Ditch the Scale!
How many of us were programmed to believe a multitude of things growing up that we later discovered was not true? Whether it was cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis, sitting too close to the TV will blind you, having the dome light on is illegal when the car is moving, your tongue will turn black if you say a curse word, etc. You may not relate to these personally, but at the end of the day, I bet you everything in my bank account that there was something you have been programmed to believe that is far from the truth.
Throughout my life, I was programmed to believe that the number on a scale played a crucial role in assessing if I was in shape or not. I was programmed to believe that, somehow, a number was the answer to everything that I needed to know about my physical health. Even to this day when you go to the hospital for a check-up, your weight is measured, your height is written down, and you’re given a number that ultimately tells you if you’re as healthy as day, or, well, if you’re one lunch away from cardiac disease. I remember leaving the hospital once with crushed self-esteem because I was told that I was borderline obese due to the number on the scale (I was not).
As my passion for physical fitness has grown over the years, I have realized that the system of weights and BMIs is erroneous, and there are better ways to assess your health. With this being said, here are some reasons why you should ditch the scale…
Your weight fluctuates
Your weight can increase by 4 lbs alone throughout the day! The reason why can depend on how much water you did or did not drink, how much you ate throughout the day, if you’ve passed any stool throughout the day, etc. It is an injustice to yourself to weigh yourself day after day and critique yourself due to a number that may grow or decrease (depending on your goals) here or there. The number on the scale should not be the only data-point you used to determine your health. Just like a thorough research analysis cannot be completed with one sample, neither should the analysis of your health.
Muscle weights more than fat
Grab 5 people who weigh the same and I guarantee you they will all look differently. It is not the number on the scale that determines what your body actually looks like. It is the breakdown of muscle and body-fat composition within the body. Often times we become so obsessed with reaching a certain number on the scale, we lose sights of what really matters. Ultimately, it’s how you look and how you feel that plays the biggest role. With this being said, one pound of muscle vs one pound of fat is not synonymous in the slightest as muscle is of denser quality. You can weigh more than you do today and look like you weigh less, because, well, the numbers lie.
Progress is much more than the number on the scale.
There are sooo many ways that you can track your progress in terms of physical health. Maybe you feel less grumpy when you wake up in the morning? Maybe you notice a change in your sleeping patterns? Maybe you feel more optimistic than usual? Maybe your clothes fit better? Maybe you’re stronger than before?
Protects your mental health.
The obsession with the scale has been linked to many insecurities within our youth which often leads to eating disorders, severe depression, and anxiety. Imagine living a life where your mental health is heavily influenced by the number on a scale, and that number alone is constantly fluctuating. What would that look like for you? Life is about so much more than this.
If you are living by the number of the scale, you are living in a stressful unreality. As mentioned earlier, a thorough research analysis can only accurately be done with an accurate amount of quality data. If I am studying how drinking orange juice everyday affects the human-body, I’d need several individuals to research to form a standard hypothesis, not just one. The scale is not the only player in the game of health, and many would often argue it is the LEAST valuable player.
It’s time to rethink the way we assess our own health, and I’m here to help.
