Ditch The Scales Honey!
Once upon a time I used to weigh myself very regularly – at least every day, and often multiple times a day. I used to wake up in the morning and jump straight on, determining whether I would have a good or bad day based on what that little box told me.
If the outcome was a favourable one I would praise myself and reaffirm that my worth was based on a number. If the outcome was not so great that day, I would set about a plan of attack (aka deprivation) to ensure it was different tomorrow, and so the merry go round continued. Fuck that. What was I thinking? The same as millions of other women across the world so it would seem!
The plateau
In 2015 I started CrossFit and as the weeks and months passed by I was feeling great, the fittest (and slimmest) I ever had been in my adult life. I started springing out of bed and almost running to the scales for my daily dose of ‘Fuck I’m good’ when I saw that number go down. All was going great! Then one day I jumped on to find the number had gone up. Up! What!? It was all good though – obviously, it was just my period, or weighing at the wrong time of day, or I had too much water beforehand. It would be going down again before I knew it. Except it didn’t…
Over the next few weeks, I found my weight slightly increasing, or plateauing. I also found my self-worth plummeting. I cut back my portion sizes and worked harder at CrossFit, but the numbers on the scales were relentless – they weren’t going down! I decided to go and have a body composition scan. I had one done a few months earlier when I joined CrossFit and I was interested to see just how much weight I had lost since then. As the lady handed me my results after the scan, and I ran my eyes over the sheet of paper in my hand, I was shocked to see what had occurred. I was gaining muscle baby! No, my weight had not been changing over the previous few weeks, but damn was I growing some strong arms and legs! My body fat percentage had decreased dramatically despite the scales taunting me for not losing any weight for a number of weeks.
In that moment, I realised that I had been torturing myself.
Your weight does NOT define you
I had been allowing myself to get sucked into a number that was nothing more than my gravitational force! This number did not define me. It did not accurately reflect the commitment and effort I had put into improving my health. It did not determine my worth. The scales had to go!
From that day forward, I have realised that fat loss is far superior to weight loss. I have discovered that there are much better ways to physically measure your progress that do not involve a set of scales. I have reminded myself, constantly, that I am so much more than my weight. If you are reading this thinking ‘I really need to break up with my scales’, I say please, go ahead and break up!
Related: 10 Negative and Harmful Things You Need To Stop Telling Yourself
Ditch the scale
If you still want to measure your progress that is perfectly okay, but please try one of these four methods instead!
1. Take photos to record your progress.
Photos are a fabulous way to see change in your body. Take a full body shot in your underwear and add a date to the picture for future reference!
2. Record your measurements.
Grab a tape measure and record your measurements for your bust, waist and hips at a minimum. You will be surprised to see how these numbers change.
3. Dress up.
Most of us have a special outfit in our wardrobe that is just a little too tight. Pull it out, see how it feels when on (perhaps take a picture!) and repeat the process in 3 or 6 months time!
4. Find out what you are made of.
Earlier I mentioned having a body composition scan done. This involves laying on a bed that takes an image of your body, identifying your muscle and fat weight (and bone density) for each limb and body region. This is an amazing way, particularly for those participating in sport or fitness, to track their body changes.
Related: 10 Reasons To Adore Your Body
Please don’t put yourself through the hell I went through. You are so much more than a number on a box. Ditch the scales honey!
