Your nerves are building up. Your heart is about to beat right out of your chest. It’s time for the long awaited face-off with the scale to check your progress.
You muster up the courage to take a step onto the scale only to come off with your shoulders slouched in defeat. The most painful part is you’ve had a good week, yet the numbers don’t line up with your efforts. Talk about a punch in the gut! At this rate, why bother?
Ladies, I want to assure you that we have all been there. This week’s episode of the Faith-Based Weight Loss for Women podcast is for any woman who struggles to have a healthy relationship with the scale. I’m here to encourage you that the scale doesn’t dictate your worth or your choices, and it certainly doesn’t have to be your enemy.
How are body image and the scale connected?
Culture perceives success in weight loss as decreasing numbers on the scale because we always want to measure things with quantitative data. We become so obsessed with chasing weight loss that we let numbers define us and drive our motivation to pursue healthy lifestyles.
But, this is dangerous because we fall into a sabotaging pattern when the scale doesn’t affirm the work we put in. The pattern goes like this: if the number goes up, we beat ourselves up. As a result, we end up putting on even more weight because of the negative thought patterns we succumb to in this cycle.
Please don’t let the scale tell you who you are. It doesn’t define you. We are beautiful in God’s eyes, made in His image, fearfully and wonderfully made. If you need to, repent from making it an idol in your life and ask God to show you other wins in your weight loss journey.
Measures of Success Beyond The Scale
In this week’s episode, we talk about the main reasons that the scale is the least effective tool to measure your success with weight loss, contrary to popular belief.
1. The scale only measures your overall weight NOT body specifics.
2. It does not account for non-scale victories (and there are plenty!).
3. Adapting healthy lifestyle habits are so much more important than a number.
You are so much more than the number that pops up on your scale, and there are plenty of non-scale victories to celebrate as you pursue a healthy lifestyle. There are healthy rhythms to incorporate in your journey and other measures of success to look at, too.
If you’re ready to break free from the pressures of the dreaded scale, this week’s podcast is for you!