The scale on the bathroom floor or the internal one by which we measure our health are two very different ways of weighing in on what is going on with your health and your body. Many struggle with the numbers on the scale and many clients come to me expecting one in my office. There isn’t one. I believe we each need our individual relationship to our scale as an instrument of information. I certainly do not want to be using it to measure the progress of my clients since that number is but a number. How we use the information is very important to how we see ourselves. A scale is a measure of relativity.
See I got up this morning and I gained 2 llb overnight. Wow. Wait a minute. I just spent one month losing 4! What is wrong with this picture? The scale is! And this morning I actually felt really good -and slender. So those 2 llb must be someone else’s!
See the scale gives me a number that I fortunately don’t trust much. Sure it tells me my weight in a given moment. But it does not tell me my size since muscles weigh more that fat. Nor does it tell me how I feel physically or gives me my measure of well-being.
I do use my scale though, even if I’m not sure it is actually correct because it is probably about as old as me. Which means 46 for those who might wonder. So yes I am supposed to be in the age where it is harder to manage my weight. And I am sure it is for a lot of people. But for me – the scale helps me do that. It gives me the relativity that I need to stay within a range that I have decided works for me. But that range is easily 4 llb more or less.
The scale holds such power for so many though. It also holds the mood of the day, the level of self-esteem, and a judgement that we will never win. It is a bit like the stock market. It can go up and down a lot in one day, but over time it gives but a tool to keep in range with ones goal for weight management. If we put too much value on the number on the scale we can end up feeling horrible about our weight and with that comes emotional eating, which tends to squeeze that number on the scale in the wrong direction.
I do get on my scale more or less every day, but I pretty much forget what the number said within the second I get off. I use it more as a tool for seeing how well my body is doing. That means. Is it holding on to too much of yesterdays foods or processing it well.
Reality is unfortunately that it is so much easier to gain weight than to lose. 1 llb per week is a good average weight-loss, but many have heard of these miracle cures where you drop a lot of weight in a few weeks. We are not talking about the same matter of weight though. Water weight and false fat certainly holds pounds and size but the weight that creeps up on you over time is the fat and that is also what takes more effort to get rid of. This is often why someone hits that bump in the road of weight-loss. Once the initial easy false fat comes off, it is time to get into the nitty gritty and by then most lose the motivation because there is not as much progress and it takes more effort.
One must for long-term weight-loss is consistency. But the scale will not be. It will swing. It measures everything. How much water you drank. The amout of food that is in your stomach. And what is in the process of travelling through your body’s system. Which by the way can take a few days depending on what you ate.
So the true scale is the one by which you measure your progress of making healthy choices. With more and more consistency. And then the true size is the one you feel best at. That does not have a number. It has a sound. Ahhhhhh. I feel goooodddd.
Now go put a smiley face on your scale where the numbers used to be or write “I Love Me” in big bold letters. 
Enjoy balancing your scale,
Yours in health and joy
Jeanette