The scale is a tricky entity. It plays tricks on you. First thing in the morning, you go to the bathroom to empty your bladder, next you strip down, get buck naked, and step on the scale with one eye half open praying and hoping the number has gone down. You look down and nope, it didn’t go down.
Sound familiar? I know it did for me. The number displayed dictated whether I was good enough, or whether I had to diet harder to get the scale to move in my favor.
The scale is not the only measure of progress, and if it causes you heartache, I suggest you smash the thing and never look back. That pesky thing is only one measure of progress. You have many other things that you can look at while you are losing fat.
Non-scale victories can be way more important than what the number displayed on the scale.
For example, here are 5 scale victories that many of my clients have experienced outside of the scale.
- You got 3 workouts in this week and you took 3 leisure walks.
This is a big deal, especially when you have a busy life, you work a full-time job, and have a household to take care of. Don’t discredit the accomplishments of getting in the gym 3 times a week.
- Your favorite jeans from AE fit so much better!
Nuff said! You slip on your favorite jeans that were pretty snug before, and now they fit like a charm.
- Better Blood Pressure
We often forget these types of victories because we focus so much on what we can see and what our body looks like. We forget about how the inside is doing. Exercise will definitely improve your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your lung capacity, and your heart.
These are huge areas of progress. Remember this – a fit-looking body isn’t always a healthy body. Ab shots, tight glutes, and defined glutes do not mean you have a clean bill of health. Most of those fitspo people you may look up to got that ripped by doing unhealthy things that are not sustainable.
Fitness isn’t just about muscle and 6 pack abs.
- Hit 5 push-ups
Hitting body weight exercises like push-ups and pull-ups are usually no small feat. So, when you hit that challenge, celebrate like nobody’s business. Share it, brag about it. It’s a big deal!
- Ran a mile without stopping
If running a 5k or something of that nature is your goal. Go for it; crush it. You finally made it a mile without stopping. Only time will tell before you’re running a 5k without stopping and making good time. Celebrate it!
The scale is not the end all, be all when it comes to your health. Chasing an ideal weight is fleeting and definitely discouraging. Time and time again, you get to that magic number and you’re still not happy. You never will be happy with the number on the scale because your worth isn’t found in a number. I encourage you to look at your health markers, your body composition (inches lost), and the way your clothes fit. Not only are these things better to look at, but the real change will start from the inside – out!
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