The Scale, Diet, and Being Healthy?

Do you have to diet to be healthy?
Does the scale run your life and your food choices? Do you live in balance with your scale?

I know these are difficult questions to face. Many have a challenging relationship with their scale.

Measuring Weight, Measuring Health?

The scale on the bathroom floor and the internal one by which we measure our well-being, means health in two very different ways. How we are weighing in on what is going on with our health and in the body are crucial factors as far as I am concerned. I see too many people eating unhealthy and focusing on the number on the scale as their measure for what and how they eat.

Emotional eating and confusing diet-plans cause many to struggle with the number on the scale and many clients come to see me expecting one in my office. There isn't one. I believe we each need our individual relationship to our scale as an instrument of information. I certainly do not want to be using it to measure the progress of my clients since that number is but a number. How we use the information is very important to how we see ourselves. A scale is a measure of relativity.

Much research these days are showing that diets do not work because of the psychological effects they have. YES! Thank You. Finally. Maybe soon we can starting getting rid of all the myths that are being created by sensational weight-loss stories. Stories that mostly just make the majority of dieters feel helpless and worthless - instead of weightless.

The reality is that we change everyday. And with that weight-loss becomes a process of patience. I might get up one morning and I have gained 2 llb overnight. Wow. Wait a minute. I just spent one month losing 4! What is wrong with this picture? The scale is! And that particular morning I actually felt really good -and slender. So those 2 llb must be someone else's!

See the scale gives me a number that I personally and fortunately don't trust much as an indication of my health. Sure it tells me my weight in a given moment. But it does not tell me my true size since muscles weigh more that fat. Nor does it tell me how I feel physically nor does it give me my measure of well-being. Unfortunately though it becomes the emotional well-being for many who struggle with their relationship with the number on the scale.

I do use my scale regularly though. Even though I'm not sure it is actually correct because it is probably about as old as I am. Which means 46 for those who might wonder. So yes, I am supposed to be at the age where it is harder to manage my weight. And I am sure it is for a lot of people. But for me - the scale helps me do just that. It gives me the relativity that I need to stay within a range that I have decided personally works for me. But that is a range of 4 llb more or less.

One reason diets don't work is that the scale holds such power for so many. It directs the mood of the day, the level of self-esteem, and it holds a judgement that we will never win. It is a bit like the stock market. It can go up and down a lot in one day, but reviewing it as a measure of what happens over time, it gives you a tool to keep in range with your goal for weight management. If you choose to even use that. How your clothes fit is probably the better measure to have.

The problem, if we put too much value on the number on the scale, is that we can end up feeling horrible about our weight. With that comes emotional eating, which tends to cause inconsistency in our eating patterns and with that, the number on the scale is not moving or it goes in the wrong direction of what we hope for.

I use my scale as a tool for seeing how well my body is doing. That means. Is my body holding on to too much of yesterdays foods or is it processing it well. This tells me if the food I ate is working for me or not. Does it add to my health or does it drain it?

Weight-loss challenges:

Another reality unfortunately is that it is so much easier to gain weight than to lose. 1 llb per week is a good average weight-loss, but many have heard of these miracle cures where you drop a lot of weight in a few weeks. We are not talking about the same matter of weight though. Water weight and false fat certainly holds pounds and size, but the weight that creeps up on you over time is the fat. That is also what takes more effort to get rid of. This is often why someone hits that bump in the road of the weight-loss journey. Once the initial and more easy false fat comes off, it is time to get into the nitty-gritty and by then most lose the motivation. At this point the progress is slower and it takes more effort.

One must for long-term weight-loss is consistency. But remember, the scale will not be. It will swing. It measures everything. How much water you drank. The amount of food that is in your stomach at a given moment. And what is still in the process of travelling through your body's system on its way to elimination. Which by the way can take a few days depending on what you ate.

So the true scale is the one by which you measure your progress of making healthy choices. With more and more consistency. And then the true size is the one you feel best at. That does not have a number. It has a sound. Ahhhhhh. I feel goooodddd.

Now go put a smiley face on your scale where the numbers used to be or write "I Love Me" in big bold letters. :)

Weight-loss is a process:

Changing eating habits are not easy. As much as we want instant gratification, which is what got us in trouble in the first place, we have to realized that changing eating habits is a process.

1. Give yourself time. The stress from a time goal can cause more anxiety and lead to emotional eating.

2. Learn to understand your body and don't get seduced by promises that are not designed for you. Learn what works for you and why.

3. Miracle cures might work for a short period of time, but most find they gain the weight back and even add more on afterwards.

4. Don't think of a detox as a diet, think of it as the beginning of a new food-lifestyle. Often a detox can be extreme for the body and if not managed appropriately can cause binging afterwards. It is also often mistaken as a quick-fix, when it is really meant to be a cleansing of your body -in preparation for new food choices and future weight-loss plans.

5. Learning about your triggers. Both the ones that cause you to eat and those that cause you to stick to your intentions when you make your choices.

6. Consistency is a must. That does not mean you cannot enjoy a taste of something "unhealthy" but indulging in it does make a difference.

7. Taming your weight is taming your mind, but it is not about will-power. It is a practice of awareness. Learning what goes on inside you so you can develop a new relationship with yourself and your food.

8. Self-Nourishment is a practice of Self-Love. Love is essential for weight-loss. Love comes in many forms. Food is not the only one.

9. Coming to terms with "what is" becomes the best starting point for a new way of eating and living. It does not mean that you are stuck. Denial of "what is" can cause you to have an unbalanced relationship to your weight and your scale.