Do you find yourself stepping on the scale every morning, letting the number dictate your mood and set the tone for your day? It's time to break free from the scale's grip and celebrate your achievements in more meaningful ways.
Does the scale determine your day? Many people wake up and let the scale decide if they will have a good or bad day. It's crucial to break this connection and reclaim your power. Your success isn't defined by the scale.
For those on a weight loss journey, the scale can become an obsession. It's as if we can't start our day without stepping on this device. We give our power to the scale, standing on it and staring at the display, waiting for the verdict. For some, it's a compulsion; for others, mere curiosity. The problem arises when the results begin to dictate our mood, self-worth, and self-esteem.
For many, the scale is a measurement of success and a form of validation when they've been eating healthily and working out regularly. But why do we need a little box on the floor to validate our efforts? You know what you've done—how you've stuck to your diet, exercised, and resisted temptations. The scale doesn't give you compliments or a "way to go" for those daily successes. It's just a tool that measures your body weight, including temporary fluctuations.
Scales don't tell you how much fat you're losing. A regular scale doesn't reflect your muscle or water weight either. Our weight can fluctuate from day to day due to various factors like water retention from sodium, bodily waste retention, hormonal changes, and bloating. These temporary bodily adjustments all register on the scale, either up or down.
Don't jump on and off the scale so many times during the day that it counts as aerobic activity. Weigh yourself once a week (or even once a month) at the same time of day on the same scale. Daily weigh-ins can be frustrating because weight can swing two to three pounds up or down due to temporary body functions and changes. You'll get a more realistic picture of your weight loss if you weigh yourself once a week.
Your weight fluctuates many times throughout the day depending on what you've eaten, if you're hydrated, etc. This can be misleading and cause much frustration. When you weigh yourself, if you have lost weight, also give yourself credit for what you have gained in losing weight. Gains include feeling better about yourself, being in control over food rather than food controlling you, and being closer to your weight loss goal. If you haven't lost weight, or have put a small amount on, use this as motivation to keep going. Increase your exercise and activity, check what you're eating and the portions.
It's interesting how those little numbers representing your weight can dictate your entire day. The scale can make you feel skinny and strong or big and awful. Do not weigh yourself several times a day. It makes no sense and can lead to scale neurosis.
For true validation of your weight loss and healthy lifestyle changes, take body measurements. Seeing proof of decreasing measurements is a more accurate way of acknowledging your success. Another great way to validate yourself is by your clothes. Are your clothes fitting better, getting baggier, or are you wearing a different size? Both of these are true gauges and great pats on the back that you deserve.
Take your focus from looking down at the scale on the floor and look up. Look at all the tremendous changes you've made in your life, how great you feel physically and emotionally. Put it in perspective and don't think about weight as the only issue. Reflect on how great you feel, how you look, do you have more energy, and all the many things that have changed for the better in your life since you started making healthy changes. Those are the ultimate measures of your success!
By shifting your focus from the scale to more meaningful measures of success, you can enjoy a healthier, happier, and more fulfilling journey towards your goals.
Being Perfect On Your Diet As Set Up For Failure
It's very important that you begin your healthier lifestyle with an understanding that there will be days when you will stray from healthy eating and exercising. You will not be perfect in your diet and exercise program, nor should you be. Success doesn't come from being perfect. Success comes to you from a balance and moderation of healthy habits.
It Is About Why You Eat, Not What You Eat
Your weight and body issues don't have anything to do with food. It isn't what you eat but why you eat. One of the problems with weight loss surgery and diet programs is our belief that they hold the answer. If only we can follow them, they will work for us. Unfortunately for many of us, we didn't experience long-term weight loss success. Did we fail? No. Absolutely not! The diets failed because they are not the answer.
Commitment List versus Wish List
Do you want to lose weight? Are you hoping for a way of life that includes losing weight, feeling good in your body, wearing a smaller size, and have strong sense of confidence? You can have it. To reach any goal, you need to be committed. To lose weight requires persistence and consistency. It requires saying no to food choices when you'd rather indulge. It requires a commitment to your diet and along with a promise to yourself.
