I woke up excited and jumped out of bed. Today was the day. Today was the day that I was going to see the scale drop. I went to the bathroom and stayed on the toilet for at least 15 minutes after I was done. Just to make sure there’s nothing left that could impact what the scale said. Then I made sure I was in my lightest pair of underwear and a tank top. I ran to the back room where the scale was kept, took a deep breath, and climbed on.
I worked so hard this week! I feel amazing! I hit so many PRs, my pants are starting to get big. There’s no way in hell that the scale isn’t going to drop!
After what felt like hours, although it was all but a second, the scale finally revealed that I had lost nothing.
Nada.
Zilch.
The scale was the exact same as it was last week and my entire body dropped.
In that moment, my entire day was ruined. The excitement I felt, how proud of myself I was, all of that was gone in an instant. In my mind, I was a complete failure.
Despite the hard work, despite how good I felt physically, despite the PRs and my pants getting bigger, the scale single handedly ripped my good mood from me and took any sort of self worth I had with it.
Have you ever experienced this? Have you been so proud of yourself only to feel as if the scale completely owned you?
This is no way for anyone to live.
I’ve finally broken my addiction to the scale and I’m determined to help women do the same.
I’m going to share with you why the scale doesn’t have any real spot in your health and ‘weight loss’ journey as well as 3 things you can do to measure progress without it.
The scale only shows you your relation to gravity in that exact space in that exact moment.
Your weight can fluctuate up to five pounds a day. So if you weigh yourself in the morning, you’re going to get a different number than if you did in the afternoon. If you move the scale to somewhere else in the house, you’re likely to get a different number then, too.
My question for you is this: why do you want to see a certain number on the scale?
We don’t walk around with a number stamped on our chest. So what’s the reason we care so much about what the scale says?
If you’re so determined to lose 15 pounds, why not chop off your leg? That would assuredly give you the number you want to see.
When it comes to wanting to ‘lose weight,’ we’re so obsessed with the number on the scale and yet we’re wanting things that have absolutely nothing to do with that arbitrary number. We want to look better, fit into a pair of jeans, be able to go to the amusement park or run a marathon. None of these things have anything to do with the scale.
But Karleigh, without the scale, how do you measure progress?!
I’ve got you, boo! Here are my top 3 ways that I measure my progress without even stepping on the scale.
Progress Pictures
This is my absolute favorite way to gauge progress. So many times the scale didn’t move and yet I continually saw progress through pictures. Take this example. In these pictures, there is only a pound of difference as far as the scale goes, but you can see the massive difference in how I look.
My waist is smaller, my gut shrank, my face has more of a defined shape.
If I based my progress on the scale I would’ve been heartbroken.
Every week, take pictures. Front facing, back facing, and to the side. I know for many of us, we struggle with taking pictures. But once you get used to this, it will also help your relationship with your body. You’ll be able to see how your body changes and how freaking magical it truly is.
You will need to train yourself to look for the differences. At first all you’re going to see are all the things you don’t like, so you won’t even see your progress. Ask a trusted friend or someone online (feel free to hit up my DMs!) if you need help seeing exactly how much progress you’ve made. Once you see the changes, you’ll be completely blown away.
NSVs
These are probably the most relevant to your health regarding progress. NSV stands for Non Scale Victory. These are things that show progress that aren’t the scale.
One NSV to pay attention to is how your clothes look and feel on you. Are your pants getting bigger? Do your shirts fit looser? This is a sign that progress is happening. You can see it, feel it, and get excited!
Another NSV is how you physically respond to certain situations. Are you able to walk up a flight of stairs without feeling like you’re going to die? Did you take 30 seconds off of your mile time? Are you sleeping better? These are all signs that your body is getting stronger and healthier. That’s MASSIVE!
Gauge your overall wellbeing
This one takes a little more work but is 100% worth it. Keep a notebook by your bed and every night before bed, rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 on general wellbeing. How did you generally feel today? 1 meaning it couldn’t get any worse, 10 meaning you felt absolutely amazing.
As you do this, you’ll be able to see an upward trend on how you felt. If the numbers are on an upward trend, you’re making progress! Now this isn’t to say that every single day will be a 10. But this is a good way to look back over a couple weeks to see where you started to where you are now. Well being goes up as you get healthier. Frankly that’s the most important part of all of it anyway.
Boo, I want you to see that you are so much more than a number on the scale.
I want you to see that your life and mood shouldn’t be dictated by a piece of plastic. Remember: the scale only shows you your relation to gravity in that exact space in that exact moment. I hope that you will begin to use pictures, NSVs, and gauging your health to measure your progress. You deserve to live a life free of the scale. Your body is freaking amazing and deserves to be treated as such.
To help you on your journey to breaking your addiction to the scale, listen to my favorite episode of the Confidence from the Ground Up podcast. It’ll help you to see just how amazing your body is. Click here to listen!
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