by Melissa Dunn
So I did a thing and decided to smash the damn scale!
I actually did this several months ago when I decided that my weight does not define me or my health.
Here’s the thing: our culture is so focused on a number and telling us how much weight affects our health when it’s simply not true! There are several studies that state that weight is not a true indicator of health. I also know that diets don’t work and in fact the majority of people gain all the weight back and then some within two years.
(If you want to learn more, check out the Health at Every Size Movement, or books like “Anti Diet” “The Fuck it Diet”, “Intuitive Eating,” and I’m sure if you're reading this you could weigh in with more suggestions here, no pun intended!)
Some of you may disagree and my stop reading here, or maybe you already have. That’s ok. Feel free to keep scrolling and move about your day.
The point is, I’m no longer equating my health and happiness to a number....
I know and have felt first hand the psychological damage that comes from weighing myself, yo-yo dieting, weight cycling, and the messages that foods are either good or bad for me or I shouldn’t eat a piece of pizza because it might go straight to my thighs....
So, here’s how I choose to live my life instead when it comes to food and my body:
• Do I enjoy this food?
• Do I want it right now?
• How will this food make me feel? (Physically, like will it make me ill?)
• Am I hungry?
• Am I full?
And that’s it! Am I perfect? Far from it. I’m also human and sometimes eat to fill emotional voids. I’m aware of it, and it’s ok.
So then I decided to ask myself these questions:
• Am I happy?
• Do I feel like the best version of myself? (Whether that be physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.)
• Do I need a change right now?
• Am I doing this out of love and kindness or am I doing it because I’m feeling shame or guilt?
We all have the power to change whatever we want about ourselves, and if you want to lose weight for your wellbeing, more power to you! But let’s do it because it makes us feel good—not because of a number on a scale or because society tells us this is how it SHOULD be.
Let’s also make sure we’re doing it from a place of self-love, not self-criticism.
Health and Wellness is about so much more than a number on a scale.
What makes you happy? What will make YOU feel the most fulfilled and whole?
So I did a thing and decided to smash the damn scale!
I actually did this several months ago when I decided that my weight does not define me or my health.
Here’s the thing: our culture is so focused on a number and telling us how much weight affects our health when it’s simply not true! There are several studies that state that weight is not a true indicator of health. I also know that diets don’t work and in fact the majority of people gain all the weight back and then some within two years.
(If you want to learn more, check out the Health at Every Size Movement, or books like “Anti Diet” “The Fuck it Diet”, “Intuitive Eating,” and I’m sure if you're reading this you could weigh in with more suggestions here, no pun intended!)
Some of you may disagree and my stop reading here, or maybe you already have. That’s ok. Feel free to keep scrolling and move about your day.
The point is, I’m no longer equating my health and happiness to a number....
I know and have felt first hand the psychological damage that comes from weighing myself, yo-yo dieting, weight cycling, and the messages that foods are either good or bad for me or I shouldn’t eat a piece of pizza because it might go straight to my thighs....
So, here’s how I choose to live my life instead when it comes to food and my body:
• Do I enjoy this food?
• Do I want it right now?
• How will this food make me feel? (Physically, like will it make me ill?)
• Am I hungry?
• Am I full?
And that’s it! Am I perfect? Far from it. I’m also human and sometimes eat to fill emotional voids. I’m aware of it, and it’s ok.
So then I decided to ask myself these questions:
• Am I happy?
• Do I feel like the best version of myself? (Whether that be physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.)
• Do I need a change right now?
• Am I doing this out of love and kindness or am I doing it because I’m feeling shame or guilt?
We all have the power to change whatever we want about ourselves, and if you want to lose weight for your wellbeing, more power to you! But let’s do it because it makes us feel good—not because of a number on a scale or because society tells us this is how it SHOULD be.
Let’s also make sure we’re doing it from a place of self-love, not self-criticism.
Health and Wellness is about so much more than a number on a scale.
What makes you happy? What will make YOU feel the most fulfilled and whole?
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