Step Away From the Scale + Make New Choices To Feel Good
Have you ever had one of those mornings where you step on the scale just to see? To ballpark where you are, how you’re feeling and what’s going on in the numbers world?
And then it easily becomes … The. Worst. Idea. Ever.
Do you ever judge yourself and your worth by your weight? By a number?
Just back from a lovely 8 days with my parents where I walked, biked, beached, bikini’d, even managed to make out, eat a fair amount of pastry and LOVED every moment …
I don’t know what drove me to it, but I stepped on the scale over the weekend.
It's mental work to detach from a number and make choices because they feel good for us. Even if you want that number on the scale to budge it begins and ends with starting from a place of kindness and care for yourself. We have to want to see ourselves and our lifestyle differently; that's how health changes begin.
As a woman who prides herself on “healing a relationship with food, a mindset, and eating from a place of joy” this scale game was the ultimate dip shit move.
Do you relate to any of this scale BS or am I the only one?
Come back from a trip SO HAPPY or eat a meal and feel SO HAPPY
Weigh yourself the next day
Inflict self-torture because you still sometimes associate how you’re supposed to feel with a number …
Now, that's not so kind - is it?
My scale and I broke up a while ago, resolving that so long as I felt good in my skin, could move my body freely and felt attractive to me (it’s an inside job) I would no longer focus on the number. If I focused on the number, I focused on the outside instead of all the hard work that needs to go on on the inside - like getting my heart and brain in shape. Because that’s where the real work took and still takes place.
I always said I never carried physical weight but, instead, the number was the weight of my emotions, my habits and my choices. Once I shifted those, inevitably, the number also shifted.
The momentary lapse of judgement I had on Saturday morning was rebounded by a naked look in the mirror and a scream wherein I shouted “STOP IT, TINA!” I literally yelled at myself, and I proceeded to kick said scale under my dresser.
If you’re a slave to your scale, I get it. If you’re trying to lose weight, I get it. The number was constant chatter in my mind for years until I realized I didn’t want to lose weight to get to a number, I only wanted to feel good. Feeling a sense of relief in my relationship to food and my body meant making new choices - choices that would truly make me feel better about myself.
New choices meant cooking, walking, socializing more with friends, doing things I loved and dancing around naked and letting my body flip, flop and drop it like it’s hot. It meant embracing where I am/was and moving from there.
After losing 150 pounds on my own and maintaining it for 18 years I'm still learning what it means to feel good about myself and my life. Needs change daily; in new environments and situations - but the more we tune into what makes us feel good, the closer we’ll get to understanding our own needs. And I didn’t need to step on the scale, I needed a hug after feeling lonely in transitioning home to NY after days with family. Instead of giving myself a gift … I went to give myself pain … our minds are hard places to be sometimes.
So, how do you define your relationship to yourself? To food? To your kitchen? Your mind? Your body?
My lesson for Saturday: realign and make more choices that make me feel good. (stop being such a jerk to yourself, says the "health coach" ... because I'm a human being and clearly I can be a jerk to myself too, you’re not the only one)
Maybe for you it's not about the scale - but it's getting over a hurdle when it comes to cooking? You want more energy, but exercising feels like a drag? Perhaps you need to learn how to take a break from always doing for others and, instead, take better care of yourself? In a funk because you’re in a funky relationship? Perhaps that’s holding you back from feeling your best and making new moves? We have choices but it's way too hard to remember that if we're always beating ourselves up.
If you want to feel good, the actions you take have to correlate. Start thinking about how you want to feel and pair that feeling with a deliberate action that will make you feel better. You're a priority.
This morning I tucked away my weekend fumble and got back in the kitchen. I scrambled eggs and made an open faced omelette where I proceeded to add veggies and cheese. I sat at my table and ate like a human being. I didn’t eat standing or pack it to eat at my desk. I gave myself 15 minutes and, you know what, I felt really good about the moment and about myself. Small steps feel like big wins when we start making new choices. Filled with real food and balance I chose for myself, the day is off to a fine start.
Recipe below to this easy breezy open faced omelette which makes for a wonderful breakfast! And, when you have these ingredients in your fridge you can adapt them into a tasty lunch or dinner salad too. Get grocery shopping and get in the kitchen.
XO
Open Faced “I Care About Myself” Omelette
1 whole egg + 2 whites, scrambled
1/2 cup of baby arugula *sub any green like spinach or chard, cooked or not
6-8 grape/cherry tomatoes, sliced into thirds
1 oz mozzarella, cubed
Salt + freshly ground black pepper
Non-stick spray
Place a pan over a medium flame and coat with non-stick spray
Add eggs and layer with arugula
Top with cheese and place tomatoes, sprinkle with salt and pepper
Cover with a large lid (I use a clear pan cover so I can see what’s going on) and cook until eggs are no long runny and cheese is melted, adjusting flame so as to not burn the bottom of your omelette - approximately 5-6 minutes
Sit + plate pretty