How To Break Away From The Scale

Why is the scale so hard to break away from and why does it have such power over people? After participating in the weight watchers program several times, it became difficult for me not to weigh myself constantly. Every .02 was counted and mattered to me. As much as I liked the program, it wasn't a good fit for me personally. I wasn't consuming healthy foods all the time, I wasn't feeling better, I wasn't feeling energized and I was obsessed with that number on the scale. This is not the case for everyone, some people do wonderful on this program and it has improved their life...it just didn't do that for me.

As I started my new journey with Beachbody, we were encouraged only to weigh ourselves at certain marks. For example, you would weigh yourself at the beginning, then again at 21 days or 30 days depending on which program you were following. This was extremely difficult for me. I had it ingrained to me that weight was the number one importance of a diet. The other thing we are taught to do is to take our body measurements and before pictures, something I had never done before. I am not going to lie, taking the pictures and seeing them was difficult...very eye opening. So I now have my weight, my measurements and my before pictures. I remember looking at the pictures and thinking...how did I not notice what I was doing to myself??? 198 lbs. on my 5 foot 8 inch body was hard to swallow, 2 lbs. away from 200 pounds??? This was not a healthy body. So my first goal was to go from a size 16 to a 6 and lose 50 lbs. After a couple months I re-evaluated my goals. I had learned through my challenge groups and coach, that the scale and the numbers were not the only important factor in my journey. I started to change my mindset from wanting to be skinny, to wanting to be healthy and strong. These changes physically and mentally didn't happen over night, they happened over time. How did I break away from the scale? So it hit when my mother said to me about a month ago "how much have you lost"? It was at that moment I realized I hadn't weighed myself in almost two months. Two months!!! I said, well two months ago I was down 36 lbs., but I haven't weighed myself since then. I realized I had just achieved something HUGE! The scale no longer had such power over me. Everyday I workout, eat clean, drink Shakeology and do the best I can. I am not a size 6, I have not lost 50lbs., but I feel amazingly strong mentally and physically. The scale has not been the only measure of success, nor should it be. Yes you should aim to reach your healthy range weight for your height, but more importantly fuel your body with good foods and be good to yourself. When you break free from the scale, it is a pretty great feeling.