Embracing the Scale

I have been thinking a lot about how I am going to lose weight. It would be impossible to count how many times I have been in this very same place – ready to start something and unsure about what or how. In the past, one of my biggest hang ups is that I didn’t like to weigh myself. For years I didn’t even own a scale and rarely knew how much I weighed. When I joined Weight Watchers and had to weigh in, I would get discouraged especially if I thought I had really worked hard, and the number would not reflect my effort. One week of bad news could throw me into a tizzy of frustration and unhappiness – and that, at times, was enough to just quit. So if stepping on the scale is such a “horrible” thing, I should just not do it, Right? Can’t I just judge how I am doing based on how my clothes are fitting? Plus, the scale doesn’t accurately tell me how I am doing, because “muscle weighs more than fat”. And, many experts have told me that it is not good to always weight yourself.

At least these are all the things I told myself…but with this wisdom, how have I done? Not very well – I have gained back much of the weight and my eating and working out are not consistent. Clearly that’s not working for me. This time I need to think differently.

So, instead, I am embracing the scale. Perhaps it is not the enemy – instead it is friendly tool to guide me through this weight loss. I am aware that it does not know my entire story and that there will be weeks when I may be discouraged by what it has to say. But if I remember that, like a good friend, it is truthful and will remain loyal, especially in the long run.

With this revelation, I visited my “good friend”. And, you know what?…although the number was not pleasant to see, the experience was not that bad – it was even a bit freeing. And, more importantly if gave me a starting point and I am ready to face the challenge. So here it is: my goal is to lose 40 pounds by my birthday (August 4th). And, curiously, I already know that I will succeed and am excited about this part of my journey.