Why You Need To Stop Weighing Yourself

I used to be addicted to the scale.

Every morning, like clockwork, I would go to the gym, come home, go to the bathroom and jump on the scale.

That number staring back at me dictated my mood for the whole day.

If it was the same or lower than the day before, I was happy. I felt ‘healthy’. I felt in control.

If it was higher, I felt out of control. I would beat myself up, exercising a little harder, eating a little less.

Whilst getting to a certain weight or being skinny was never my aim, that number to me was a direct reflection of being ‘healthy’. In a society where health and weight are inextricably intertwined, I believed that by losing weight, I was doing everything I could to be healthy.

Very quickly, that number became my addiction. I lived by the number on the scale and nothing would get in the way of it.

I used it to control my food intake.

To control my exercise.

To control what I couldn’t control.

It was a toxic cycle. One that I couldn’t get out of alone. And one that I needed my loved ones to help me with. Owning up to my addiction and throwing out the scales was the most powerful thing I did to heal my relationship with food.

Fast forward time, one thing that I see far too often in my clinic is women, of all shapes and sizes, feeling these same feelings. Holding onto that number with such power that it becomes, in some cases, the most important thing in one’s life.

To all the women out there, young or old, underweight or overweight, I want you to know that when you stop weighing yourself something beautiful happens.

Slowly, you stop punishing yourself.

Slowly, you stop saying no to things involving food.

Slowly, you become kinder to yourself.

You start listening to your body, indulging at the right moments, and knowing that there won’t be repercussions staring back at you the next morning.

You allow yourself to eat what and how much you feel like.

And if anyone has gone through similar things, you know how powerful that sentence is.

I found that when I stopped weighing myself, I was calmer around food. It opened more room for food spontaneity. I no longer felt like food was working against me. Rather, it was finally supporting me.

If this war with weight resonates with you, I want you to know that you are so much more than the number on the scales. You are not a reflection of your weight, not now and not ever. In fact, you are so much more than that.

In fact, that number is just that, one number.

When you step on the scale you aren’t taking into account so many other variables.

That number doesn’t take into account how kind you are. How smart you are. How funny you are. All things that define who you are, way more than a single number ever could.

It also forgets to tell you how much of a kick-ass friend and daughter you are. Or how much fun you had on that night out, dancing away with your partner. It doesn’t tell you how much it meant to your mum, that you ate her dinner and went back for seconds.

If you aren’t sure how much the scale impacts your life, I would encourage you to take a break from it for 3 months. See what happens. I promise you, it will only get better from here.

It isn’t until you step away from your addiction, that you realise how much control it had over you.

On your break with the scale, I want you to take note of how you feel. If fear comes to the surface, explore it.

I want you to ask yourself, do you ever notice if your friends or partner loses or gains a few hundred grams or kilos? Nope! So why should it be different for you? And if you are fearing putting on a few kilos, why? Are you afraid that you won’t be as liked or as attractive? If that is the case, get rid of those toxic people in your life making you feel like this. Because in all honesty, I think the most attractive people are the ones living their life, not giving a flying cahoots about what they weigh. Those that are comfortable in their own skin.

What I hope for you is that you begin to feel less anxious around food. That you start to feel more relaxed.

Maybe, you might even realise, that life carries on beautifully without knowing that number.

Here for you, always.