I Had to Break Up With Him

Thirteen years ago I stopped doing something that was very self-destructive. You see, I was madly in love, and mentally he was not very healthy for me...

I ended our relationship... it was hard... but I had to do it. He always made me feel defeated. He made me have low self esteem. He made me angry. He made me feel worthless, fat, ugly and ashamed.  

So one day I had had enough, I looked at him and said "Screw You!" and I threw him out.

I kicked Mr. Scale to the curb!

I stopped weighing myself on a daily basis.

Why you ask?

Because like a lot of women, I had this magic number in my head as to what I “should” weigh.

And whenever I jumped on the scale and that number was off by even 1 pound, it would throw me into a tizzy.

Ugh!

Pissed off! Sad! Defeated! WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER? I do ALL this work for nothing! I might as well DO NOTHING THEN!

-- Those were just some of the thoughts in my head....

And then one of two things would happen...

It would either spark a fire under my butt and I'd go head-long on some fad diet and buy some stupid 5 minute ab video(which I never even looked at)

OR it would hit me the other way...and this was the path I normally took...

It would leave me feeling depressed and defeated and all I wanted to do was wallow in self-pity and use food to comfort myself.

I'd think, well screw it... I might as well eat a gallon of ice cream.... and I would.... and then I'd feel sick and guilty and the cycle continued like that for years... it's very destructive.

I've since realized that Mr. Scale never really loved me. Our relationship was toxic, and I decided it was best to break up with him.

I have learned that he tells me lies and makes me feel terrible. I even went as far as throwing him out of the house.

Good riddance! (on a serious note - I do not own a scale.)

So, instead of using all my energy and focusing on a silly number, I've since shifted my thought pattern and focused on actually doing things to make me FEEL better.

I accomplished that by making simple changes to my eating habits, I added a consistent exercise regimen, my sleeping habits, and I took a good look at how I was managing my stress levels.

To my amazement, the less I focused on Mr. Scale, the more I focused on improving my lifestyle habits. I started to over-all feel better about myself, my clothes were starting to get BIG on me! I started to feel better in my own skin. My self confidence was slowly creeping back into my life.

Defeating my own self destructive habits, and over coming a few scary heath crisis, I am now a huge fitness advocate.

I encourage all of you to break up with Mr. Scale... kick him out of your life -- he is no good for you.

Instead of taking a step on the scale every day, and becoming disappointed or frustrated...and continuing with that self destructive behavior, I encourage you to take a step towards making healthier lifestyle choices.

By doing so, you will mentally feel better about yourself, and you will be making big strides to healthier habits. A happier you!

You are a beautiful human being -- NOT a number.

Love yourself enough to focus on the things that matter to your health... not some silly Mr. Scale. Did you know that 5 pounds is 5 pounds no matter what it is? Sounds silly doesn't it?

Don’t be obsessed with the scale…I’ll tell you why….

As you can see, in the picture to the left, the 5 lbs. of fat is much bulkier and more “spread out”  than the 5 lbs. of muscle.

However, five pounds is still five pounds. Don’t for one minute think muscle weighs more than fat.

 I hear it ALL the time...

“oh muscle weighs more than fat”.

This is NOT true!  Again, I’ll say, “5 pounds is 5 pounds whether it’s fat, muscle, cookies, apples – if it’s 5 pounds it’s 5 pounds.” 

The difference is this…fat is bulky and lumpy so if you carry an extra five pounds of fat, you’ll be lumpier and appear larger than if you had five pounds of muscle.

A five pound pile of fat will take up more space (volume) than a five pound pile of muscle; but five pounds is still five pounds. Get it?  

The correct way to state "the muscle weighs more than fat" statement would be: ”Muscle is heavier by volume than fat.”

A woman weighing 130 pounds with 20% body fat will look much smaller (and be much healthier) than a woman at 130 pounds with 40% body fat.

They weigh the same, yet their body composition is very different. Because muscle is more dense than fat the person with less fat and more muscle will look smaller and leaner.

The person with more body fat will have to worry about potential health conditions that are linked to a high body composition such as; high blood pressure, fatigue, high cholesterol, type II diabetes, and more than likely they will also suffer from lost wages and lost productivity due to having to take sick days because of aforementioned conditions.

So stop being so obsessed with the scale and your body weight and start paying attention to body composition!! This is the number that is sooooooooo very important!!!

How much fat-free or lean weight vs fat weight is much more important than your total weight.

It's my job as a coach, to “un-brainwash” everyone out there who is stepping on the scale everyday. Stop it.

Take care of your body; it's the only place you have to live.

=)