I repeat… step off the scale.

I have realized through talking with friends and fellow workout buddies that women are OBSESSED with stepping on the scale to determine what kind of “shape” they are in. These are really intelligent women that I admire so much and I think they are some of the most amazing women I know yet they are depending on a piece of equipment made to weigh someone to determine how fit or how healthy they are. What happened to how you feel? How your clothes fit? How well you are sleeping? How about how you feel about yourself?

How true is this?!

So many of us need to get off the scale so that we can get back on track and concentrating on what matters most.

Which is not a number of some thing made of metal that sits in your bathroom closet.

Sounds just ludicrous doesn’t it?

I personally have never been a big “scale” girl. It could be because I don’t really remember even having a scale in the bathroom growing up (hmmm I wonder if my mom did that on purpose) but at some point that fun-loving, ho-ho eating, sweatpants wearing little girl was replaced by a very insecure, not sure of herself, always worried about she looks like girl surfaced. She has come and gone over the last few years but as I discuss health and fitness with more women I realize that this obsession with the scale is truly just that… an obsession. It is something that some women actually come to DEPEND on in their life and that base their health scale on this one number alone. This can be extremely dangerous and I’m not talking from some doctor psychologist point of view here- this is simply coming from my heart because I too worry about things like my weight and a number. But now it’s times for me to worry about things that may actually tell me something about my body. Or at least something that actually matters.

This post was originally inspired by a fellow cross-fitter who happens to be a woman I admire very much. She is fun loving strong independent and a true joy to be around. She does extra burpees if I need a boost even if she is already done with her 50. She holds my feet during sit-ups if I am struggle and high-fives me when we finish. Hell, she’ll stay after class is over to finish a workout with me if I need her to. She is awesome and the other day we started talking about being on the scale a lot. She steps on the scale every day. Every single day. Every single freaking day. That has got to be exhausting. And even though she looks FABULOUS and STRONG, she doesn’t always love what she sees when she looks down at that piece of metal. Sometimes she is happy. Sometimes she is disappointed. Sometimes she is angry. A machine makes her feel all of those things. This piece of technology that can’t talk back to say “your weight is up because you gained 5 pounds of muscle” or “you are retaining water like crazy this week” or “get off of me you crazy girl, you are having that ‘time of the month’ and this is the last place you should be. That scale doesn’t tell her any of that. So what good is it?

Again, I will reiterate I am not a doctor. I’m certain there are studies out there that can give you some scientific reason that you need to NOT step on your scale every day. It may give you some solid researchable reasons why it is a terrible thing and I don’t have any of that. I simply have a third-party and sometimes first-party opinion I wanted to throw out there to the world. So for my Crossfitter inspiration friend, the scale is an issue. She knows it. She wants to be better. But she depends on a number. Every day. I’m not sure that there is any number you should depend on every single day. Maybe if you are in finance or accounting and there is some formula you have to know but when it comes to your health I am hard pressed to find one number that is totally reliable and the same every single day. BUT I get that some of us are very numbers oriented so I tried to come up with some things that may be a little less risky to depend on.

1. Your Body Fat- if you have the access to someone/something that can roughly measure you body fat that may be a better number to think about. I still don’t think this is safe to do once a day… maybe once a week but you still have to remember that things fluctuate. But at least your body fat percentage is just that… a percentage. Depending on who/how you get this done you can probably also see a more detailed breakdown of your water weight/fat weight/muscle weight which would give you a more clearer picture of what that number on the scale really means. But without that level of detail that is all that number is.. just a number. How can you decide how much of you is fat vs muscle if all you are doing is stepping on scale? You can’t. So get off.
2. Your Workouts- count the number of workouts you do in a week. if you are truly a numbers person  you will want to have as many as you can so this may just be a ticket to start “tracking” something
3. Your Diet- you have to be careful here because counting calories doesn’t really mean your healthy. Instead worry about having that BALANCED number that includes fats, sugars, and all of that nasty business that we “stay away from”.  If you like numbers and want to track something daily track what you eat and then look at your breakdown. Are you eating too much fat? Not enough protein? It will help you become more balanced.
4. Hours of sleep- sleep plays a HUGE role in our health. First off, most people’s attitudes depend on the amount of sleep they get. Cranky when you don’t sleep enough? Yep, me too. Not as productive at work when you stay up too late? Join the club.  Don’t count sheep but certainly count sleep.

There are certainly better things to track and worry about in any given day than what a number on a scale looks like. And if its not the scale that holds you back find something that works for you to break you of your bad habit. Like I mentioned, I’m not a big scale person but I have this annoying habit that is similar. When I walk by a mirror (only in private) I lift up my shirt and look at my stomach. This is super embarrassing but it’s about sharing here and hoping to help someone out so I’m telling my secrets. It’s like I think one day I am going to lift up that shirt and a 6-pack will emerge. The little bulge will go away. I’ll see the flattest sexiest tummy I’ve ever seen. And I don’t even have to work for it.

Yea, I know better but I still do it. So it’s not numbers for me it’s more of a “how do I look” issue that I have. Which is really weird because at work I need numbers. So this is something I have to work on and I must be better at brainstorming solutions for other people because I have yet to figure out the best way to stop this. Maybe I’ll hang a picture on my mirror of a strong fit woman so that I can work toward a realistic version of myself. Instead of just hoping for a flat belly.

So morally of today’s post… get off the scale or whatever it is that has you stressed out about yourself. Think about how you feel, the relationships you have. Think about making it through your workout in the evening or that upcoming race you are participating in. Concentrating on your ability to life your body weight and complete 100+ push-ups in one day. Start thinking about the things that actually matter and not about some dumb number you find in your bathroom every morning.

I found this little inspiration and wanted to share it. Remember this next time you step on the scale…