The first morning walk of the day from your bedroom to the bathroom can feel like a death march. Not because you need to navigate the shoes scattered across your floor or avoid ramming your shin on the corner of your coffee table in a dark sleepy haze, but at the end of the hazardous path, your biggest critic awaits to determine your sense of self-worth for the day - your scale.
I've been there, I know you want to lose weight. And weighing yourself feels like a necessary evil, a terrible obsession to make sure you are the right track. But the process can seriously weigh you down...
As you stand in the bathroom, you start removing every piece of clothing. You peel off your tank top and shorts, your underwear, even your rings and earrings. Oddly, this is probably the only time when you are truly naked that day. It's just you and your body. And instead of feeling empowered, beautiful and strong, you feel vulnerable and judged.
But there is something extremely wrong with this picture, because the scale doesn't reveal anything of value at all.
First of all, the scale lies. The number can vary a lot in a 24-hour period. Things like what you ate the night before, how much water you drank, where you are in your cycle, if you worked out or not, all affect the number, but have nothing to do with your health.
Not even to mention that muscle weighs more than fat does (and it's fit and strong we're going for here, not an irrational number on a scale).
Second, the best judge of how healthy you are is how you feel. Think about it: your scale doesn't tell you how you slept last night, how you felt after eating Chinese take-out, or how beautiful your skin is. These are all true signs of health. Listen to how you feel while you are eating, working out and living your life- your body will tell you your health by your energy, ability to sleep, skin quality, and mood.
Here's the reality: have you actually ever been happy with the number the scale shows? If you gained some weight, in your head you hear "you're a fat loser". If you stayed the same, that same voice is saying, "you are lazy". If you lost weight, you could've lost more and aren't trying hard enough. Do you see where this is going?
Getting your daily dose of self-esteem beating from your scale causes stress, poor body image and really crappy moods. And you know what happens when women get moody? We eat. Weighing yourself is actually making you fat, not thin.
And the truth is, we all know when we lose weight. Our jeans feel looser, our face is less puffy, our skin is tighter. It's not some big mystery. A scale won't tell you how toned your arms are getting from doing a billion triceps curls, or how amazing your eyes look from taking care of yourself and getting a good night's sleep.
My advice to you? Wean yourself off of the scale. The number on it means absolutely nothing. It is not an indicator of how you feel or how you look. It tells you nothing of importance. If you are weighing yourself everyday, stop. Instead try to weigh yourself just once a week. If you weigh yourself every week, try weighing yourself once a month. And if you really want to improve the health of your life and develop a positive, trusting relationship with your body- just throw the scale away.
I promise -- you will be better off without it.
Do this routine in the morning instead: undress, stand in front of your mirror and tell yourself you look beautiful (even if at first you don't believe it). Adore and admire your body. Now hop into the shower feeling empowered, sexy and healthy.
And if you want to further get out of Body Jail, click here to check out my free online workshop to help you. It is my non-diet approach to Live More, Weigh Less and Feel Amazing In Your Body NOW.
Love,
Sarah