Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Ditching an unproductive habit

I think I‘ve decided not to weigh myself for a month.


I need time to focus on “technique” without worrying too much about results. So I’m locking the scale up in the closet and just going full throttle ahead.

People who know me know that this is a HUGE step for me. I weigh myself anywhere from 2 – 4 times a day. I know in my head that is ridiculous, but the crazy OCD part of my brain doesn’t care.

But I sometimes think the weighing can be a real sabotage to what it is I’m trying to do. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a good weigh in or a bad weigh in.

See, I hear voices in my head. The voices of inner demons try to sabotage me at every turn. If I step on the scale and I have lost a significant amount of weight, they start whispering…see you can have this little treat once in awhile. You’re losing so much! One little cheat can’t derail you now ….And if I have a gain or no loss… Well then they start in with… It’s not working, you’re just a fat person, what’s the difference, you’re depriving yourself and it’s not even doing you any good. You should just eat what you want and be happy…

See how completely unhelpful this habit has become?

So starting today- no more scale for one whole month. (at least, if it goes well, maybe longer...) I will measure my success by focusing on how I feel every day. I will mark my progress based on my improved energy and endurance for exercise. I will not succumb to gimmicks to get the scale to start registering a loss again.

And I'm going to take a picture of my body. I love seeing the before and after photos of everyone who does it. Up until now I've always been too chickenshit shy to actually do it. But I kind of want to have a visual record and documentation to get it through to my brain that this is all worth it, and pictures really do show more than a number on a scale, right? That will be tomorrow.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good idea to me! I had to do the same thing awhile ago and I'm glad I did. I didn't lock it away though - I THREW it! I knew if I locked it up I would still be toooo tempted.

    I just recently bought a new one and it does not have the same power as before. I think it's because my priorities are waaay different this time around. This time around it's about taking CARE of my diabetes & taking CARE of my self so I can enjoy the life I have.

    Rootin' for ya!

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  2. I'm the same way: I get hyper-focused on the numbers, and heaven help me if they're not numbers I like (the negative-self talk is pretty awful).

    I weigh and measure once a month. Sometimes, I don't lose any weight, but I'll have lost 4", which makes me happy, too.

    I had a "bad" experience with my progress pics and decided to just let the numbers do the talking instead... hehe

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