Will 2025 Be the Year I Break Up with My Scale?
I recently found myself lamenting to a friend about how all of my jeans were too tight. “I really just need to lose like 10 or 15 pounds,” I told her, half expecting her to respond with what many other people would say: “Same.”
Instead, she told me something surprising. She doesn’t own a scale. In fact, she never weighs herself at home, only at the doctor’s office. Rather than zeroing in on her weight, she focuses on maintaining her workout routine, eating lots of veggie-packed foods, and on how her clothes fit. If she’s suddenly feeling a little less energetic or notices that her favorite sweater isn’t fitting quite right, she makes adjustments to her lifestyle.
I was impressed, to say the least. I feel like I am constantly swinging between my “in shape” weight and my “I need to lose a few pounds” weight. The number on the scale can be discouraging, even when I’m hitting all my other health goals. It can dictate what, or how much, I eat that day—regardless of what I’ve actually planned for my meals. Most importantly, though, it can make me feel really self-conscious about my body, even if I just hit a new personal best in my last workout.
Excerpted from Eating Well
