This morning after weighing myself I handed Lindsay (my rommie and best friend) my scale and told her to put it somewhere I wouldn't see it. Because for the next 12 weeks I'm not weighing myself. I'm going to eat healthy, do all my workouts, and not weigh myself the entire time.
I know that can seem a little intense. And I'm sure you're wondering why I can't just leave my scale on my bathroom floor and not weigh myself. But my friends, it's not that easy for me.
7 years ago I was working for LA Weight Loss and was the skinniest I had ever been in my adult life. I felt good. I looked good. And I was completely neurotic about weighing myself.
You see, I knew more about healthy eating and nutrition than most people and I was losing weight the healthy way. I was also counseling people to lose weight themselves. And I loved it. I loved getting to know people on a one on one basis. I loved helping them. I loved coming up with yummy creative and healthy meals for them. I especially loved when people were stuck in their weight loss and we would come up with a plan to break through their plateau and then having them burst into the office the next week having lost a couple pounds. It was probably the most satisfying job I've ever had because I could physically see the difference I was making in people's lives. But all good things come with a price and the price for me was that it was an intense sales job and I didn't necessarily believe in the supplements and expensive products they were pushing us to sell. And also it made me a complete crazy person when it came to weighing myself. And when I say crazy I mean off the chain crazy...
I would weigh myself in the morning at home right when I woke up, on the work scale when I got to work, after lunch, and then again before bed. (Ahhhhhh!!!! It feels so good to admit that.)
So I looked good. I felt good. But was a crazy person and obsessed with the number on the scale...
When I got my current job at First Community it was in a walmart branch which means that every delicious thing I ever wanted was right there. White nacho cheese, chips, soda, frozen pizza, and many other lovely but terrible for you items. And that's when my weight moved up and the string of diets began, and each time my obsession with the scale came back. I feel like I spent my first 3 years at the credit union gaining and losing the same 20lbs. And then at the end of 2009 when I went through some really hard personal stuff I gained a ton of weight. Then I lost a lot of it and then I gained it again. And the whole time I was obsessed with the scale.
Recently I've been thinking about all of this and what it means for me and who I am. And you know what I've realized? I'm letting the scale control me. A piece of metal, plastic, and electronic equipment is controlling me. Controlling me with a number. A number that I'm letting determine my self-worth. And that's just ridiculous. God didn't create me to let me be controlled by a number. It doesn't matter if I (or you) weight 120lbs or 300lbs we all still mean something. And what matters more than any of that is that I am healthy and you are healthy. So that's where the next 12 weeks come in.
12 weeks of eating healthy. 12 weeks of cardio (moving more) everyday. 12 weeks of Tone It Up workouts. 12 weeks to a better, stronger, happier me who isn't controlled by a number on a scale.
So I'm asking you to join me! Even if you aren't quite as obsessed with your scale as I am, I think it will be good to put it out of your mind and focus on a healthy body. And as long as you're eating healthy and moving more the number on the scale will never matter.
Who's in for 12 weeks to a better you???
Signed: Sorry I've been MIA for a couple weeks. But I'm back! :)
