I used to be someone who religiously weighted themselves as soon as I woke up before food, water and vitamins and would let that number dictate the mood, training and food choices for my day.
Scale up meant time to cut the carbs and up the cardio, scale down meant I was being good and was deserving of a treat, rest day or to wear a crop top. I was a slave to the scale number, letting it control how I viewed myself and my worth. Every workout I would twist and turn in the gym mirror making sure I looked the exact same way I did before, begging the mirror and scale to confirm my worth. My lifestyle was bound by how much weighed and my entire fitness routine was focused on getting the number as small as possible.
Making the shift from traditional body building workouts to functional crossfit style training was one of the biggest factors that contributed to me letting go of my obsession with the scale. There were no mirrors at the box, so I could constantly pick and stare at my stomach during my workouts and as I began doing more functional fitness style workouts my body composition rapidly began changing and I started to realize that that number meant little to nothing about my physical fitness or even the size of my body. I saw people of all sizes, shapes and walks of life at the gym and some of the best athletes at my box were people who were older or of different body shapes than my own.
Crossfit helped me see that I could weight anything and not only be fit and lean but also be an incredible athlete. It also helped me to see fitness as functional for life not just a function of weight loss which in turn greatly shifted my mindset about my body and lifestyle choices. So I started to weigh myself less and less. I have been relying more on photos to help me see my body change and to my surprise as my weight has fluctuated a lot in the last 2 years since starting crossfit style training my clothes still fit, nothing is tight. The only thing that has changed is my body’s relationship with gravity and hell maybe I grew a cup size along the way due to my hair re-growth process! So why let such an insignificant number control so much of my happiness?
I say screw the scale! I would rather rely on other metrics to track my progress when working towards an aesthetic goal than be a slave to the digital number gods. The scale is helpful if you are just starting your weightless journey but I highly recommend tracking other metrics such as measurements and progress photos to help inform changes to your weight loss plan.
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