Trash the Scale
Too long has the scale been the thing that determines if our efforts to eat and exercise right are working. It's a relic of an old way of thinking, and it doesn't measure fat anyways!
Body composition is what you are TRYING to measure... and the scale doesn’t tell us anything about that. Two people can weigh the same but have a different mix of muscle and fat (pictured).
That is to say someone who lost 5 pounds in a week begs the question – what exactly was lost? Fat? Muscle? Water? If cardio is the only activity they're participating in, then what they probably lost the most of is muscle: which is your biggest ally when trying to maintain a healthy metabolism. (Explained later). Water fluctuates +/- a few % of your mass, so remove yourself from the daily roller coaster. If you must use the scale, take an average every week and be emotional towards that. Like watching the stock market, look for longer-term trends.
I advise that you maybe course-correct based on how do you feel. Do you feel sluggish and weak? Or do you feel light and powerful? You’ll get lean as a by-product , but it’ll take time and experimentation with ways of eating, so don’t dwell on it. Models are infamous for having low self-esteem anyways; it won’t make you happy. I don't know about you but I'd rather feel strong and be a bit overweight than be what's called 'skinny fat' (pictured below).
It’ll be difficult re-programming your psyche to be concerned body composition instead of simply total weight, but this insures that you aren’t throwing out the baby with the bath water trying simply get to a low number on the scale.
Warning: Heavy dieting during strength training will negate muscle gain – which are you long term furnaces for boosting metabolism.
For every one pound of muscle gained, your body will burn (at rest) another 30-50 calorie per day simply maintaining that muscle. HALLELUJAH! Therefore, the top priority of your time exercising is strength training. Do cardio afterwards if you must. But look around next time you're at the gym. Notice the body compositions of the population of people doing cardio versus doing strength training. Lawyered!