Nope it never says anything like that, it just blinks ridiculous numbers at you that make you doubt your progress and doubt yourself. I like to tell others to never look at the scale, but what happens when one is sitting right in front of me begging me to step on it???..
I don't have a scale, because if I did my mindset would shift to something I have been trying to teach myself and others to let go of: the numbers, the expectations of others. I don't need a scale to know when I have eaten crappy. I know because I don't feel good and I want to take naps with my kids and my jeans don't fit, and my workouts suck. I don't need a scale to tell me this.
However, things were a bit different this week when my friend Jenn and I (yes the one I blew up your instagram feed) when we were in Canada, visited a spa with a scale in our room. You know my friend Jenn the leggy leggerson ginger who pounds me into the ground when running. I thought hmmm, I think I will get on this little scale and just see if all the stress eating from the move has showed its sign. And yup it did a couple or 7 lbs. Usually that doesn't bother me too much, as things still fit, and I knew my eating would change after the week of gluttony in Canada. Because when you are eating right, you feel it in your bones when you stop. I try to eat healthy not just because of the way it makes me look but because of the way I feel. Remember lifestyle of energy and wholeness, not just great bikini body, (start shifting the focus peeps).
But this time it bothered me because after I got on the scaled Jenn got on the scale and WE WEIGH THE SAME! Yup, the same. She by the way is 7 inches taller than me. Her legs are longer then my whole body and we weigh the same? That put a hiccup in my throat for a second. I started to slightly panic a bit. What the heck was I doing? Get it together Kristi; it is not about numbers on a scale.
The same morning one of my favorite Khoppers texted me about her own scale drama, without any prompting of my metldown. IN ALL CAPS SHE SAYS, WHY DOES THE SCALE SAY I AM THIS WEIGHT? She too, is WAY taller than me and her weight was only a couple of pounds more than mine. After I calmed her down and did the whole pep talk of, "you better have more weight on you then last year because we have been lifting heavy and if you haven't gained weight something is wrong blah blah spiel," I had to start giving myself that same pep talk.
The little annoying scale kept saying to me, "you weigh as much as your friends who are 3 feet taller than you, you're getting in a bathing suit in 3 days!, you are a trainer you have to be a certain way, the lululemon speed shorts showed way too much "situation!" The little scale was ruining my day and I was letting it.
THROW THE SCALE AWAY!!! We all struggle with our little demons that say this or that...you look at the skinny girl who gripes about her weight and it sickens you; you are probably annoyed that I am posting about throwing the scale away. But seriously it's got to go....To be cliche', it does not define you...it doesn't even define your progress you have made. It is a tricky little booger. It doesn't take into account many things. If you are going to measure anything, measuring body fat would be the best indicator of progress. But still that can be tricky and discouraging as well. Many times we disgard our progress and forget how far we have come to get there. We compare and it just makes us feel icky and have angst.
I would like you think about measuring something completely different.
What if we measured our WHOLE self? What if we measured how much energy we had to play with our kids or be joyful at work? What if we measured how good we felt because we knew we were doing the BEST we can on the TIME we have at taking care of our bodies the way God intended us too. For me that means eating as clean as I can, with Saturday cheats (again the donuts, can't live without them), and working out 20-45 minutes 5x a week. This gives me energy, endorphins (the happy drug), and a sense of accomplishment and discipline. It also gives an example to my kiddos that taking care of the one body God gave us is important. NOT MAKING IT AN IDOL, not for bikini season, but because it's something I enjoy, I love to be active, and I love to compete in athletic competitions. It's how God wired me. All of us our wired differently and that makes taking care of our bodies and our whole self uniquely different for each of us. MY way isn't going to be YOUR way.
How can we shift our focus from scale to wholeness of self; From numbers and bikinis to health and wellness and loving ourselves? How can we focus on putting in the time, energy, and discipline to grow ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually so we can influence others on our journey?
So as summer starts to creep up on us and we start to bikini panic...skip the scale, get the bikini you want, do the best you can, and by all means measure yourself differently.
Would love to know your thoughts or advice as to how we could help each other see ourselves as WHOLE instead of just a number on the scale? Please leave any advice or questions in comments.