How often should you weigh yourself (if at all) ?
Should you throw away your weighing scale? Yes-No-Maybe…
Should you not care about the number on the weighing machine?
How often should you weigh yourself?
All this & much more…today, we are talking all about the weighing scale. Stay tuned.
Hi there, how are you doing? This past week, I went on a vacation to the gorgeous Sikkim & Darjeeling and we had a blast. I’m still having a bit of a vacation hangover. It was so so beautiful like every minute we were surrounded with breathtaking nature…
Anyways, coming back to you…in today’s episode, I want to ask you how is your relationship with the weighing scale?
I mean are you aware of how much you exactly weigh?
Or you have a rough idea?
When did you last weigh yourself? Today morning? Last week…last year?
Many of my clients haven’t weighed themselves in years & when I ask them why, the usual replies are
I hate weighing myself or
I didn’t bother
And and also, I also come across women although much less than the former categories who say to me,
Oh, I weigh myself everyday & sometimes, multiple times a day!
So, which category, do you belong to?
Now, let me share with you about my relationship with the weighing scale when I used to struggle with my weight.
First of all, overall, I used to hate the weighing scale.
Like I had this love-hate relationship with it. So, mostly I was averse to weighing myself but when I used to be on some kind of diet, that time, I used to turn into this weighing scale obsessed freak ! Like, weighing myself every single day…sometimes multiple times in a day…
So that was me, long long time back.
Ok, now, I see two school of thoughts about the weighing scale in the weight loss world.
One school of thought is weight yourself every week to monitor your weight loss progress…basically check in once a week..
The other school of thought, which is mostly the approach in the intuitive eating & body image world is to throw away the weighing scale….just banish it from your life!
In my opinion, both these approaches have pros & cons…
And I also think both these approaches are kind of flawed…like they don’t address the real issue…and you will understand why I’m saying this in a moment…so hang on! Ok…
So, today, I want to teach you a new way of using the weighing scale…
What I want you to start practicing from today is weighing scale as a mind tool…
Yes, weighing scale can tell you a lot about whats going on in that primal brain of yours which otherwise you would completely miss if you throw away the scale or avoid climbing on it.
Like, throwing away the scale is just like that frog story…where you know a frog who lives in small well & it pretends that this is the whole world…there’s nothing outside the well…
Or throwing away the scale is like putting hands over your eyes during the day time & acting as if its night!
All the garbage aka the beliefs that make you hate the scale or be obsessed with the scale goes unexamined & that is missing an excellent opportunity to change your relationship with your self actually.
Ok, on the other side, there s nothing wrong in using the weighing scale to monitor your weight loss progress & therefore weighing your self once a week but what Im teaching you today is way bigger & a way more delicious path leading to permanent weight loss & life long body confidence.
So before I explain, how to start using the weighing scale as a mind tool for life long weight freedom, let’s understand why the weighing scale is not the best tool to monitor weight loss progress. First of all, your body is mostly water…and so there is a lot of day to day variation in the number on the weighing scale…like, your weight number fluctuates a lot on an everyday basis…like I’m talking to the tune of 4 to 6 pounds easily along with this plus minus 4 more pounds if you binge or fast…
Also, there are times when you are definitely losing fat and for a week or three, the scale does not budge…and in that scenario, many of my clients get frustrated & binge…no, seriously…this is quite common.
And then there are variations because of hormones, medications, exercise, bowels etc…you get the point.
The most reliable way to track fat loss progress which is what we are actually looking at is through a DEXA Scan…which is not that feasible for a lot of people…
Also, another thing I want to point out is just like throwing away the scale does nothing to transform your relationship with the weight, similarly even if you track your progress through the weighing scale once a week & are aware of the weight fluctuations, you still remain powerless in the face of your weight number.
Like what I mean is when the weight goes down, you will happy…obviously
And when you see the number go up, you don’t like that experience & feel sad or angry or some other negative emotion…
In short, you still are a slave to the number on the scale.
So, is there a way to break free from the weight number jail?
Yes and the way to do this is to start using the weighing scale as a mind tool.
The way I’m suggesting you start doing this is to weigh yourself every single day & get to know what your brain offers you when you do that…
So let me explain this with an example…
Lets say, you get up in the morning and you freshen up & then you climb on the scale & lets say that number is 70 kgs which is 12 kgs higher than your desired weight of 58 kgs…ok.
If you pay attention to what you are feeling, you will become aware of the emotion that you are going to experience at that moment…whether its anger, frustration, sadness, annoyance, disappointment, aversion, hatred, hope, regret, guilt, shame…you become aware & watch what emotion, that number triggers in your body. Ok.
And then you notice what you are thinking…
That emotion that you will feel which you think is caused by the number 70 kgs is actually your guide pointing towards your thought causing that emotion…
So firstly be clear that its not that you weigh 12 kgs more than you desire I.e that 70 kgs “number” is not the cause of your emotion…
It is what you are thinking about that number which is causing you to feel what you are feeling…
What your brain is making that 70 kg mean about you, your weight, your life, your self…ok
So, how do you use the weighing scale as a mind tool?
You watch your thinking that comes up immediately when you weigh yourself…
Some of your thoughts might sound like
Oh, I have become so fat.
When will the weight go down.
I must lose weight.
I should lose weight.
I hate my fat body.
I can never be thin.
I’m destined to be fat.
I can go on and on…right!
So when you watch these thoughts, that is your chance…that is the golden opportunity to learn the real cause of the pain…the actual cause of your weight suffering at that moment is the painful thought your brain wants you to believe and that you have been believing since eons…
You simple watch your thought, become aware of that sentence in your brain…and should I suggest question & explore the truth in it!
When you do that, that is when you get your power back…
When you do that everyday, the weighing scale becomes an awareness tool to know your thinking & shift it to the one that serves you, instead of believing that because you are at a certain number that is why you are suffering…
Listen, until you really really understand not just intellectually but experientially that the number on the weighing scale is incapable of making you feel anything…anything at all…neither happy nor sad…you will continue to be a puppet of the number.
The scale will have the keys to your emotional life which of course is a lie.
You have the keys…you always have the keys…
You create your internal experience by the way you think…its never the external thing or event. Period.
Now when you understand the root cause of the genesis of your experience & then do this exercise every single day, you stay aware… You feel what you are feeling instead of denying it, you watch your thoughts…and there comes a day that you stop taking your self sabotaging & painful thoughts so seriously.
You shift your thinking if thats what you want but simply noticing what you are thinking in that moment is monumental in healing your relationship with the weight number.
There
Listen, the number on the weighing scale is just a number. Its neutral…its neither good, nor bad. Its like excel sheet…you see numbers in there…do you feel anything about those numbers…no, right!
Similarly, the number on the scale is not you nor does it imply anything about you as a person. Right. Decide ahead of time, what you will make that number mean before you even climb on the scale. Thoughts like, I am beautiful, no matter what the scale says…I am working towards my goal weight with all my heart…my body weighs what it weights…this is the perfect weight for today… you know thoughts that are believable & powerful!
So I recommend, you get over your fear or obsession with the number & face the music…face the truth! I don’t recommend you stay unconscious about your body weight number. Don’t be that frog pretending or that child in denial. Weigh yourself everyday & get to know your own brain with curiosity. Better still, write down your weight & your thoughts about it in your journal every single morning.
There will come a day when you will be able to climb on the scale without any hesitation & just not be triggered by it…the number will just be a number for you…that is when you are free..
Thats it for now. If you found this episode valuable, consider leaving me a review on I tunes. That way I will be able to help more amazing women like you. I will talk to you very soon.
