I think tools like these are great for people who are just getting conscious about food for the first time and need help making good choices. If you don't realize that a Starbucks grande mocha Frappuccino has more calories than a Big Mac, then maybe it's a good idea to do a little calorie counting.
But after five years it became unhealthy for me. I also noticed that I quickly exited out of that computer screen when my husband walked into my office because I knew that it was weird to log every bite. Big. Red. Flag.
, and one day over lunch I lamented how hard it was to get an accurate read on one's body fat. Those scales clock me in pretty high and I'm not buying it, the calipers have the element of human error and the hydrostatic method is too hard to come by. Habib just looked at me blankly and asked,
Why did I need to know? Well, for one, I wanted to know if what I was doing worked. But how do you define working when you are talking about measuring self-esteem? I have a strong, healthy body that does what I ask of it.
I look good and feel good so why do I 1) feel like I have been doing something wrong and 2) always need to lose weight? Because five years ago when I was practically suicidal I was thinner?
I thought about this exchange long and hard and decided that it was time to break up with the scale. And while I was at it I was going to stop logging my food, too. I went public with it (you know, status update on Facebook) and lo and behold, I didn't get huge. So here is where the irony comes in. The other day I was at the gym and I was feeling really good about myself.
I looked in the mirror and thought that I should know what I weigh today because most likely it will be more than I hoped for, but I should feel good knowing that despite the number, I liked myself. In fact, I was determined to not let my self-worth change after a number flashed on a tiny screen.
I went into the locker room and started taking off my clothes when a woman said to me, "You have really transformed your body. I'm impressed." I was like, "Really?" I have taken up pole fitness which has made my body noticeably more powerful, but the goal was to learn tricks, not change my body.
Armed with that fortuitous compliment, I stepped on the scale, silently wishing that I would be heavier than before because it would validate my belief that it's not the number that counts. And wouldn't you know it, I weigh more than I have in five years. I'm 135 pounds of strong bones and solid muscles. In your face scale. You don't know anything about me.
PEERtrainer Editorial Note: We are not advocating one approach or another. For some people, weighing is a very effective tool. For others, like the author of this article, weighing is more complicated. We would
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