I said good bye to my scale. Like, BUH-BYE!
Over the years, I have told people to weigh themselves regularly to make sure the weight doesn't creep back on. Let's face it. Weight loss ISN"T the hard part - it's keeping it off. Studies show that people who weigh themselves on a regular basis are less likely to regain the weight they lost.
So, this parting of the ways between and my scale isn't for everyone. In fact, maybe I am crazy and will be right back on it next week. But, I don't think so.
To understand WHY I am doing what I am doing, you have to know where I am coming from. For 6 years, I didn't exercise but I kept my weight down. I have been the same weight (give or take a few pounds) for about 5 1/2 years. I kept it down by chasing two kids around, living off of protein bars, and being too busy to eat sometimes. That's the ugly truth. Well, it caught up with me and a year and half ago, I was tired, felt like crap, my stomach hurt, and I had high cholesterol. Ugh! But......I was at an "ideal weight" so on the OUTSIDE and according to the scale, everything looked peachy.
Being a dietitian, though, I knew better. I knew my fruit and vegetable intake was in the toilet. My family's eating habits of pizza delivery every Friday was NOT good. I knew my lack of exercise was embarrassing considering in college I was given a workout Barbie as a gift and at one time got up at 5 am to exercise. But.....I was at an "ideal weight" so it was all good, right?
WRONG!!
So, I started working out. I started slowly with a couch to 5K. Then I ran a 5K and felt so good I went for a half marathon. Something funny happened about halfway through the training, though. My weight was increasing. I know, I know. It's muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. Blah, blah, blah. Well, maybe but that's not what the little voice in my head said. Ugh! What??????
The little voice in my head was saying, "You mean, when I WASN'T working out, I weighed ___ and now that I AM working out, I go up on the scale?"
Truthfully, I was getting so discouraged, I almost quit. I couldn't see all of the health benefits or the "feel good vibes" that were happening because I was SO focused on that dumb scale! I couldn't see that I was being a healthy example for my kids and that I was getting a part of ME back that had been missing because I was focused on numbers.
Then two things happened. One, I started working with weights and cleaned up my diet. Two, I stopped caring so much about what the scale said. Note: stopped caring SO much. I still cared. I still got mad when I ate clean, did my workouts and the scale didn't budge but after a little while something AWESOME happened. My clothes started fitting looser. Those pants that "just barely" fit, now fit with some room to spare!
Forget the scale! A BIG WHOOOOHOOOOO for clothes fitting looser!
This morning, I saw the scale exactly where it has been since I started my journey back to fitness. It stared at me just waiting for me step on and tell me what I already knew. I am five pounds heavier than my couch potato self. So, I looked back at Ol' Mr. Scale and thought, "I know I am five pounds heavier but I have arm muscles that I have NEVER had before. I ran over 13 miles straight. I am STILL working out consistently and teaching my children how to eat whole foods. I don't need you, Mr. Scale, to make me feel like I am winning. I feel that way already."
And with that, I closed the closet door and broke up with my scale. It feels good. One less thing I have to do everyday.
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