For this week’s Wine & Wellness Wednesday, I want to talk about the scale. Have you ever thought about the impact that your scale can have on your overall wellness?
Think about it. Let’s look at some scenarios.
You’ve exercised daily and feel good about what you’ve been eating & drinking. You’ve been drinking a fair amount of water daily, and you’ve cut back on your consumption of junk food. More salads! Yay you! Then you get on the scale and WHAT?! The numbers are up? What’s your reaction?
You’ve watched what you’re eating and drinking, but you’re not exercising as much as you could. You get on the scale and WHAT?! The numbers are down? Awesome! But…now what?
You’ve exercised daily and feel good about what you’ve been eating & drinking. You’ve been drinking a fair amount of water daily, and you’ve cut back on your consumption of junk food. More salads! Yay you! Then you get on the scale and WHAT?! The numbers are down! Awesome! But…now what?
You’ve watched what you’re eating and drinking, but you’re not exercising as much as you could. You get on the scale and WHAT?! The numbers are up? Well, that’s to be expected, right? But…now what?
Maybe you don’t own a scale. Maybe you judge your weight by how you feel & how your clothes fit. Replace “the numbers are up” or “the numbers are down” in any of those scenarios with “my pants are looser” or “my pants are tighter.”
What’s really baffling is when the scale says one thing and the pants say something else, for example, the scale says “up” but the pants say “down” and OK FINE it’s confusing, but hey, muscle mass weighs more than fat and takes up less space. That’s an entirely different conversation!
If you use a scale, when and how often do you weigh yourself? Every day? Twice a day? Once a week? Once a month? Same time every time? Different times? Before meals? After meals?
My usual habit is to weigh myself first thing on Monday morning, and after I exercise on Mondays, and then again on Friday morning before and after I exercise. I thought about all of these things once recently when I weighed myself after a day of very little exercise and after breakfast the morning after the day of very little exercise. It wasn’t a great feeling. After losing the bulk of vacation weight, and making progress taking the numbers down again, I was up. I was briefly disappointed with myself and then I gave myself a good mental shake and a talking to. “I didn’t exercise yesterday, I had a large dinner, and I weighed myself after breakfast and coffee today. Why?! I know better!”
I didn’t let it affect my mood. I didn’t let it make me think, “Oh, I give up. Nothing I do will make a difference, so why do I bother?”
Everything makes a difference. I bother because I feel better. I check the scale the way I do because I like having the weight numbers to compare. I check my numbers against scales at doctors’ offices. I check my numbers against my past history. For me, it helps me feel I’m making progress and identify ways to make positive changes. And I acknowledge that I won’t always like the numbers, because sometimes I want to have that bag of chips and not worry about it.
As with so many other things in life, multiple opinions exist on whether to use a scale or to skip it. Some even recommend weighing yourself every day. I’m not sure what I think of that idea, honestly! I’m also not sure what I think of skipping the scale for good. I might try both options: skip the scale for several weeks, and weigh myself daily for several weeks, and see what happens.
What about you? Scale or no scale? What’s your thought process and your strategy?
Cheers! Here’s to your health!