It’s that time again…time for the monthly weigh-in! If you’ve been following my blog since the start you’ll know that this has been a bit of a yo-yo journey, both physically and mentally.
For the last couple of months, I’ve been working on accepting the numbers as they are – regardless of if they stay the same or go up a little bit. It’ been quite challenging and has really highlighted that there is a lot of work I need to do in this area to un-do all of the diet culture programming that’s stuck in my brain.
Taking a different approach
So following the last two monthly weigh-ins and the not so positive thoughts that I attached to these, (one month because I put on 3lbs, the other because I stayed the exact same weight) I decided that I really needed to approach this month differently. A pattern was emerging, and not one that I wanted to continue – so time to do things differently.
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed a change in the way I view my body (a result of many influences) and this has had a really positive impact on my confidence. By all means, I haven’t got it all sussed and I still have my body-conscious days, but I can certainly feel it’s a shift in the right direction.
Here are a few different ways I’ve started to change the way I think about my body:
Celebrating what my body can do – I’m often in awe at just how amazing the human body is. It’s incredible when you think about just how much it does without even consciously thinking about it – like keeping us alive! Lots of people compare the body to a machine but I think it’s so much better – because this “machine” is working exclusively for you! It’s built to support you in a way that bespoke to you and your needs. It’s one of a kind and can’t be replicated..that’s pretty cool.
Feeling thankful for what my body lets me do – My body enables me to do and experience so many things. From seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, running, dancing, singing – and that’s just the first few that came to mind. I feel very fortunate that my body enables me to explore and experience with few (if any) limitations- something that I know some out there don’t have the luxury of – so I try to not take this for granted.
Taking care of my body – So with the above two in mind – I need to make sure I look after my body so that it can keep doing the amazing job of helping my live my life. This happens in a variety of ways, from exercise, nutrition and a good ol pamper sesh! When I’m looking after my body – it feels good on the outside and inside.
Stop worrying about what I’m wearing – For years I’ve been victim of the “I can’t wear that because of my (insert body-shaming excuse)!” But what I’ve realised is…all that matters is how I feel in the clothes I’m wearing. It’s not always about what it “looks” like, sometimes it’s about comfort, or keeping you cool or practicality (take sports bras for example – not necessarily sexy but ESSENTIAL for any kind of exercise). I’ve seen many great posts recently that talk about bikini bodies. “Put a body in a bikini – it’s a bikini body – no other effort required” and I love that. Whilst I haven’t actually got myself a bikini yet, I have started to be a bit braver with my clothing choices and embracing the curves I’ve been blessed with!
It’s all about perspective – We’re all very good at studying ourselves under a microscope. When we find something we don’t like (for example a wobbly stomach) it’s easy to just focus on that without seeing how that fits in the grand scheme of things. Yes, I may have a curvy wobbly stomach…but not only does it let me eat all the delicious food I want, it helps give me a great hourglass figure! 😉
Something a little different
So with all of this going on – I was in two minds as to whether I should even step on the scales this month. What is it I’m doing it for? The answer, to help remove this whole mindset I have attached to it!
If I’m honest – I kinda forgot all about the weigh-in this week (work’s been mental) until I wrote my blog post on Wednesday. I made an agreement with myself that I was going to take away any emotion or reaction to the “result” of the weigh-in this week. Part of this was probably to help me manage the expectation that I probably wasn’t going to change all that much.
But then something unexpected happened…
I got on the scales – and the number was lower than last month. As always – I got on and off a few times (you know, just in case they were lying 😅) and they said the same thing (surprise surprise) – I lost 4lbs.
Now I had to instantly take control of my mindset and resist the urge to get excited about this. This isn’t a celebration, this isn’t a “good” thing – it’s a fact – I lost 4lbs – that’s it!
It was trickier than I thought to initially stamp on that positivity. It may seem like a strange approach – why disregard something that makes you happy? Well, I first have to ask myself – WHY does that fact make me happy? In my “old” way of thinking, this would make me happy because I felt like I had succeeded, one step closer to achievement, one step closer to happiness. The reality – no magic weight loss goal or number on the scales is going to give me long term happiness. I am basing my success on societal pressure to “be thin”, comparing myself to others and being something I’m not – it just doesn’t fit with my goal of Being un-apologetically me.
If I’m not going to beat myself up for putting on weight, I’m not going to celebrate losing weight either. Both of these thought patterns just feed into the mindset of “your success is measured by what the scales say”.
I’ve said it many times before – Sorting my shit out physically isn’t about reaching a “goal” weight – it’s about making changes to help me live a happier, healthier life! Looking after my body so that I can go out and experience all the amazing things life has to offer. I feel like I’m definitely on the right path and I’m getting so much fulfillment out of the things I am doing – My body has felt the best it’s ever been!
Now that feels so much more satisfying than a -4lbs which let’s face it, could just as easily go back on again in a month’s time.
Practice makes progress
These monthly weigh-ins aren’t something that I see myself doing forever. For now it’s serving a purpose, and that’s enabling me to get a better understanding of both my body and my mind.
It’s been great that I’ve been able to make progress in my mindset this month, but I know that if I want this to be a permanent change…I need to practice this skill. No doubt that some months may be easier than others, but I’m going to keep working on it until I reach a point where I don’t need to negotiate with my brain (Alice) every time I get on the scales.
When I reach a point where I feel exactly the same before and after stepping on the scales, with no impact or thought process at all…that’s a good sign that I have completely accepted my body as it is and have removed that association of worth against those little numbers.