NutritionHow to Keep the Scale From Messing with Your Head

Imagine you wake up and you’re hungry.

You’ve been on point all month, staying within the guidelines your weight loss professional has suggested for you.

You’re just a few weeks out from your goal weight, which means you’re only a couple months out from your goal date. (If that confuses you, read this).

You fling open the covers of your bed thinking about the coming day and briskly walk into your bathroom.

As you’re doing your morning business, you’re envisioning the number on the scale you hope to see.

Thoughts race through you mind of how stoked you’ll be to see that number that will let you know you’re right on track, not to mention the gratifying text message you’ll send to your weight loss professional.  

*Click*

You wait for your scale to turn on and its such a slow process. Didn’t we land a man on the moon half a century ago?

Finally, you step on the scale and…

…same as yesterday.

Same as yesterday? But you’re hungry, and you feel like you should be at lower number. You were expecting a win today. You were expecting to bask in the fruits of your labor. You were expecting the scale to be your friend today, after all, you deserve it because of all your hard work.

Your day is now ruined. Frustration has hit you even before you were able to have your first cup of coffee. Worse yet, you now have to tell your weight loss professional of your failure.

How familiar does this sound to you?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most people in an effective weight loss program go through some mental anguish during the daily weigh-in process; it certainly seems to be an emotional roller coaster at times.

What this blog post will do is help you retain your senses and mental clarity during this mentally challenging part of your effective weight loss program. When you’re finished reading this you will have a better outlook on these essential, yet emotionally taxing, daily weigh-ins.

You’re not a failure

If you are in, or have been in, an effective weight loss program the scenario you just read is very relatable. As you grind through a caloric deficit and go through its inevitable discomfort, you want to see results and when you don’t it sucks.

Who wants to go through something like that with zero positive outcome?

First things first, and, if you take away anything from this blog post let it be this: the scale does not determine if you are a failure, it’s just a measuring device -a tool- that is used to achieve your success.  

*Side note: please re-read that. Say no if you want to, but you may want to even write that down and put it some place you can see it every morning.

Imagine yourself back in that scenario. That number that did not change from yesterday is neither evil nor good, it’s just information, and the scale is not plotting your destruction.

The fact is, your perspective on that number gives it the power to make or break your day.

It seems like our expectations -positive or negative- do us a great deal of unnecessary harm and put our emotions through the wringer.

How about a suggestion for a different perspective?

What you’re about to read is not going to be easy or quickly mastered. You will have to actively practice this and it may take a few days or weeks to sink in. You may even think I’ve watched way too many self-help YouTube videos.

Regardless, you have to put into practice blank slate. 

This concept is the act of exercising your mind to be indifferent to an outcome. In this particular case, the outcome you need to be indifferent to is number you see on your morning weigh-in.

Blank slate for our purposes is a VERB, not a noun (Thanks, Jim Camp). For your ease in understanding, how about we use it in an example sentence?

“I’m a little nervous about this upcoming meeting, Frank.”

“Really? You better go ahead and blank slate before you let your nerves get the better of you.”

The advice Frank gave was to clear the mind of any preconceived notions and to not allow any emotion to flow from an outcome, especially an outcome that one really has very little control over.

How much easier is it to just say blank slate?

*Side note: blank slate is so important for me it’s actually programmed in my calendar every day at 0700. A calendar event pops up every morning that simply says “Blank slate.” It’s been remarkably helpful in every aspect of my life.

When the emotion gets removed from the number on the scale you can now effectively use what the scale has told you

The next step in keeping the scale from messing with your head is to use the information you have received.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 (KJV)

Once the emotion is removed from the number you have seen on the scale you can now think with your head and not your heart. Your head, contrary to popular belief, has better decision-making abilities than your heart. Thinking with your heart can get you into some very, very bad places.

As you begin thinking with your head you can formulate your next moves to bring that unsatisfactory number down to your goal weight. If you’re working with a weight loss professional those next moves are sure to be more effective than going it alone. 

What begins to happen is you making plans and making smarter decisions that will attribute to your longterm success. 

Taking action seems to reduce the fear of failure. 

The scale is not the ultimate indicator of a successful or unsuccessful weight loss program

There seems to be a great deal of emphasis put on the scale, however there are plenty of other metrics that are even more telling of an effective weight loss program. These metrics that are easily available to anyone are actual body part measurements.

For much less than the cost of a scale you can pick up a measuring tape (usually found where the sewing kits are stocked in supermarkets). These cheap, low-tech, seemingly stone age devices can be a great aid in keeping the scale from messing with your head.

Think about it.

If you weighed exactly the same as you do right now but your waist was 2 inches smaller, isn’t that a win?

For this reason, Cornerstone Weight Loss recommends that weekly body measurements get taken in conjunction with daily weigh-ins. 

There’s so many factors that contribute to the number that is on the scale, much of which we have little control over. If you are able to see progress throughout the week, even if that progress is outside the numbers of a scale, it going to help keep your mental game on point. This leads to achieving your goal weight.

Let’s put it all together

1. The number on the scale does not deem you a failure.
2. Blank slate before you step on the scale. Your expectations are killing you. Give zero emotion to the number on the scale. This doesn’t come naturally or on the first try; practice this everyday until it’s second nature.
3. Take the information you have from the scale and think without your heart’s involvement. Use the guidance of a weight loss professional to formulate a plan using the new information to get to your weight loss goal sooner. Action cures fear.
4. On a weekly basis, use good, old-fashioned body part measurements to confirm that your weight loss program is effective. Weight on the scale is fickle, body part measurements are less-fickle.
5. Repeat until you have reached your weight loss goal.

Imagine you waking up again, still hungry.

You’ve been on point all month, staying within the guidelines your weight loss professional has suggested for you.

You’re just a few weeks out from your goal weight, which means you’re only a couple months out from your goal date.

You fling open the covers of your bed thinking about the coming day and briskly walk into your bathroom.

As you’re doing your morning business, you’re thinking about the positive actions have control of and you will take for your effective weight loss program.

*Ding*

The calendar on your phone goes off.

 “Blank slate”

*Click*

You wait for your scale to turn on and its such a slow process. Didn’t we land a man on the moon half a century ago?

Finally, you step on the scale and…

At Cornerstone Weight Loss we help you better understand how food affects your body in a common sense way that will put you in control of how you look. In order to get in touch with a professional who can help tailor your weight loss plan to you, click below, fill out the information, and a member of the Cornerstone Weight Loss team will reach out to you to get the results in weight loss you deserve.