I see and hear, more often than I can count, people frustrated that they are working hard to lose weight but the number on the scale just does not reflect how hard they feel they have been working. Weight is usually the number one marker that people use to measure their health and fitness. And let’s be honest, we all have that “goal weight” that we’ve been trying to achieve for the past oh I don’t know…10 years!

You Are More Than A Number On The Scale!

Well, I’m here to tell you that it is all a crock! That number on the scale does not really measure how healthy or fit you are. It really doesn’t. AND that number that you see on the scale does not define who you are as a person. YOU ARE MORE THAN A NUMBER ON THE SCALE!

Yes, you do need to focus on eating right and working out to be healthy for your body. But not to see a certain number on the scale or fit into a size two at lululemon. Even people at the perfect body weight (whatever the hell that is) could be mostly eating junk food and doing damage to their body that they are not aware of. Even some forms of exercise are doing damage to your body that you wont see for years to come (but that’s a whole other blog post). Your body is more than what you see on the outside. Health, and I mean REAL health, comes in all shapes and sizes.

Health at ANY Size

Trust me as someone who has dealt with body image issues, and sometimes in unhealthy ways, you can not let that number on the scale define you. That number does not say what a loving, compassionate, thoughtful, strong, beautiful, intelligent, amazing person you really are. I used to obsess over my body weight, to the point that I would hardly eat anything just to see the number I wanted on the scale. I dealt with body image issues, an eating disorder, and punished my body with intense workouts. And even at my thinnest, I was never happy with my body. It took me many years to get here, but I’ve learned to love the amazing body I have right now and all that it is capable of doing for me.

Love the Skin You’re In

Sure I may be a little “soft” in the middle and not have six pack abs. But my body is strong, flexible and allows me to do the things I love like Yoga, Pilates, walking my dog, spending time doing things outdoors with my friends and family, etc. I’m grateful for the body I have that lets me do all these wonderful things. And my body can do some of the things that a guy with a six pack can’t do. One day I’ll have to share the story of the crazy, in shape Marine that came to one of my Pilates classes and couldn’t even finish, while women in their 50s and 70s were showing him up. Health, Fitness, or whatever the hell you want to call it, can not be measured by how you look or a number you see on a scale.

Learn to eat the right foods to have a healthy body inside and to prevent illness and disease in the body. Workout to gain flexibility, strength and more energy. As I like to tell my clients, think about it this way…when you are in your 80s or even hopefully in your 90s, you won’t care about how your body looks. You won’t care if you have a flat stomach or not. What you will care about is that you can still move, you can still walk, that you have the flexibility you need to reach down and tie a shoe or pull up your support hose.

Celebrate Your Body, Don’t Punish It!

If you are someone, like me, that loves to move their body, then focus your workouts around a goal that is not related to weight. I challenge you to not weigh yourself for the rest of this month. Instead focus on eating healthy foods, do exercise for fun and pay attention to how you feel. How well do your clothes start to fit? Are you gaining more energy? Do you feel stronger? Is your skin clearer? And remember YOU ARE MORE THAN A NUMBER ON THE SCALE!