I had been challenged to forgo weighing myself for one month, I think I made it 8 or 9 days! It was unbelievable how irritable and irrational it made me.

Why do we need a number to let us know that we’re getting fatter and more unfit or, why do we need it to reassure us and reinforce the fact that we’re getting slimmer and fitter? If we were to be completely honest with ourselves does the scale really tell the truth? Without the scale, would we really have no idea that we got fatter/more unfit or that we were starting to get slimmer/fitter/ and have more energy?

Have you ever had the scale scream any of the following phrases at you?:
“Ohh…had an extra piece of birthday cake, did ya?”
“wow you feel energetic today”,
“your pants look like they fit better”,
“you’re in a better mood” ,
“are those muscles I see, you seem much stronger” ,
“you sure had fun in combat training” ,
“Great resting heart rate, your fitness is improving”!!!!

Didn’t think so, me either! So then why is the scale so damn important to us, really?

Would we not know we’re changing without it! In 5 months I have, dropped 5 belt notches, now have the blood pressure and heart rate of a 20 year old, I can see muscles I haven’t seen in years, I could knock an attacker on his a*$ with one elbow to the face, but yet the scale seems to be the only thing that matters as a measure of my success!!!!! All I can think is that I still want to loose another 80 pounds! It’s insane!!

I can completely ignore all the positive and focus only on what I still need to do! Can you imagine having a boss that treated us like we treat ourselves when it comes to the scale. What if we had a boss that only focused on one measure of success and the negatives that accompanied it? Wouldn’t it make us want to quit and find a new job? Oh wait a minute! We do, we end up quitting and moving on to the next scale based diet and continue the same behavior. Not exactly a recipe for success! I’ve done it a hundred times!

Is this a form of self torture, a display of my impatience (I want instant results and what better place to seek them), or the fact that I have fallen for every gimmick the diet industry has to offer(all scale based)?? Isn’t the goal in life to get through it with as many functioning original parts as we started with, while actually living life and having some fun in the process? Why do we need the number on a scale to say …it’s time to change and start living a healthy life. Even more important why do we need it to tell us we are succeeding at being healthy and fit?

How many times have I had a few days of terrible eating and poor exercise and step on the scale for confirmation I have messed up? Did I think it was going to show I had lost during that time? Really? And if I gain a couple of pounds in those few days does that really negate all I have done for months? I’m learning it should not, I should carry on living the fit, healthy life I have chosen, and all else will fall back into place. I’m STILL working on this!

My trainer actually refused to weigh me anymore, and challenged me to appreciate other things I have gained, like strength, endurance, cardiovascular fitness, better mood and finding activities I love and will continue to do! If I truly live an active life of good eating and fitness, I will loose the fat and weight!

It may take me 2 years to loose a certain number of pounds, but why the panic? If had done this a long time ago I would not have wasted thousands of dollars, time and energy on unhealthy and useless diets. Live that fit healthy life and then become it. Is getting rid of the fat pounds important? Absolutely, the human body is not designed to carry loads of extra weight(my joints sure don’t appreciate it), but it wouldn’t have to if we’re living a healthy life (good food and a fit existence)!

Easier said than done, speaking from experience, but that has to be how I do it!! Minimal scale time and focusing on the love of a fit healthy life and why I want that life! When our main measure of success is the number, then the importance that number has on our failure becomes amplified! How many truly fit (mentally and physically) and slim people do you know that stand on the scale every day for the reassurance that they are healthy and fit?

I wonder if Lance Armstrong stands on the scale every day….and thinks, yep that number confirms it…I’m fit/strong/healthy and happy….I wonder if the fact that he beat cancer or all the yellow jerseys mean nothing and he uses the scale to confirm his health and fitness? I’m guessing NOT??? I wonder if…….