Don’t let the scale control you - Fit Balanced Wellness

Ladies and Gents. It’s time to get real. How many times have you found yourself un-motivated by the number of pounds you “need to lose”? I don’t know how many times in the past that I’ve stepped on the scale and told myself that I need or want to lose 10 or 15 pounds. That alone causes anxiety and overwhelm in many individuals. I want to tell you how you don’t need to let the scale control you.

It’s hard to avoid becoming fixated by the number on the scale because weight has been used as a guiding factor for doctors to measure our health since we were born. Watching the scale can most definitely be used as a motivator and it is a great tool, but more often than not, it hinders the progress and motivation for the person standing on the scale day in and day out.

What if you stopped stepping on the scale as a measure to your progress? I honestly believe with a little tweak in the way you think about the scale will help wonders when you are looking for results. I don’t think you need to throw away your scale by any means but I think you need to change the way you think about “weight”.

THE OLD APPROACH

Have you ever fell victim to eating nothing but lettuce for a week and working out 1-2 hours a day, six days a week but when you get on that scale, it HAS NOT MOVED?!?! How frustrating is that!? Not to mention discouraging. It’s enough to make anyone think it’s all for nothing.

Hi In life, there is enough stress, anxiety, bad moods and negativity in day to day life. I know for a fact we all want to live upbeat, optimistic, happy, low stress, no anxiety lives, but simple things like stepping on the scale is enough to turn the feel good, optimistic mood into a pissy one, REAL FAST! You immediately think, “I just ate lettuce, passed up ice cream and did all that sweating for nothing”. THEN…because you felt like you did all that work for nothing, you begin to eat anything you want and then some to make up for last week because it “made no difference anyways”. You also quickly find yourself visiting the gym less and less, reverting back to your normal habits. Are you guilty of that? I know I’ve been there

SOCIETY SAYS

Body image is a hot topic in society. Social media and the internet is drowning in photo shopped images, triggering something in our brains telling us we that if we don’t look a certain way, we are fat.

The reality is, is that most of us have rolls when we sit down. Most of us have fat in places we wish we didn’t. Now, the harsh reality is that there are many women that are naturally lean. It’s a fact, and that’s life, and we will just call those women the rare lucky ones. The rest of us….the MAJORITY of us need to work at our imperfections or accept them.

I bet if you put 10 women that each weighed 130 pounds in a line, each one of them would look vastly different. So why do we obsess over that number that stares us back in the face?

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Here are some things to think about regarding the images we come across on a daily basis:

You see someone in a magazine, on TV, on social media and you say to yourself “I wish I had her stomach” or “I’d kill to have those legs”. I bet that those legs and stomach you admire are her trouble areas and the part of herself she is least confident about and the things wants to change within herself the most.
What you see in the mirror is not what others see.
Genetics are not created equal
You can change your body; you just need to put in the work

THE NEW APPROACH

I truly believe that mindset plays a big role in success. It’s important to get to a place mentally where you can celebrate your victories, but use your plateaus to drive you and push harder.

Say bye-bye to weight and hello to measurements. It’s plain and simple. How do you feel in your clothes?

When working on yourself and your own body image it’s okay to make note of your weight. But just let it sit there.

Let’s Talk Muscles

Did you know muscle weighs more than fat? This is why the scale might not move much during the week of eating lettuce and sweating profusely. As you burn fat, you build muscle.

Muscle is much tighter than fat, so even though the scale doesn’t move, it doesn’t mean your body isn’t changing. If you took measurements in your waist, bust, hips, thighs and arms, I bet that in time you will notice those areas slimming as you replace your fat with muscle even though the scale may not have moved.

How do you feel in your clothes? As your muscle replaces fat, you slim down and your clothes start to fit differently. Your jeans are all of a sudden loose and your tummy is no longer poking out the bottom of your shirt. Confidence is radiating when you look in the mirror. For the first time in forever, you actually don’t cringe at the thought of putting on clothes.

Now, you step on the scale after the discovery of finding out your jeans are now too big. Although the scale might not have moved, the good endorphins are flowing through your brain. This makes it easier to take than if the scale didn’t move AND your clothes still fit the same. So, congrats! You didn’t let the scale control you this time!

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I’ve experienced this whole thing first-hand. Right before I had babies, I was in the best shape of my life and the most confident and content with my body that I had ever been. I was tone and had more muscle than I ever had before. After I had my second baby, I weighed LESS than I did when I found out I was pregnant with my first. The catch is that even though I weighed less, I didn’t look or feel as good as when I did before I got pregnant. That’s right…I looked and felt better when I weighed MORE! Thank you muscle for the confidence I never knew I could have.

JUST REMEMBER

Results don’t come overnight – we all know this, despite our burning desires to wish it weren’t true. Results take hard work, persistence and dedication.

Progress is progress and is measured in more than just the scale.

Everyone is made and built differently. We are all different shapes and sizes and wear weight differently. If you take anything away from this blog post, it is that 130 pounds, 150 pounds 160-170-190-200 pounds is not the same on everyone!

You are your own unique person. No matter how much you want to have the body of someone else, you never will. You can most definitely work to lose fat, tone, and sculpt to achieve a similar look. However, no matter how much you work, the end result will be different. That’s because you are your own person with your own shape and your own look, making you YOU. Work hard for what you want. Own it and use your achievements to inspire others!