3 minutes reading time
(603 words)
Ditch The Scale!
When was the last time you stepped on a scale?
When was the last time you stepped on the scale and liked the number you saw on the screen? 🔢
What does the idea of weighing yourself do to your attitude? Do you get excited?
Do you love heading to the doctor's office knowing that the first thing they're going to do is weigh you? Does it set the stage for an optimistic visit? Do you wish you could just throw the darn thing away and never look at it again?
Then do it!
That's right, throw the darn thing away! Hide it in the garage or make a commitment not to step on it again. You do NOT need a scale to determine if you are in good health.
Did you know?
Simply measuring your waist (& hips) and taking pictures throughout your health-seeking journey can tell you more about your health than the number on the scale?
It's true! And more and more practitioners are stepping away from the scale and focusing on waist & hip circumference, blood markers, and simple assessments of how you feel. After all, the goal isn't really "to lose weight" just to lose weight is it? I mean really. Isn't losing weight more of a way to reduce your medications, reverse your chronic disease(s), improve your energy levels, clear the brain fog, sleep better … feel better?
So if the goal is to feel better, why start each day with a task that 66% of the time is guaranteed to disappoint you? Think about that for a minute. When you step on the scale you're either going to see a number that has:
- gone up
- stayed the same
- gone down
How many of those numbers are going to make you feel good?
1 in 3 chance
Yep! You have a 1 in 3 chance of feeling good after you step on that scale. Is there a practitioner anywhere who would encourage you to start your day with a stressful activity? Nope! Nope! Nope! So stay off the scale.
Instead:
- Measure your waist - Measure around your waist at the smallest point, usually around your belly button and record that number.
- Measure your hips - Measure around your hips at the widest part, then record this number.
- Take a couple of pictures - a selfie, a full body. Don't make this a big deal. You don't have to strip down, take pics from all angles. Just take a couple of pics alone or with friends, and family. Feel free to take pics often - not just to see what you look like, but to capture memories! If you're in the pic too, that's a win-win!
BOTTOM LINE: Stress increases fat storage. Stepping on the scale stresses many of us out. So stop stressing and ditch the scale. Measure your waist and hips about every 3 months. If you "need" to check your measurements more often, every 30 days is fine but don't fixate on the numbers and don't measure daily. Where you are today has taken years. Nothing you do today is going to instantly reverse it all overnight, so be patient. You are working on your health and wellness and your waist/hip measurements are one piece of that puzzle.
If you don't make time for your health,
by Author
you'll be forced to make time for your illness.
