What’s your relationship with your scale?
Do you step on it and smile?
Or do you gingerly put one foot and then the other on it, hold your breath, and take a furtive glance down – waiting for it to tell you how good or bad you are?
If you’re like most women trying to lose weight, that second scenario probably sounds more familiar. The number on your scale is shorthand for how healthy, how strong, how beautiful, how worthy you are (at least in your head).
And I totally get that. It was for me for years too (and truthfully, still is a little, even though I know better).
Your scale IS helpful for weight management – to a point. In fact, recent research from Cornell University points to daily weigh-ins as an effective tool for weight loss.
The trouble comes when the number on the scale derails you, throwing you into an all-or-nothing state. “Forget this weight loss thing! It’s too hard. I’m ordering pizza!”.
Or when it makes you feel so crappy that it ruins your entire day, taking you out of the present moment and into a spiral of self-hatred.
Here’s what I’ve learned about weight loss from 5+ years of coaching women (and 44 years of being a woman):
Focusing too much on the number on your scale disconnects you from your body and how it FEELS.
Even if you feel amazing and strong, your weight creeping up makes you feel unattractive and weak – all evidence to the contrary be damned.
Not only that, but weight loss is sneaky. It often happens ONLY when you ease up on yourself and ENJOY YOUR LIFE.
You know… have FUN. (And the occasional slice of pizza. 🙂
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Don’t get me wrong – monitoring your weight is important for weight loss. Knowing what’s happening allows you to course correct if the number starts creeping up. (Like when I add just one more spoonful of almond butter to my smoothie. Every day. For a month. 😉
AND for many women – especially those prone to attaching self worth to body weight (i.e., A LOT of us) – hopping on the scale once a week or even once a month is more effective than doing it daily. You get just enough info to manage your weight without going nuts.
Tuning into your body WITHOUT the scale is where the real magic happens.
Because when you focus on how food makes you feel, how it affects your energy, how it affects your mood, you ALWAYS make the choices that help your body find a healthy weight.
So, my advice to you lovely ladies (and gents) trying to release a few pounds? Step away from the scale for a while.
Listen (deeply) to what your body is telling you. And trust that it will lead you to do what’s healthy for YOU.
You might be surprised at how quickly the pounds melt away.
