Picture it: You’re on a rollercoaster with sharp turns and fierce loops, and just when you think you’re going to come down, you begin to go back up! Higher and higher! Faster and faster! It would be exciting, but you don’t know how to stop the ride!
Lots of women are on that very rollercoaster. The problem is it’s not at an amusement park, it’s with something far more serious–their health! Those same ladies often seek out a nutrition and health coach because they are STUCK on that roller coaster ride and it’s scarier than they ever imagined! They’re stuck at seeing the scale go UP and not come back down after days of grueling workouts and eating “clean”. They simply don’t have a CLUE why the scale is not indicative of the efforts they have made. And many times this frustration leads them right back to where they started, lazing around and eating the processed food they were one used to.
The Scale Isn’t Always Right
What if I told you that sometimes the scale is broken? What if I told you that sometimes the scale is not measuring your current body fat? And what if I told you that sometimes you can be making progress and the number on the scale may increase?
Several factors go into the number on the scale and many times it is not the best measure of success when it comes to health goals. This is because weight reduction or a superb aesthetic build doesn’t necessarily mean that the individual is as healthy as they can be. Sometimes carrying a little extra weight IS still healthy!
In the world of photoshop, tanning, and flaunting six-pack abs on social media, one would think they MUST mimic this look in order to be at their healthiest. Actually, that’s b.s. Many of those “social media stars” you see use drastic measures to achieve the look you see and many of them are also miserable in the process.
I don’t know about you, but I prefer a life where I’m able to actually ENJOY the process of whatever I’m doing. So I find myself looking for ways to grow in a way that GIVES me LIFE rather than SUCKS life out of me. Sometimes that means forgetting about agonizing over a few pounds difference on a scale.
The great news is that the number on the scale WILL move in the “right” direction if you lose a significant amount of body fat. But worrying about a few pounds up and down in the last few days doesn’t do anything for you except make you feel like a loser.
What the Scale Doesn’t Say
What does that number tell you about the number of vegetables, fruits and whole grains you’ve increased in your diet over the last few days or weeks? What does that number tell you about the number of increased days you decided to take a walk with your friends or family when you would’ve ordinarily scrolled social media an extra 3 hours that week? What does that number tell you about the number of other women you’ve also inspired and influenced to adopt a healthier lifestyle where they feel more energized than they’ve felt in the past 15 years?
So, STOP focusing solely on the slight variations in the number on the scale and measure success in other ways WHILE you are steadily incorporating healthier habits into your everyday life. Once you take this approach you’ll stress less often about where you think you SHOULD be based on someone else’s standards and instead focus on being the BEST you that you can be.
Here are just TWO ways you can focus on being the BEST you that you can be.
- Measure health success by how fulfilled you are in your life. If you’re not fulfilled chances are that you are not living your purpose. When overwhelmed women come to me for guidance on how to thrive in life we often begin with how they can begin living their purpose. Time and time again they begin to make healthier choices and focus less on what number is on the scale to determine their worth.
- Ask your closest friends and family how you show up and add value to their lives. Oftentimes we forget to focus on how we can serve others. Focusing on a stupid number on the scale sometimes puts us in the dumps and we forget how amazing we are in this world.
Now, I know you may be thinking that this reads well on paper. But how on Earth do you even get started with thinking this way when you’re constantly bombarded with opposing messages from society?
Start with knowing that it’s not easy to think this way ALL the time and get connected with a community of empowering women like the ones in my Nutrition 4 Busy Women Facebook group, where we worry less about six-packs and more on how to live just right for US! My focus as an international holistic health and wellness coach is to ensure that I help you THRIVE according to your own measure of success!
Thanks for reading! Comment below with any experiences you may have had with using the scale during your healthy lifestyle journey. Then share this article with other women who sometimes focus way too much on that roller coaster ride which sometimes damages their self-worth.
To Our Health and Happiness,
Ebonie
xoxo
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