{"id":1508,"date":"2012-04-24T05:26:52","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T09:26:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beyondgorgeous\/?p=1508"},"modified":"2012-04-23T11:31:18","modified_gmt":"2012-04-23T15:31:18","slug":"dont-just-lose-weight-change-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2012\/04\/dont-just-lose-weight-change-it.html","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Just Lose Weight — Change It!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Numbers — I never have liked them!\u00a0 That comes from being a word person instead of a math person — and also because of a decades-long fight with the numbers on the scale.\u00a0But the numbers don\u2019t tell the whole story.\u00a0 That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important NOT to focus on what the scale says.\u00a0 It\u2019s not the amount<\/em><\/strong> <\/em>of weight but the kind<\/em><\/strong> of weight that matters.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This picture explains it best.\u00a0 When a large proportion of your body weight is made up of fat — you will look bigger, be less healthy, and feel worse.\u00a0 Fat just takes up more room than muscle.<\/p>\n

Muscle, on the other hand, is actually heavier than fat. Yes, I know a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weight the same — a pound.\u00a0 But a pound of fat takes up more space.<\/p>\n

Muscle also burns calories more efficiently so that you can get by with eating more.\u00a0 Muscle enables you to do more for a longer stretch of time.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what matters most.\u00a0 That\u2019s why you need to 1) Do aerobic exercises like walking to empty out the fat cells, 2) Eat a moderate amount of\u00a0 low glycemic foods so you won\u2019t keep stuffing the cells with stored fat, and 3) Do exercises that strengthen your muscles. You don\u2019t have to go to the gym, if you don\u2019t want to.\u00a0 You can strengthen your muscles with something as simple as stretch bands.<\/p>\n

More on building muscles later — but for now remember that success or failure of your healthy living journey isn\u2019t dependent on those fluctuating numbers on the scale.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let them get you down!\u00a0 Notice instead how you feel and how your clothes fit.\u00a0 Focus on changing your weight from fat to muscle rather than on losing the weight!<\/p>\n

Eating to live and living for Christ,<\/p>\n

Susan Jordan Brown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Numbers — I never have liked them!\u00a0 That comes from being a word person instead of a math person — and also because of a decades-long fight with the numbers on the scale.\u00a0But the numbers don\u2019t tell the whole story.\u00a0 That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important NOT to focus on what the scale says.\u00a0 It\u2019s not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,68,16],"tags":[75,127,77,74],"class_list":["post-1508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eating-plan","category-encouragement","category-exercise-2","tag-fat","tag-muscle","tag-scale","tag-weight"],"yoast_head":"\nDon't Just Lose Weight - Change It! - Beyond Gorgeous<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2012\/04\/dont-just-lose-weight-change-it.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't Just Lose Weight - Change It! 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