Oct 09
12
Throw away your scale!
I was all set and ready to write about something else (I’ll leave you in suspense over what) when 2 conversations I had with my coworkers popped into my head.
The first was about a female coworker of mine had lost a ton of weight, and now looks like a whole new person, but was struggling to lose those “last few pounds”. The second, was with a male coworker, who also has lost a lot of weight, but was freaking out that he had gained 8 lbs during a weeklong trip to Hawaii.
The comment I made to both of them, and am going to make to you is:
Throw away your scale!
My guess is that you took that about as well as they did… To be honest I don’t blame you, it’s complete counterintuitive to everything we have been trained to believe about weight loss. We have Height to weight calculators, BMI calculators, body fat measurements, pills and programs promising to help you drop X number of pounds, and the list goes on! Everybody is telling you that you need to reach a certain weight.
What they’ve done is conditioned us to believe that if we don’t fit into a very narrowly defined range of weights then there is something wrong with us. Please don’t misunderstand me, research and experience has taught us that having too much fat negatively impacts our physical and mental health. Most people do need to lose some weight… But how much?
Both of my coworkers have turned their lives around, they feel great, look great, and are out enjoying their reformed bodies! However, that evil little box in their bathroom is constant seed of doubt festering in their minds that their efforts still aren’t enough. Over a year ago I fell into the same trap myself. I was in the best shape of my life, but instead of going out and buying some awesome clothes to show off my hard work or patting myself on the back, I was continuing to drive myself relentlessly and getting very unhappy.
Looking at a scale daily, even weekly will only negatively impact you!
If my 2 coworkers were more focused on how they looked and felt, they wouldn’t be fretting about every up and down tick of their scale. The fact of the matter is that there are so many things which effect that number down between your feet other than body fat! Muscle mass, hydration level, rate your food is digesting and ‘leaving” the body… all of those are going to change how much you weigh.
What you should do, is first set a goal for yourself not related to your weight. (Example: I want to sit into size XX pants) Then go out there and do it! Buy a pair of pants that you want to fit into and try them on from time to time to check your progress. See it doesn’t matter if you’re 125lbs or 132lbs, you fit into the pants you wanted to! If at that point you still aren’t happy with what’s in the mirror, set a new goal for a smaller pants/dress size. This is perfect for living at that size too! If your pants start getting tight, it’s time to work a bit harder and watch what you eat more.
I promise you, if you go by what you see in the mirror and how your pants are fitting, you’re going to be happier. You’ll spend more time enjoying things, and less worrying about where you sit on the scale.