No more scale! Enjoying My Curves to the Fullest
“I refuse to check anymore,” I said to my two friends as we sipped our drinks while waiting on our meal. This seemingly random statement blurted out was in response to an ongoing conversation in which one of my friends who was actively trying to lose weight stated she was checking the scale every day to track her progress. This is not the first time, nor would it be the last time we have had conversations regarding weight gain or loss. We were all mothers and even more as women. Whenever we got together for a meal, the conversation would always turn to our weight one way or the other. We compared notes on the latest exercise regime or diet we were trying to get rid of from our now average weight before “baby weight” (the weight gained during pregnancy).
I know there are women out there who do not obsess over their weight every single day or even weekly; I found myself on the other spectrum after each of my boys was born. The changes in the anatomy, including the toll of motherhood’s mental and emotional stressors, definitely had me consumed with my body image. I know that I’m not alone when it comes to being addicted to the number on my scale. There are so many mothers who have this unhealthy relationship with their weight, and they spend way too much time thinking about what they’re eating or weighing themselves. Sometimes there is no positive outcome in sight as the body mostly resists change due to hormones.
Suddenly I said, “No more! This is not a post about how I lost so much weight even without looking at the scale or to state how great it is that somehow by refusing to check my weight for this long, it has magically changed me into a healthy-eating goddess. This isn’t even really about the number on the scale itself. It’s more of an explanation of how making this small change has hugely affected my physiological well-being.
My goal to return to my pre-baby weight even after having two children and welcoming my thirties had a crippling effect on my overall health cos no matter how many salads I stuffed down my throat daily, I wasn’t getting enough nutrients to maintain optimal health and still function actively in raising my boys and working full time to grow my business. When I would wake up, and the first thing I would do was check my weight, I slowly realized that my mood for the rest of the day was largely dependent on if the number went up or stayed down.
So in May of 2021, I woke up one morning and said “Enough is Enough” and packed up my scale away from my bathroom to the basement. This is when I decided to stop checking my weight and start living. Now, four months later, I honestly have no idea if I gained more weight or even lost weight. I walk into clothing stores, buy clothes for my body size, and continually eat a good portion of fruits and vegetables daily without restricting carbs or proteins in my meal. I have always loved a good home-cooked meal, so I thrive all week to cook daily and take the weekend off to finish off leftovers leaving my Sunday night dinners to restaurants or ordering in.
The effect of social media and the sudden snap back after having a baby puts immense pressure on women to maintain a perfect figure even after enduring the body changes of 9 months and caring for everyone else and lastly ourselves. Losing my sanity over these numbers was one of the reasons that made me vow never to weigh myself again, and I’m so glad I stuck with it. The more time passed by without checking on me, the less importance I gave it. The conclusion that it’s such a silly thing to spend my precious minute’s thinking on has been set in my mind space.
I do not plan on ever going back to the numbers game again. If I ever return back to using the scale for my weight, I refuse to give it control over my mental state or subject myself to the figures as they show up on the dial. In its place, I will be conscious of how nutritious my meals are and will reserve judgement of my weight to myself alone with no comparison or wishful dreams of the body I had before kids. I am now into my own self-love journey and living a healthy lifestyle with no set rules or restrictions. It is so freeing and liberating and feels fantastic! And, best yet? I am at peace with my body for the first time in 7 years. How about you try it? Feel free to share your experience when you do.
