Breaking Up With Your Scale: Reasons Why You Are More Than Just A Number

Everyone has a morning ritual. Your alarm goes off at 7 AM, just in time to shower, eat a little bit of breakfast, and run to class. Or, this was the plan you had set the night before but hitting the snooze button one too many times got the best of you and you roll out of bed 10 minutes before class starts. Whether you get up an hour before or wake up with just enough time to throw on some yoga pants, you always make sure you are able to find time to step on that scale and check your workout/diet progress. Does this all sound familiar? While your scale gives you that magic number that you have come to rely on, always remember, it is just a number. Instead of being committed to your scale, it might be time to break up with it and here are some reasons why:

1.     Weight isn’t everything. The number on your scale isn’t always right and often doesn’t tell the whole story. Your scale weight is always fluctuating from factors such as food and beverage intake, the time of day you choose to weigh yourself, dietary choices, and activity levels.

2.     Scales say nothing about your personal health and blind you to results. Your scale makes you focus on food and doesn’t reflect personal progress. You could be sleeping better, have more energy during the day, notice you can run for longer periods, and yet you are still frustrated because the number on the scale won’t move. The scale doesn’t take into account your personal definition of health and what it looks like in your life.

3.The number on your scale is just a number; don’t let it define you. These magical boxes that we have come to know and love are not always accurate and can create more problems than they are worth. Checking your weight once a week can turn into everyday, which can eventually spiral into low self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders. You don’t need to know your weight in order to be healthy. Be proactive, throw that scale away, and get back to focusing on maintaining a healthier self-worth. The sooner you ditch it, the sooner you can be a more healthy, positive you inside and out. 

You are worth so much more than a number on a scale. Realize and appreciate all that your body can do and does do for you. Instead of weighing yourself everyday, keep a list of ten things that you love about yourself on your mirror. None of what you put on that list can be related to what you weigh or what you look like. Meditate on them and reassure yourself because “true beauty” is a state of mind, not body. You have to have a healthy mind in order to have a healthy body. Don’t analyze specific parts of your body, look at yourself as a whole and remember how wonderful and unique you are. Put the time and energy that you spent worrying about food and calories into something more rewarding. Join a new club, volunteer to help others, or even take time to spoil yourself every once in a while. Life is too short to spend another day at war with yourself. Now, break up with that scale and throw it away because you don’t need it to tell you how beautiful you are. It is time to get back to a healthier, happier you in mind, body, and spirit.

“To love yourself as you are is a miracle, and to seek yourself is to have found yourself, for now. And now is all we have, and love is who we are.” -Anne Lamott