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Years back I paid much more attention to the scale than I should have. I used to wake up every morning, weigh myself and either be happy or unhappy with the number.
Constant weighing can become obsessive and make you down if the number doesn’t match what you want it to say. It wasn’t until I started eating whole, natural foods and consistently exercising that I stopped paying attention to the scale.
When I started ditching processed junk and choosing whole foods my body was given more nutrient dense foods. Less junk in meant less junky energy out. Fruits and vegetables give me much more energy than a candy bar, without a nasty crash later too.
Running has always been my first choice for exercise. You really don’t need much equipment or gear for running. No gym is necessary, just ground around you. Running is excellent for cardiovascular health and calorie burning, but there was this whole other world I had yet to discover.
That world was strength training. The first time I really got into lifting weights was when I completed 12 weeks of P90X. My strength increased immensely and I found that I could eat more, and actually needed to eat more.
I naturally found an eating pattern that I love and since I’ve gained much more muscle than I ever had before I really only have to maintain it now. 90% of my strength training doesn’t even include weights since I do a ton of body weight exercises.
Muscle burns more calories than fat, and it is also more dense than fat so it takes up less space. Instead of focusing on the scale I look at how I feel, how my clothes are fitting and the energy I have now.
Do you weigh yourself every day? I challenge you to change that to once a week. If you are eating whole foods, not over stuffing yourself and exercising (including strength training) than my guess is that your body will naturally find that happy place it should be at.
Heather
I used to weigh myself everyday, but now I focus on building muscle and how I feel and look. 🙂
LOVE THIS!
xoxo
Kathleen
That’s a great focus Kathleen!
Heather, these are such great tips and an informative post. You’re right, relying on the scale will only lead to emotional highs and lows… It’s just about making healthy choices! You have a beautiful blog and I’m so glad to have found it. I’m looking forward to exploring your recipes and seeing more! 🙂 – Georgia
Healthy choices make it much easier to stay on track. Thanks for coming by too! Glad to have you 🙂
I used to live and die by what the scale said, and it was horrible. Now, I still weigh myself, but I try not to let it get me down anymore. I do want to lose some weight, because I’m about 20 pounds heavier than I was last year and my clothes don’t fit right. I refuse to get obsessed about it again 🙂
As long as you are in control of it, a scale can definately be a great tool for weight loss. For me, I know I could get obsessed so I found other ways to keep myself in check. Whatever works for you is the way to go 🙂
Great post! I weigh myself about twice a month, just to make sure things are not “getting out of control.” But I can usually tell by the way my clothes fit anyway… And I love your points about whole foods and strength training. The older I get, the more important they get!
They really are so important for your entire life!
well said heather! I hate the scale, it definitely has the ability to make or break my mood and I hate to admit that!
Great post! Even though I am losing weight now, I don’t allow myself to step on the scale but twice a week — once at home and once at my weigh-in. If I were to do it daily, or even a few times I week I know it would make me a very cranky person…plus, it’s just not a healthy (or helpful!) habit!
I really should stop weighing myself regularly- it just makes me play mind games!
Yeah it can be very much a mind game!
So true. I stopped weighing myself years ago and would instead get my body fat percentage measures once or twice a year. This was great because I could see how much weight in MUSCLE I gained!
I would much rather have my body fat checked too. Bring on the muscle!
I weigh myself maybe once every other week. As long as I’m in my “happy range”, I’m pretty satisfied. Like you, I base it much more on how the clothes are fitting.
A happy range is good to have, especially as women we tend to fluctuate much more than men.
Great post! And I couldn’t agree more! For years, I was a cardio only junky. Once I started bringing strength training into my life, it was like opening a whole new door. Now I teach Body Pump and can’t imagine my weekly workouts without strength training. I also switched to much more natural/clean foods. My tummy issues disappeared and I started to feel better overall.
Same here with the tummy issues… as long as I still stay away from dairy, which can be sad 🙁