Lets rant a bit about scales

It’s a number thats all… just a number…just one indicator of your health.

It’s not how you judge your worth or value. It’s not representative of who you are or what you are. It’s not a measure of your success as a human being.

It’s a number. Nothing more.

We (woman especially) approach the scale with fear and dread, hoping it will tell us how we measure up. We step on that scale as if it’s number can tell us if we are lovable, or desirable. But what you need to know is that the scale is a liar. It can’t tell you what portion of that weight is healthy fat or unhealthy fat. It can’t tell you how much muscle you have, it can’t tell you if you have light bony structure or dense heavy bones.

It can’t tell you if you’re a good parent or if your partner thinks your sexy.

It only measures body weight. That’s all. And if you are judging yourself on that one number only let me tell you from experience that no matter how low that number is it can’t, it shouldn’t define you.

I am a healthy, and pretty damn, fit Grandma and full disclosure here I weigh 175 lbs. I went to the Doctor recently for my annual and it’s the only time I step on a scale, I don’t own one. I am 5’ 9.5” tall, and according to the charts I am over weight. But what that chart doesn’t know that I can do a 2 min plank or run trails (slow but I do it) or throw kettle-bells around like a boss. It doesn’t know that my BP is 100/60 and my total cholesterol is 160.

That lying scale measures only one thing, the tug of gravity on your body. And it doesn’t consider certain variables like water retention, changes in hormones, or how much muscle you have.

Would I like to be a little bit thinner… yes…. Because I have been programmed to think that if I am thin then I will be happy… In Oh so many ways…. Well guys I have been thin, very thin, too thin and I was not happy. Not even close.

There was a time in my adult life, even after having had 3 kids, that I was about 45 pounds lighter than I am now. Wow! I can’t even imagine what I would look like at 135lbs! Gaunt? Emaciated? At my age (nope not telling you that, I gave you my weight, that’s enough) there is no way that would be a healthy weight. I would have to lose all the muscle I have put on in the last few years. Am willing to do that… No. But what then is a healthy weight? And who decides what number we should be targeting?

My doctor? The insurance companies? Self or Shape magazine? And if my BP is with in a healthy range, my cholesterol is on the low side of the normal range and I get copious amounts of exercise, then what does it matter what number comes up on the scale?

If you take my class often enough you hear me say that nothing in the body happens in isolation and that wellness is a layering process. What that means is no one thing makes you healthy and well. No single exercise will make you fit. And that one number on the scale is not the only indicator of health and well-being. Step back and look at the myriad of ways you can improve your overall life and start to layer them, see what works for you and what doesn’t. But don’t rely on only one thing to dictate your life. Remember that your happiness and self-worth are not dependent on reaching one single criteria.

So ditch the scale, or at least use it only as one, just one, of many tools that help you live your best life right now!

Om Shanti

Cheryl

   (p.s. I will turn 58 this year)