Saturday, October 4, 2014

The Power of the Scale


Ah, the dreaded scale. We meet again. Today may be your last day in my bathroom, so enjoy it while it lasts. 

For years I have allowed the scale to rule my life. No joke. I've battled with my share of eating disorders within the past several years but nothing quite like obsessing over that dreaded number on the scale.
I allowed myself to be so controlled by whatever number popped up on that tiny screen. If I saw a number I liked, I felt great! I felt like I was "thin enough" to eat a little more that day if I wanted to. Now if the number was higher than I wanted it to be, I became depressed and would dwell on what I ate the previous days, what I should have done differently and I took drastic measures to get that number down. IE: eating a lot less, exercising more. Obviously this is NOT HEALTHY!

Here's how every morning would go:
Wake up. Drink 1 cup of coffee w/creamer. Catch up on blogs, social media, read the Bible and pray. Then about an hour after waking up I'd have to use the restroom. AFTER going to the bathroom, I would step on the scale w/out anything extra on. Not even my hair tie! This is quite embarrassing but I feel that it may help someone else who is struggling with the scale obsession. I no longer have such a strict "regimen" that I follow, but I do weigh myself, every day. And only at the beginning of the day. We all know we weigh more at the end of the day, so that would just be detrimental if I weighed myself at night! (Kidding)

Now that I've been going to the gym regularly and using heavier weights, I know my weight is going to go up. Muscle mass is more dense (heavier) than fat. Waking up this morning I weighed about 3lbs more than I did yesterday morning. I panicked a little, then kept reassuring myself it was muscle gain because of all the weight training I did this week. I still don't "like" the number but I'm doing much better mentally than I would've about a year ago.

So what am I going to do to fix this obsession over the scale? What do you do with something that has taken over your life in a negative way?


You get rid of it!


This is a huge step in the right direction. I know it may seem silly to some, but for me it's an issue of self worth and I don't want to be controlled by a number anymore!

The number on that scale does not define me as a person! It does not reflect my failure or success! 

So if you're someone who has battled with the power of the scale, please consider getting rid of the scale or at least putting it in a place where you can't see it every day. Out of sight, out of mind! It's time to get mentally healthy!

What are you waiting for? Dump that controlling, electronic square! And remember, YOU are far more valuable than a number on a scale! 

(Please understand that I think using the scale as a way to track progress during weight loss is a great tool for motivation. It becomes an unhealthy tool when it becomes an obsession and starts to take over your thoughts.)

6 comments:

  1. Wow, you go! This post really resonates. When I started weight watchers, it was really hard to stop the weighing and only weigh once a week at meetings. But it has really helped to not worry about the daily fluctuations and just see the big picture.

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    1. Thank you! I found myself thinking what I'm going to weigh tomorrow so obviously this is a good thing.. I needed to get rid of the scale in order to get on the path to a healthy self image. Thanks for your support!

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  2. Great post!!! I have a sister who literally is kind of like this, she is a little obsessive and I personally blame her husband for putting the stress on her to lose the weigh after her last pregnancy.
    It's tough, weight is an issue for lots of us. I don't obsess over the scale, but I am on the battle to lose what I have gained and I too find myself weighing in daily just to see where I am at. I never thought of it before, but yeah it does kinda set the mood for the day. But I don't rule my life by it like my sister, who if she doesn't like the number will pretty much just drink water and eat rice cakes and veggies for the day. I am working on her though, hopefully she'll come around. I would share this post with her, but then she'd see my comment and that might not go well. However, next time I visit her house she can't help it if I just read it to her from my phone:) Thanks for sharing!!!!

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    1. I'm not going to lie, it's only been a couple days since this post and my morning "regime" feels a bit off... Every time I enter the bathroom I look down and realize its not there, but then I think, who cares, I don't need it! My husband supports my decision 100%. He is so encouraging. He loves that I lost weight on my own and he just wants me to be happy with where I'm at. I'm at a place where I never thought I'd get back down to after having two kids.. so that is something to be very proud of! I hope your sister will realize that the number on the scale does not define her or rule her life. It's tough, especially when someone you love is pushing you to lose weight..that's gotta be really hard. Feel free to share this with her! Maybe it would help her to see that that way of living is not healthy. I hope it helps!

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  3. Whooohoooo! I threw mine away two years ago. There's one at the gym but I try to stay away as much as possible. You are free!!!
    Ashley @ Kickashmom.com

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    1. Yeah I feel a bit "off" right now w/out it, but that's a good sign that it needed to be done! I do feel free though, that's for sure!

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