.png)
Why is the number on an object so triggering?
I think for a lot of Women stuck on the diet treadmill they use the scales to measure their worth rather than their weight, and why wouldn’t they? In our society success or failure is often measured by the number on the scales, we are fixated on weight and how to lose it and not many of us feel good enough just as we are.
I’ve been on both sides of the scale argument; I remember not weighing myself for a few years because the scales upset me, when I finally worked up the courage to step back on the scales, staring back at me was a number I never thought I’d see.
Was I triggered? Absolutely.
Did I have a bad day? Yes.
Did it send me spiralling? It did.
After the dust settled (and some inner work), I have come back around to using the scales as a quick measure of where I am at. They keep me in check and help me make sure I am not losing track of my goals.
If I am feeling a little fragile, (which can still happen due to any number of reasons) I don’t step on the scales,
Reasons I might not weigh in include:
- being tired
- feeling bloated
- a busy weekend
- a previous day of overindulgence
I just don’t leave it too long between weigh ins, so I don’t lose track of where I am.
Another common tool is Body Mass Index or BMI, I think it's outdated and unreasonable. Even though it is commonly used to measure "health" BMI doesn’t take into consideration age, gender, race, muscle mass, bone structure, mental health or emotional wellbeing and the list could go on
FYI the BMI was not originally invented to be a measure of an individual’s health. The term BMI was originally coined in 1972 by Ancel Keys an American researcher. He was looking for an easy, repeatable way researchers, medical professionals, the government and insurance companies could track health risks in populations. He did a study of around 7500 “healthy” white men and used a weight to height index devised by a mathematician named Adolphe Quetelet in the early 1900’s who was on a quest to find the average man. Interestingly Quetelet’s study was also done on predominately white healthy men.
It’s important to know the background because a BMI test doesn’t define your health it was never meant for that. I fully realise the number on a scale doesn’t either, but on a day-to-day basis the number on the scale can be a quick way to measure whether what you are doing, is helping you move toward achieving your goal of weight loss or not.
Weighing yourself at intervals is fine, what is not fine is what you make that number mean.
You can be aware of your weight and not alarmed or triggered into patterns of self-loathing or “I am a good or bad person” based on the number.
To maximise your chances of achieving your goals I think we need to have every tool available to us and that includes scales.
If the scales are scary or triggering and you feel like you would like to be able to weigh yourself but for whatever reason you can’t, do some inner work, explore why and work on the freedom of:
- It’s just a number.
- It doesn’t define me.
- I am not a success or failure based on that number.
- I want to have the freedom to use what I need to use to achieve my goal.
Not wanting to weigh yourself or weighing yourself obsessively are symptoms. In my clinic, I can help you move past unwanted symptoms so you can have more peace and power in your weight management journey.
Megan
Comentários