Why I'm Taking it Slow With My Scale

Since I committed myself last week to three big changes (no going out to eat / only drinking water / minimizing sweets) I've also decided to try to minimize the number of times I weigh myself.  I was weighing myself more or less every day and it clearly wasn't helping.  I'd either get excited by my weight or depressed by it, and neither was a very big motivator for exercise.  This past week, I've managed to avoid the scale, but gave in today.  For the first time since I've started this blog, I think that I really, truly realized that even though I have a goal weight that I would love to reach, my weight isn't what this is about.

It's a little difficult to explain, because this all began out of a desire to look better.  I wanted to do it healthily, but more than anything I really just wanted to be skinny and I wanted to be that number on the scale.  I still want to lose the weight and I still want to look better than I ever have, don't get me wrong.  However, more than that I want to be healthy.  I want to be physically fit with muscle definition and an awesome cardiovascular system.  I don't want to be at risk for diabetes or other conditions that come with obesity or being overweight.  I want to know exactly what I'm putting into my body (which is why cooking at home and not eating out, save for special, occasions is huge).  Realizing that the scale isn't the be-all end-all and my weight is only a tiny piece of the puzzle makes me able to move on with the process (and hopefully be more successful with it!).

When I weighed myself this morning, after having an internal debate with myself and a discussion with Matthew about whether I should, I was really surprised to find that even though the number on the scale wasn't necessarily as low as I wanted it to be, I didn't really care.  I just kind of moved on because I know I've eaten more healthily this week than I have in a long, long while and I've been better at the gym too.  It turns out that I was right not to care one way or the other because some pants that have been a little snug lately are the most comfortable I remember them being since I bought them.  There are several different ways to measure progress and I think I've finally learned to accept that obsessively measuring my weight is not a productive one. 

There are many reasons why, including:

• Body weight fluctuates during the day and over the course of several days.  Even when you're losing weight, your weight will increase occasionally.
• Doing strength training can cause your weight to remain stagnant or increase even while your body fat percentage is decreasing.
• Seeing a higher number than you expected can cause you to lose hope or motivation.
• Seeing a lower number than expected can cause you to become complacent.
• Weighing yourself daily can cause you to become obsessed with your weight instead of becoming healthier.

The new system for weighing myself is once weekly.  A lot of people recommend once monthly, but I don't think I can handle waiting that long.  I want to measure my progress on a weekly basis, so that's what I'll do.  I'm going to set a time of day and weigh myself at that time every Saturday.  I'll also take a picture of myself so I can track my progress that way.  A lot of people have recommended taking body measurements, but I can't seem to get consistent measurements so I'm holding off on that for now.

I'm finally really, truly motivated to give this my all for all the right reasons and I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes me!