I was so obsessed with my weight, I weighed myself a minimum of three times a day. This scale obsession spurred an unhealthy preoccupation with dieting. For the state of my well-being, I had to quit weighing myself everyday. Truth is, the scale changes several times a day based on:
- How much food or fluid I have consumed.
- How heavy my clothes and shoes are.
- How much fluid my cells are retaining based on how much salt I consumed.
- How much water I did or did not drink.
- What my hormones are doing at this stage of my menstrual cycle.
You and I have the power to choose to not let the numbers on the scale dictate our moods. Our goal is to get away from the “scale determines my worth” mentality. You are neither good nor bad by what the numbers read on a scale. Emotional eating based on weight does not have to be part of your repertoire anymore. You are worth the investment to stop the damaging behaviors that used to go along with stepping on a scale. Practice makes perfect, and the old habits will cease to exist. Your mindset should convert over to: The scale is only an occasional tool to assist in monitoring progress.
I recommend you stop weighing yourself every day. If you are trying to lose weight, the scale should not be your only source of measurement to monitor progress. Please note if you are improving your muscle health, inch for inch, muscle is denser than fat. Fat cells do not convert into muscle cells and vice versa. You may be shrinking in size, by muscle mass increasing and fat cells reducing. However, the scale cannot indicate that fact. How your clothing fits and your good health are better tools in determining progress.
Goals to Measure Success
Victories do not always come by how low the numbers on the scale go. Successful weight loss is not about whether you can follow the rules of a diet without cheating. Having healthy new habits and thought patterns ingrained into your belief system is key to success. Are you noticing a pattern here yet? Ownership and application of sound belief systems, principles, and habits keep you grounded and healthy. Establishing solid principles that easily fit into your lifestyle and become second nature to you, will free your mind of the distress of “I can’t eat, I am so fat, blah, blah, blah!”
Every positive change I made, stirred excitement in me and helped me delete my dysfunctional thinking and behaviors about food and my body. Below is a partial list of situations I overcame, and you can too:
- I do not have to eat food because it is there.
- I do not have to eat until I am stuffed or feel sick.
- I do not have to finish everything on my plate.
- I do not have to eat unappetizing food that is cold, hard, overcooked, dry, or nasty.
- I do not have to buy candy because I see it at the checkout aisle.
- I do not have to buy every visual stimulus I see at the grocery store or restaurant.
- I have eliminated the “failure,” “defeat,” and “I’m bad” mentality.
These are a few examples listed from Chapter Seven, What Do You Want to Overcome?
What food, dieting, or scale battles have you overcome?
Blessings to your health!
Finishing the Race 