Watching the Scale- Should We Love or Hate the Numbers?

     I have a confession to make; I'm terrible when it comes to watching the scale. Even when I wasn't working out regularly I obsessed over the number. I think it's a by-product of when I wrestled in school; you had to hit a certain number in your weight so you could wrestle in the weight class so that you could be successful. You didn't necessarily want to be 5'5" and wrestle at the 220 heavyweight class...you'd die! So we worked our tails off to where we could be at a competitive weight class.

     So it has gone since those long ago middle school days--I check the scale. If it's higher than what I ~think~ it should be, I get mad and determined to do better. If it's in what I've deemed an acceptable range, I might drink a chocolate milk or eat something that's not exactly good for me as a little treat.

     Since we've been working out more regularly, I've tried to realize that it's not about this number. Instead, it's about the way you feel and whether or not you are physically getting healthier. The number on the scale is sometimes a by-product of the work that we do, but the main focus should be on the way we feel.

Do we feel healthier?

Has our mentality/mood changed for the better?

Is our self-perceived body image getting better?

     If the answer to those questions is yes, then we are doing good work. We should work out to feel better and get healthier-not recognize more and more areas of improvement until we obsess over the things we think are not aesthetically pleasing.

     I still struggle with this daily. It's an alarming fact that my 2 year old often plays with the scale because he has seen me on it so many times. I want to be healthy so that I can be with my family for a long time, but I understand that it needs to be more than a number on a scale. I want my body to reflect the positive changes I've made, I want to see progress; but I don't want to obsess over it.

     It's a journey and a struggle to find this happy balance between positive body image and actually "seeing" a result. I need to be happy with the fact that my doctor says I'm more healthy now than I was a year ago. I need to be happy that clothes are fitting better than they used to.

....regardless of the number on a scale.

How do you balance out between positive body image and "results"?