Courtesy of Meg from Life is Better Than Fiction Blog.
The scale and I used to have a good relationship; when it was a good number. Growing up, I’d use it once in a while but the number didn’t really matter to me one way or another. I was an active girl whose family had a very healthy attitude about healthy eating and lifestyle.
I went off to college and didn’t gain the freshman 15… until sophomore year. At the time, I didn’t own a scale nor did I think much about how much I weighed. I could tell by the way my pants fit that I had probably put on some weight and started to correct it with pilates DVD’s at home and that was that.
That same winter I got my wisdom teeth out. Some people get lucky and eat a steak/pizza/caramel apple the same night. Not me. I had a lot of tenderness in my mouth for a good month and I was basically on a liquid diet. I don’t know how much weight I lost but it was significant. And I’ll admit I was relieved that I’d lost some weight “the easy way”.*
Anyways, my point in all of this is that for the majority of my life I did not rely on the scale and I was always within a healthy weight.
Once I started using the scale, the number on that scale made me feel desperate. I wanted instant gratification and some days it was great and other days… it was totally depressing. After I looked at the number, I began to feel more self conscious about how my clothes fit and no girl wants that. The scale had become something other than a weight loss tool. It became something I dreaded daily and was doing nothing for my motivation. After working hard for weeks and “not seeing” any results, I started to think: “what’s the point?”
Too many women I know are a slave to the scale and always calling themselves “fat,” which I am not okay with. I decided I needed to focus less on a number and more on my overall well-being.
So I put the scale away in the back of the closet. Putting away the scale took the pressure off of me. Already, I feel less stressed about losing weight. Honestly, I don’t really worry that I will gain weight because I’m not weighing myself. What kind of messed up logic is that?
Even though I’m not at my “happy weight” yet and I don’t know when I’ll get there, I DO know that I no longer have a number staring me in the face every day and dictating my mood each and every morning. I know that the key isn’t instant gratification, just patience and practice. I know that every day is a new day, a new start no matter what happened yesterday. I know that I can do what I can today and take it one day at a time.
*I DO NOT (I can’t emphasize this enough) condone a liquid diet as a responsible or healthy way to lose weight. It was not my intention to lose weight after the surgery. Please remember: I literally could not eat anything solid from pain and tenderness in my gums, not from desire to be thin.*
I was a slave to the scale for many years and it drove me INSANE! Almost literally… I would go to the gym every morning and step on the big scale – whatever it said dictated my workout intensity, my eating for the day and most importantly, my mood. I told myself that I HAD to weigh myself at least a couple times a week if I really wanted to “be honest” with myself. I pretty much used it as a form of abuse! It worked, I berated myself to a number I liked. But that number was impossible to maintain.
I gave up the bi-weekly weigh-ins for reasons other than trying to heal my relationship with the scale, but since doing so I realize that I have been much happier! And my world did not crumble.
The number on the scale is not what is important. It is how you feel in your skin that matters. I now use my clothes to tell when I need to tighten the reigns. Much better.
Great post! I broke up with my scale over five years ago and am so glad that I did. It was tough at first – I’d gotten so used to knowing my weight on a daily basis. But more often than not I felt bad about the numbers I saw and now prefer to rely on how I feel and how my clothes fit. I think you’ve made a great choice!
The number on the scale judges NOTHING! I think it is funny that you mention the relief of weight loss after wisdom teeth surgery. I had the same type of complications! In the first five-six days alone, I lost 8 or 9 pounds. I did not want to see those pounds come back on, even though I knew that this was crazy, and that that is an awful and unhealthy way to drop pounds.
Great job giving it up!
Great message! I worried for a while about gaining weight when I stopped weighing myself, but after working with my doctor for some digestive and hormonal issues, my diet shifted from being health-and-calorie-conscious to health-and-feeling-well-conscious. Frankly, I’m too busy trying to limit my grains+gluten+dairy to worry about my calorie intake or what the scale is doing.
I know what makes me feel better, and that’s my focus.
I had the same sort of relationship with the scale. If i didn’t like the number staring back at me I instantly had a bad day! I have since gotten rid of the scale and only weigh myself every now and then. I can honestly say it makes a huge difference!
I’ve been weighing myself less and less as time goes by! I love these post! I usually just go by how my clothes fit me and know if I’m packing on some pounds or not!
I’m totally with ya!! I think the scale just = anxiety so I don’t even own one!!
Great story!!! I’m the same way in my relationship w/ the scale…..if I weigh in too much, I start to get obsessed with a number, when that’s not even really the important part!
This is a great approach – because you’re right, no number should EVER be what makes you feel good and happy about yourself. Eating well, exercising well and approaching life with balance is the key to true body confidence, at least it is from my standpoint. I’m so glad you’ve ditched the scale in favor of patience and practice. You got this!