September 3, 2021 “STOP watching the scale”
When Facebook added the memory timeline, I was so excited. Every day I look forward to seeing what I posted a year or years ago. I smile as I reminisce about a good time in my life. The memories like the birth of my nephews, weddings, or a post of me and my friends as we laughed all night. The picture for others may not carry that much weight however for the person who posted will always bring back lots of memories good or bad. Some post may also make us feel sad in that moment. Maybe a picture of a loved one that passed away or relationships that is no more. This week a client shared with me a picture of herself from one year ago that came up on her memory timeline. It made her smile at first because she was at a weight, she was most happy with and then her smile quickly turned to tears. She cried saying, “how did I get so out of shape and gain so much weight in just a year?” She went on to say, “I cheated yesterday, I got on the scale and now I am at 188 lbs. the most weight I have ever been in my life”.
After hugging and consoling her, I encouraged her by telling her; You got yourself into to this and the best thing is ONLY you can get yourself out, and I will be holding your hand the entire way! You just started the camp so you’re doing something positive, so enjoy the journey back to greatness. Lastly, you weren’t watching the scale when you were gaining weight so why watch the scale when you are coming down?
When we constantly rely on the scale to dictate our fitness success what you are telling me is that the “SCALE” is your personal trainer. Whatever number you see, you either eat more, or eat less, exercise more or exercise less. A scale only measures weight, it cannot determine if it’s a ton of bricks on them, a bag of groceries or a real person. A scale will never see or celebrate your non-scale victories. Like being able to walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath or being able to bend over and tie your shoes without any assistance. Or how about you being able to do a push-up where when you first started the bootcamp you could barely do a modified version. Or what about the biggest praise report, when you come off your blood pressure medication or no longer need your insulin shots. My motto has always been “Fitness Starts from Within”.
By the third week of camp I start to hear people say, “my clothes a lose” or I wore a pair of jeans I haven’t been able to fit into for months, yet as soon as they go step on the scale and they do not see the number they expected to see, their joy quickly fades and they go back to old habits questioning why they started on this fitness journey in the first place. I urge you to drop this “Scale mindset” and learn to enjoy your journey back to greatness and here are a few tips on getting back to greatness.
1. First and foremost, don’t “HATE” yourself for how you look and feel right now! I get it, I was there at one point in my life. It’s difficult when you’re unhappy and uncomfortable with yourself. But isn’t it exhausting focusing on the scale every day and letting the number you see determine your mood and attitude for the day?
2. Donate your scale, get it out of your home, ASAP. You obviously do not have the willpower at this point in your life to stay off it, so remove all temptations. Then you will have no choice but to smile because you know you are doing something great for your body daily by showing up at Tadda’s and following your meal plan.
3. Stop comparing your fitness journey to other people. We often see the end results but never the process it took to get there. If some of you knew what it took to get there would you still be willing to go through it? Maybe yes or maybe no, the point is everyone is different and what may take someone a year may take you six months.
4. Remember you did not get out of shape overnight. My client didn’t realize her demise until she saw how she looked a year ago. Be patient with yourself. Just how you enjoyed life while you were gaining weight now let’s shift gears and enjoy adjusting to a healthier lifestyle while losing weight.
Once you stop worrying about the scale and start focusing on taking one day at a time and getting stronger, your obsession with the scale will slowly disappear. You will realize, “I can fix this”. I have a No Mess spirit; I am on that stuff. Going forward I challenge you to be conscious of your scale mindset and how you treat yourself. How you talk to yourself when you’re trying on clothes, or better yet what you think when you look at yourself naked in the mirror. Do you have more of positive or negative self-image? Learn to take control of your thoughts and address them no mess style. Can I Get It?
