How to Make the Scale Your Friend
Jan 22, 2020
I have such a clear memory of this.
It was years ago (read: decades) and I had just picked up my favorite summer suit from the cleaners.
Readying for a date, I slip into the cute, cropped white linen pants and to my horror they barely close.
What!?
I just wore these comfortably a couple of weeks ago.
“The cleaners must have shrunk them!”
I went so far as to call said cleaners to give ‘em a piece of my mind . . .
If I’d just hopped on the scale, I would’ve saved us all a bunch of heartache. Sigh.
Oh what a couple of weeks can bring when you’re not paying attention.
Had I a practice of weighing myself regularly, I may have avoided the embarrassment and the extra pounds.
Many of us dread getting on the scale.
But the reason may not be what you think.
The number isn’t really the problem (no matter what it is).
The problem is the beat down you give yourself once you see the number.
It’s the harsh judgment, not the digits that have us avoiding the scale.
The number on the scale is just data. It’s a number. It doesn’t know any better.
It’s like a toddler presenting you with his newest art creation, all innocent and sweet. It may not be exactly what you want, but you accept it with love, even enthusiasm.
That’s the scale presenting a number. Innocent and sweet.
Can you accept it?
How about with love and enthusiasm?
When we check the weather temperature outside, we don’t take that number personally and we certainly don’t berate ourselves for it. We accept the number and make choices based on the information.
The same can happen with the number on the scale.
We get data and then make decisions based on that number. Done.
Clean, simple.
No judgment or meanness.
Can you feel how much better that is?
So much energy saved.
So much heartache avoided.
Just information and decisions.
This is how weight loss and weight loss maintenance happens.
Data and decisions.
Here’s how to make getting the data easier:
- First, make a commitment to get on the scale once a week.
- Then, have your own back.
Decide that no matter what the scale says, you're not going to be mean to yourself.
If you are, because long-held habits are buggers to break, then note the cruelty and remind it that you’re no longer going to speak to yourself that way. Then say something nice, like, “good job getting on the scale this morning!”
Doing this over and over and over will change the way your brain reacts to the scale.
Once it’s not torture to weigh yourself, you’ll do it more often thus staying conscious of the information and making decisions based on the latest data.
While all this is going on, guess what?
The scale starts giving you smaller and smaller numbers. Innocent and sweet.
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