Fitness and Feeling Good or: How I Learned to Live Without Getting on the Scale Every Day
Okay, I know this may seem like a weird post for someone participating in the Fit Club, but stay with me on this. I started this out by getting on the scale every day, sometimes several times per day. I was completely obsessed with the "numbers".
Then came the day when I was running late (yeah, okay, never heard the alarm go off) and I had to just get ready and head out the door for work. It was also the morning that my pants fit. Not just fit better, but FIT. Wow, I was so excited. I couldn't wait to get home at lunch time and get on the scale and see how much I had miraculously lost overnight. I didn't eat or drink anything all morning. Came home, got on the scale, BAM! It said I had actually GAINED a pound. What?!?! I picked it up, shook it, got on again. Same thing. Moved it around the bathroom to find a "better spot" to weigh myself. Nope, still up a pound. Stupid scale. What the heck? I was terribly disappointed. I just couldn't believe it. How could that be? How could I have gained weight but my clothes fit like they hadn't in...forever?
I spent a lot of time thinking about it and that's when I realized something. What I was trying to do was more than just lose weight, it was also to get fit. And that's exactly what I was doing. I was exercising, eating healthier and smarter, and getting myself fit. I no longer had to lie down on the bed to zip up my jeans when they came out of the dryer. I was pulling my belt in another notch. I had more energy. I was getting fit!
So now, halfway through this thing, I get on the scale once a week for my weigh-in. I own it, it does not own me. I gauge my progress towards "fitness" with how I feel and how my clothes fit. And, I've actually reached the point where I can wear clothes I had shoved in the back of my drawer for "maybe someday" (like the Scout shorts!). In fact, I'm going out today to get myself a new pair of jeans (which is really cool since I won them as a weekly prize in the Slim-Fast contest!).