I hate the scale

Although I step on it everyday. It doesn’t matter how I felt prior to the weighing, I notice that I feel different after seeing those 3 numbers. Clothes seem to fit differently. How I appear in the mirror seems to change. I worry that people will see me as a fraud since now my personal life and professional life has been framed around weight loss.

When looking back, I have kept off over 90% of the weight loss and actually feel better now than I did at my lowest weight. I am more physically fit. I am wearing the same sized clothes as I did at my lowest weight. I sleep better. I can run marathons. Last month when I was so distressed about the weight gain, I had actually run (and finished) a marathon 3 weeks earlier and had a wonderful vacation with my family at Disney World the week prior.

I have given too much power to this Bluetooth enabled device which lives in the bottom drawer of my bathroom. I have even taken this on some vacations. This is too much and now it no longer reflects my primary goals or even my health status. It probably doesn’t make a day to day difference for others as well. It is a great conversation starter or initial health risk indicator.

It’s time for me to move on. I am seeking to divorce myself and my health from the scale for irreconcilable differences.

I still find the thought of not getting on the scale scary. Professionally, I know that the scale is a brutal measuring tool that has discouraged more people so far than it has helped. Many people today are closer to the point of stopping healthy behaviors because of a lack of weight loss or slow weight loss or weight gain.

My goal for 2018 is to move beyond using weight to define me personally and professionally. I want to trust my body and use how I feel to gauge my health. I want to MOVE (exercise) because it makes me feel better and I LOVE to run.