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Babysitting the Scale

We live in a society that operates on numbers. We use the numbers from the Dow Jones to see if the market is up or down. We base our elections of leaders on the number of votes. When it comes to businesses we like to look at the total sales each day, month, quarter, and year. The most popular number is reflected on the scale. The number on the scale displays to most of us either how hard we have worked or how bad we have slacked off.  In general, as a society we obese over numbers. We allow numbers to define us. Unfortunately stressing over numbers has led to the creation of several psychological disorders and conditions.

At the beginning of my journey I found myself babysitting the scale. I would wake up everyday and run to the scale. My mood would change based on the number I saw reflected on the scale. There were days that I felt like my hard work was not enough. I would cry. I would be so hard on myself. Deep inside I would yell at myself “Come on Chrystal what are you doing wrong now?” I thought the solution was to run more or maybe I should skip some meals.  I would skip meals, spend hours in the gym and the number on the scale would not move.  It was frustrating. My trainer would tell me to weigh myself one time each week on the same day at the same time. Of course, because I wanted to see how I was doing I would weigh each day. It seemed like a never-ending battle.

When you are a babysitter of the scale, you miss the beauty of the journey you are on. When you want the numbers to be perfect its hard to present in the smallest victorious moments. We determine how our journey will go. We can have fun or be miserable. I get it we want to have a sense of accomplishment but sometimes it takes time. You are not doing anything wrong.  Sometimes we are so focused on numbers that we miss the small victories that are not always seen when it comes to numbers.

Babysitting the scale can be very lonely and frustrating. The weight loss journey requires us to love ourselves even when the scale doesn’t move. I get it you want your hard work to be seen and you want to be heard. No one understands your struggle of pursuing progress but you. I can tell you now that hovering over the scale takes the joy out of the journey. The compliments of the others went through one ear and out the other because my mind would be so  consumed with the number, I got that morning.

Do you want to be freed from your babysitting duties?

1.       Make a commitment to weigh in one day per week. Weight can fluctuate especially for females. There are so many factors. To get an accurate reading weigh yourself the same day and time every week.

2.       Take a selfie every week. Sometimes our progress can be shown through a picture even if we can’t see it on the scale. See if you can get your body fat checked.

3.       Learn to love yourself no matter what the scale says. Your love for yourself is greater and much louder than the number that you see.

4.       Seek counseling. There might be some issues that you have to address along the way. Things that are surfacing that you never though exist.

5.       Journal your journey. Write down everything. How you felt, what you ate, and etc. Its so important to document your joys, fears, pains, and etc.

6.       Understand that weight loss takes time. There’s no such thing as overnight success.

7.       You are a winner. The fact that you wake up everyday trying to be a better version of you. The fact that you are pursuing a healthier life. You are a winner