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How many times have you stepped on the scale, full of hopeful anticipation, only to be disappointed by the number staring back at you? Suddenly, that great feeling of accomplishment you had vanishes and you tell yourself that, again, you failed. No matter how hard you try, you can't lose weight. Sound familiar? For so many of us who are trying to lose or manage our weight, the scale is our main tool for measuring our progress; unfortunately, we often allow it to measure our self-worth, too. While the scale can be a good way to measure progress, it shouldn't be your only indicator of health and change. In fact, using it as your only form of measurement can result in obsession, negative thinking and a possible decrease in your motivation level. For people who weigh themselves daily (or even multiple times a day), the idea of giving up the scale can be scary. But I guarantee that once you do it, you'll be happier, have a more accurate self-image and better relationship with your body. If cutting yourself off from the scale cold-turkey is a scary—or downright impossible—proposal, follow this five-step plan to go from scale-obsessed to scale-free in just one month! 2. Start your day with a positive ritual. Because you might struggle with breaking the habit of getting up and not weighing yourself—even if the scale is out of sight—the next step is to swap a new behavior for your weigh-in ritual. Instead of stepping on the scale first thing in the morning, give yourself a pick-me-up! Whether it's listening to a high-energy song that gets you going, reading your goals aloud, giving yourself a short pep talk or reciting a quotation that resonates with you, take just a few minutes to get focused and pumped to continue making healthy changes. 3. Start measuring other healthy accomplishments. Just because you're not weighing yourself doesn't mean that you can't track your progress. Instead of measuring your weight loss using a scale, grab a fabric tape measure and record the circumference of your waist, hips, thighs and arms. Do this once a month and record them on your "Weigh-In and Other Measurements" page. Measuring your body size in this manner can be a much better way to gauge success because, unlike your body weight, which can fluctuate drastically, the true size of your body doesn't fluctuate wildly from day to day. Also, as you get fitter and build more muscle, you may gain muscle mass and lose fat but not see much change in your weight-loss numbers. You might even gain weight from increasing your muscle mass—and that's not a bad thing. You can also track other indicators of health and well-being, such as your daily energy level, stress level, sleep quality and self-esteem. These wellness measurements may not change overnight, but if you're eating healthier foods and regularly moving your body, you will see changes over time. And unlike a number, these changes make huge differences in your quality of life. Additionally, make sure to track your overall health and fitness progress. If you have health issues, you may even want to consider measuring your blood pressure, cholesterol and resting heart rate on a monthly basis. If you're really hitting the gym, try regularly assessing your fitness level with a quick and easy test, like how many push-ups or sit-ups you can do in a minute. There are so many ways to measure your success, so don't get wrapped up into just one number when other amazing changes are going on! 4. End your day with a pat on the back. Now that you're in the habit of starting your day without the scale, begin to close each day with a dose of positive reflection. Take another few minutes before bed to write down at least one accomplishment from the day or one thing you love about yourself. Then, end by writing three things you're grateful for, large and small. All too often we get caught up in the mental ping-pong game of "I should have done that workout" or "I should not have eaten that." When you regularly practice gratitude, it puts everything into perspective and helps you see that a minor slip-up here or a missed workout there isn't the end of the world. Always recognize the opportunity to learn from it, and move on. 5. Weigh in after a month. Once you've followed the steps above for a full month, they should start to feel like a habit, and you most likely won't be thinking about the scale nearly as much. You might also be feeling more confident, energized and stronger. If this is the case, it's time to take your scale out of hiding. Before getting back on the scale, revisit all of the success and progress you've recorded during the last four weeks. Then take a deep, peaceful breath and step on that scale. Does the number surprise you? How does it compare to your inches lost? And the biggest question of all: Does it really matter? If you feel like you've fully broken free from the scale and your weight hasn't affected your feelings about your body or your mood for the day, put the scale away and keep up with steps two, three and four. Then, try weighing yourself weekly. If the obsession creeps back or if you get down on yourself about the number, repeat this month-long process again until you've broken free for good! |
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Motivation Articles › Staying MotivatedBreak Free from the Scale!How to Stop the Scale from Determining Your Self-Worth-- By Jennipher Walters, Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness InstructorSparkPeople advertisers help keep the site free! Learn more
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Jennipher Walters
Jennipher is a certified personal trainer, group exercise instructor, and lifestyle and weight management consultant. She blogs regularly about her own fitness adventures at www.fitbottomedgirls.com. See all of Jenn's articles. |
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Member Comments
I've been using other measurements, such as tape measure of my waist (above navel) and my neck, and I've seen reduction there. So, really, I'm hopeful. - 5/2/2013 12:56:42 PM
Of course, maybe by not having a scale, I won't feel discouraged. - 4/7/2013 9:20:53 PM
I find the day I follow this advice and ditch my scale, is the day I start to gain back all my hard work. So if I obsess over my scale as a tool to keep myself honest, why does anyone else care?
- 4/5/2013 7:31:18 PM
This article was not intended for everyone, it was intended for people who are getting sad, discouraged or upset by weighing too often, or people who criticize themselves, put themselves down or have a bad day based on their current weight.
SP in general and the author in particular are not advising that all SparkPeople stop weighing themselves!
The article title is "How to Stop the Scale from Determining Your Self-Worth".
If you have that problem, the article gives some good advice about how to solve it.
If you don't have that problem and you currently use your scale successfully, then you don't need to respond to the article as if SP and the author are wacky!
They're just trying to help the subset of people who don't find the scale an effective tool for their goals, or possibly even sabotage themselves based on their daily weight.
I love my scale, and I weigh myself daily to effectively reach my goals, but I applaud SparkPeople for providing suggestions to people who need the suggestions. - 4/5/2013 1:25:41 PM
Wow.
The scale tells you ONE thing: what your total mass equals. That's true.
And I'd STILL rather weigh 138lb in a size 4 than 138lb busting out of a size 10.
It's the same with BMI: it's fine for a guesstimate but if you're FIT, if you're packing on healthy tissue, not fat? It'll say you're unhealthy. The scale will say you're heavier -- but you're LEANER. You are NOT flabby anymore.
Who cares what the scale says when you're body fat is healthy to optimum? - 4/5/2013 9:41:00 AM
I've basically decided that since I'm healthy -- good blood pressure, low cholesteral, no blood sugar issues, no energy issues -- I'm best off just following a lower-calorie plan, tracking my intake, and .... GULP! putting away the scale for a while. - 4/5/2013 8:42:04 AM
I weigh myself about every two weeks, but I can see how the Aria, which syncs right to the Fitbit, which means the results are right there on the computer screen, could be motivating. My scale lives under the dresser in the bedroom. I take measurements about once a month or two, but I also like to keep an eye on my BMI, which requires knowing my weight. My big goal is to end up squarely in the 'Normal Weight' category instead of squarely in the 'Overweight' and, formerly :) , 'Obese' categories. - 4/5/2013 8:22:51 AM