Jump Around

Photo by i yunmai on Unsplash

The ever changing number on the scale.

Up 2 pounds, down .4, up 1, up .2, down .8…

I have written before about keeping faith when the scale does not budge, keeping faith when it goes up when you have not changed anything, feeling pleased when it comes down for no apparent reason, or because you have worked hard.

I have also shared here that I started weighing myself every day about 20 years ago, long before I struggled with my weight (in fact - that was how I became aware that I was on an unwanted upward trajectory). Over the last 6 weeks or so, the scale has really been jumping around - for no reason I can see - so I thought I would revisit the power we give to the scale.

I share this because I know I am in good company with this struggle around the number. If we let it, this will make us crazy and derail all of our efforts. I have been in this numerical range for well over a decade, and the scale still gets to me.

What I know now, that I used to not know, is to check and change my thoughts when I get a number that confounds. I remind myself that my weight is still in the range I want, that my behaviors are solid, and that it is one measure/reflection of my efforts. And what I know now is that our weight is affected by everything - including our emotional state. I remind myself that my body (and yours too) is a sensitive, sensational and perceptive workhorse that may or may not accurately reflect my actions or experiences on the previous day(s).

Sometimes I struggle with the number, other days I am more easily able to let it go. The difference is all in the way I think about it. If I find myself frustrated it is always because I am giving too much power to the number. Once I recognize that, I have the opportunity (again - for the millionth time) to remind myself that is a piece of data, not a moral judgement.

Focus on your actions and behaviors and you will get where you want to go. Use the scale as one measure of success, not THE measure of success. Easier to say than to do, and yet…that’s the only way to go.