***Warning: strong language in this post. So, don't read it out loud to your 1st grade classroom***
I used to have a serious ritual about weighing myself.
Wake up. Go to the bathroom.Take off all my clothes. Zero the scale. Weigh myself.
Good number meant a good day. Bad number meant calculations.
I'd consider what could be causing an increase in weight: digestion, salt intake, my menstrual cycle, etc. If I was feeling super confident, I'd just assume it was something simple and totally healthy and move on with my day.
Mostly though, I'd be kicking myself wondering what I could do to fix it and what I did wrong.
Ugh. I don't miss those days.
I'd be lying if I said that I can step on the scale and be totally unaffected by what it says. There's too much in our culture that tells me how important it is. There are too many conversations about weight loss and weight gain and what that means.
So, this week I simply want to encourage every person who reads this blog to stop stepping on the scale.
I know. I know. I know. If you were anything like me, this is like asking a smoker to stop smoking.
Even so, I can directly blame that scale for so many obsessive thoughts, crappy diet lunches and money wasted on diet books. And you, dear reader, probably can too. But, I know you're scratching like a heroin addict because I might be taking that scale away from you.
You're rationalizing:
1. Sometimes the scale makes me feel better when I'm at the weight that I want to be at.
To which I respond, "Why does being at a certain weight affect how you feel about yourself at all?"
Fuck that. You deserve to feel good about yourself regardless of what the scale has to say. You are a lot more than the grams of water or whatever your molecules are holding. Contemplate what really matters in your life. I fully support an existential crisis here with the support of a well-trained mental health professional.
2. If I don't know, I'll obsess all day about whether or not it's gone up or down.
To which I respond, "Why do you need to know? What information does that give you? Are you not going to eat when you're hungry? Are you not going to stop when you're full? Will you not listen to your body tell you what it craves and desires because of the scale?"
Fuck that. Your body is a genius. Doctors don't even know how that it all works. Somehow, your amazing and beautiful body never skips a heartbeat. It never forgets to breathe. It keeps your body temperature within a decimal of its perfect point. It regrows skin. It's phenomenal. So stop trying to control this multifactorial pathophysiology by trying to control one variable.
3. If I'm not paying attention to the scale, I'll balloon up like the girl in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
To which I respond, "Why are you so worried about being bigger? Do you want the world to keep you starved and small?"
Fuck that. Nourish yourself. I've said this about 800 times on this blog but being a size 0 is not the right size for everyone. Here's a video to remind you. Watch that now. Remember there are many beautiful women of many sizes. Follow a plus size model on Instagram or look at pictures of Marilyn Monroe if you need to. Being beautiful is not worth forgoing your own health. If you've ever thought foot-binding is ridiculous, this means you agree with me.
If you still feel like you need to step on the scale or if you've successfully stopped weighing yourself, please let me know in the comments or email me at info@noeljane.com.