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Dieting: The Scale. Oy.
Honestly for about a year and a half now I’ve weighed myself every single day. I started out because I was doing NOOM and that’s part of the daily check-in system to help yourself stay on track. But over the last couple of months I’ve gotten out of balance in terms of how much weight I’m letting the scale carry.
See what I did there? 😉
Lately I’ve loathed getting on the scale. I’ve been hovering a few pounds higher than my norm, even though my workouts have increased drastically and my eating has been healthy. Logically I know this is absolutely NORMAL. But sometimes I forget. We do that, don’t we? Ugh.
So a few days ago I decided to take a little break.
Dieting Breakup: It’s Not You It’s Me
Ok so we’re not breaking up completely. It’s just a temporary break. The plan was to take about a week off from weighing myself. So I’ll probably jump on in a couple of days. I don’t want to completely swear off the scale though. Honestly, the biggest reason is because I don’t want to have the relationship with the scale where I’m terrified of it. I don’t currently feel that way, but I used to. I don’t want to feel like I’m about to have an anxiety attack when I’m faced with a scale.
But I also don’t want to be glued to the dang thing.
So I’m doing what I always do when I notice I’m out of balance. I’m just shifting a little.
The day after the initial breakup, I could see exactly why I needed it. The breakup, that is. It took EVERYTHING IN ME not to get on the scale like I typically do when I wake up in the morning. I literally stood there in the bathroom naked, three feet away from the scale. I was so close to just hoping on there…. “just to see” even though I had just weighed myself the day before. I took a deep breath and told myself nope. Not doing it. And walked away.
That right there-being so hard not to weigh myself-is why I had to not weigh myself. It was a clear indicator that my mindset and perspective was off.
Scale Anxiety
The truth is that the scale is only one form of measurement in a vast ocean full of measurement options. I really hate that we put so much of our worth into that number. There’s so much more to us than that. And even if you take the self worth aspect away (which if course we’d never take that away), there is so much more that goes into actual body composition than just the number on a scale. Muscle mass, bone density, water, all kinds of things!
I have one of those Renpho scales, and it shows you all your different measurements. That helps keep things in perspective. But I still have to check myself, and make sure I’m not obsessing over the numbers. I never want to go back to how I felt when I was dieting. Any time I slipped into dieting, I became obsessed with the scale. The biggest progress I’ve made in my health journey though, has come when I’m not obsessed with the scale, I’m not dieting, and I’m simply making small changes and incorporating healthy habits.
When Your Weight Doesn’t Change
Truthfully my weight has been the same (give or take maybe ten pounds) for years. Even back when I would jump onto a diet (side note: don’t do it), my weight would barely fluctuate. My weight hasn’t really changed, but my body composition has changed drastically. I look at pictures from five years ago (the same weight I am now) and my body composition is totally different. Nowadays I’m way more muscular, and I don’t just mean visually.
I’m stronger, faster, more fit now than I ever have been! So from the perspective of the scale, it looks like I’ve worked hard on my healthy habits for several years and “seen no progress.” But in reality, I’ve worked hard on my healthy habits for several years and SO MUCH HAS CHANGED.
Even if that change has not shown up on the scale.
So if so much is changing, and I’m literally getting healthier, and my scale isn’t moving almost at all, why am I sooooo worried about the scale?
I digress.
How It’s Going Without The Scale
Honestly, after that first rough day… it’s been fine. I’m noticing I’m tuning in more to what’s best for my body. Intuitive eating, balanced living, not being so consumed with exercise, things like that. I know the scale is coming in a few days, but I’m not dreading it. So I’d say this temporary breakup is good! I’ll check back in and let you know how it goes!!
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