When you obsessively weigh yourself, you might use those results either for instant gratification or a reason to beat yourself up. In your mind, a lot rides on that number. Either way, you’re enslaved to the scale and it’s ruling your emotions. It’s ruling how you see yourself. It’s ruling what you eat or how you exercise.
Your scale is ruling your life.
Maybe this sounds familiar…
It’s Saturday morning. Weigh-in day. You have a pit in your stomach knowing you could be headed for instant frustration, anger, and sadness if you don’t see the number you hope. Or maybe weigh-in day is every day, multiple times a day. This means you give yourself multiple opportunities to let your scale rule your emotions each day.
Are you enslaved to your scale?
There are times when weighing yourself is medically useful or required. Or perhaps you have a healthy relationship with your scale and you’re not controlled by what it tells you. But for many people, weighing yourself constantly just isn’t necessary or even healthy.
This is especially true if it’s a trigger for you. And if you’re here reading this, I suspect that’s true.
The scale can be a trigger
If the number on your scale brings you to tears in an instant or ruins the entire course of your day or week, it’s a trigger.
Or maybe if you see the number you were hoping for, it means you give yourself permission to enjoy your day and maybe eat a “cheat meal.”
You have a love/hate relationship with that piece of equipment that sits in your bathroom.
But if you’re subjecting yourself to this rollercoaster of emotions, you’re giving too much power to that small device.
And the thing about triggers is once we identify them, we can choose not to pull them.
After all, the number on the scale is a trigger that’s affected by so many things out of our control, we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. So, once you’ve determined the scale is a trigger for you, make the choice to stop pulling it.
While you don’t have control over the number on the scale, you do have control over when you step on it.
You don’t have total control over the scale
Women’s bodies experience natural fluctuations, and many of us are more sensitive to things like salt intake or bloating than others. In fact, it’s not uncommon for the scale to fluctuate five or ten pounds in a single day.
This is based on all kinds of things, including:
- What you ate that day and the actual weight of the food in your body
- Hydration levels
- Bathroom habits
- Medication
- Exercise
- Alcohol
- Salt intake
- Other biological considerations, including hormones and your menstrual cycle
Even if you’ve been so good, and followed a really strict diet (here’s why it’s time to ditch diets too!), the number you see is ultimately out of your control because of other factors.
So if you’re enslaved to the scale, you’re opening yourself up for the opportunity to feel frustrated, sad, and disappointed by something that wasn’t up to you in the first place.
While the number on the scale may be one thing you can’t control, there are things you can focus on instead. This includes your mindset. Click here for five ways to take back control, even during uncertain times.
It’s a source of comparison
Let’s say you have a friend who’s the same height as you.
She casually mentions her weight one day, and you decide it’s time to weigh yourself so you can compare. You discover that you weigh quite a bit more than her and you’re instantly upset.
But here’s the thing: body composition plays a MASSIVE role in weight.
You and your friend don’t have the same make up of muscle or fat mass, or even bone mass. So expecting you to weigh the same or using that as a marker of where you should be simply isn’t accurate or even helpful.
In many ways, we have a natural instinct that drives us to compare ourselves to others. But if we use this comparison as a benchmark of our good-ness, worthiness, beauty, or any other quality, it becomes dangerous.
While you’re here, take a look at these five steps to help you stop comparing yourself to others.
It’s time to stop being enslaved to your scale
So, what do you say? Are you ready to stop being enslaved to your scale?
Let’s work together to help you shape a healthy perspective about your weight, food, self-acceptance, exercise, and much more. Whether you’re looking for one-on-one support or group and community services, there’s an option for you.
Book your free BodyJoyful Breakthrough Call today
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