Why we need to stop obsessing over the scale

Photo: istockphoto.com

I challenge myself each and every day to stop weighing myself. The problem with scales is that we give them too much power. A lot of people are like me: I step on and if I don’t like the number staring back at me, it ruins my day. Since I’m an emotional eater, this is a dangerous scenario. I run into the risk of going straight for the junk food. In the moment, I know food is not the answer but it still has control over me and I don’t really care about sabotaging my hard work. I'm a long ways from being perfect with my workouts and nutrition and the scale is not my friend!  

Let me assure you: The number on the scale is NOT a true sign of your health. I have seen skinny people who are actually unhealthy and larger people who are very healthy. Not to say that extra pounds are OK, they are usually not. But what I’m trying to say is don't be a slave to the number on the scale. There is no ideal number that you have to be. Don’t let a number dictate exactly how your day would go from start to finish. 
There are much better ways to see if you are on the right track. Ask yourself this:

1. How do you feel in your clothes and when you look in the mirror?
Are your clothes tight or snug? Or even better do you feel confident and pretty in them?

2. How are you sleeping? 
Do you feel worn out in the morning because you could not fall or stay asleep? Or are you the total opposite: You wake up in the morning full of energy?

3. How do you feel overall? 
Fatigued all the time? Mood swings? Depressed? Or are you full of energy? Find joy in the small things in your life? Cope with stress a lot better? All these can be a sign of how much in alignment your health is.

4. How do you handle everyday physical demands?  
Are you easily worn out? Are you easily fatigued? Are you “flying” up a flight of stairs or walk like a turtle through Nutella? Does bending down to tie your shoes get you out of breath?  All these factors can show you how healthy you are.

So here are signs that you might want to think about tossing the scales because you put too much weight on weighing in:
1. You constantly worry about weighing in. 
2. You weigh in more than once per day. Weighing yourself once a week is perfectly fine. Weighing yourself is definitely helpful, but you should not go overboard and stress too much over just this one measurement!
3. You can recite your weight to the nearest fraction at all times.
4. The scale determines how you feel about yourself for the day.

Do you know why measuring yourself would be a much better way to find out if you have lost weight? Look at this picture! Pretty cool, huh? :-)