one maximum was that those are like, kind of also dangerous to do.
• 26:15
  Turo Virta: But if you, if you said, like, for example, five repetitions that you are able to dead lift your own body weight five times or or double 1.5 times your body weight, five times. Totals are kind of actionable goals which are also very doable. And when you are able to do it, then that's that's how you start to feel so much better, and your health improves. So imagine situation that your everything stays same. You, you don't see any big difference in the mirror. You, you don't see your scale. Rate stays the same, but you are getting stronger. You are able to do those things.
• 26:56
  Turo Virta: What are kind of performance based goals, improving your stomach, running some three kilometers in 12 minutes or 15 minutes, whatever, whatever call you are setting and when you are able to do it, how is, how it's going to be, how your energy levels are going to be, how your how vital you feel throughout the day. So those are kind of metrics. What matters, the matters more and and they, they, they are ultimately what matters like, because that's the way how you are going to feel. You are chasing that feeling, what you think, that the body weight, what you are aiming for, is representing, but that is, more often than not, that old Body weight or body weight goal. It's only in your head, and often it's coming from the past, like especially for women, it's maybe some weight what they had like 20 years ago when they were fitting into that one dress, what they still have in their closet, what they haven't been able to use for years. And they think that at that time, I felt so great I was able to fit into that dress or those pair of teeth, but I still haven't closed it and in at that time, they were waiting that certain amount of weight, and now you think that you have to reach that weight again to be able to fit the same way. But that is not the case. The truth is that when you are getting those performance based goals, setting like kind of strength goals, workout goals, and when you are able to exceed those goals, you are going to also get those kind of all other benefits at the same time. And then with the Miro, like I said, the Miro, if you look yourself every single day, you are not going to see a lot of difference. But if you take, I know, I know that most of the people, they don't like to take pictures of themselves.
• 28:51
  Turo Virta: They don't in general, maybe they even like to be in pictures because they don't like the way how they look. But if you take in the beginning, especially in the beginning, it's so important. I'm so grateful that I did. I don't enjoy taking pictures myself, either. But when I started before, I started with the weights, three, four years ago, I'm so happy that I took some pictures. I was very thin. I didn't have a lot of muscle, but I started to work out. And then if I take, if I look to your maybe six months I took next pictures, I started to see difference. And that is so motivating when you see because obviously I didn't feel that change. If I look into a mural, I didn't see any change. But I then took pictures, let's say, three months, six months ago, and compared those pictures, then I was like that, holy shit.
• 29:45
  Turo Virta: There is a huge difference and that, because in the mirror you might be you don't see if you feel like that, you have lost all your muscles. It. The reason could be that you just had low carbs your muscles like carbs are stored that glucagon, what you are getting in from carbs, is stored in your muscles, and they might look more like they are holding a little bit more water in your muscles. So you might your muscles might look better when you had high carbs.
• 30:13
  Turo Virta: If you are cutting all carbs out, you are just looking thin, then you might look that you have lost all muscles. So there is a many reasons why that mirror is always going to lie, kind of but if you do it in a right way, and measure your progress in a different kind of ways, there's going to be that's going to be game teacher, especially how you are going to feel. So taking those pictures, state measurements, tracking your workouts with with something, and if you have, like, how I like to use it, like always setting those actionable goals, because I I'm big fan of asking from my clients all the time, like setting some new goals. And if goal is weekly goals, for example, if somebody is like, still like, I would say that 70, 80% of people, they say that my goal is this week, to lose one kilo, and that is the goal. What I actually don't enjoy hearing, because that is something that you can't impact.
• 31:14
  Turo Virta: So instead setting those kind of actionable goals, like what are leading and it in setting these kind of goals, it doesn't mean that you have to cut everything out, or something rather than actionable. Goal could be hitting your calories, hitting your protein goal, hitting your steps, hitting your workouts, or doing certain amount of sits in your strength training, doing two, three strength training workouts. So those are kind of goals which are leading to that losing scale rate feeling better and setting those kind of actionable goals, and not on numerical what you can't impact.
• 31:55
  Turo Virta: And that is that is such a big difference how to set your goals and and making you feel lot less frustrated. So hopefully this was helpful. I'm not quite sure, but I was it my thought it's flying, always all over. I want to talk with something, and then there's coming something else in my mind. But hopefully you got the point, and if you did, and this episode was helpful, I would appreciate five star review. And of course, for those who are needing accountability, action, actionable plans like getting knowing exactly what workouts you're going to do that, I'm going to take all case work away from your nutrition so you know what to do having that accountability system in a place, so you are becoming more consistent, that my one on one challenge eight week challenge is starting on Monday, January 27 So, check out the link below and I hope to see you inside.
• 33:04
  Turo Virta: Thank you for listening, and talk to you soon.