Are You Too Fixated on the Scale?

Does the number you're seeing on the scale not match all the hard work you've put in?

Did the number it showed you recently leave you feeling down about yourself (again)?

Let's break the emotional curse that measurement device has over you.

Before I tell you how to break that curse, let's step back and get your mind right.

A BLINDING FLASH OF THE OBVIOUS

You know what didn't make the top 1,000 regrets of the dying?

"Gosh, I really wish I had fit into those smaller pants?"

Nobody says that when they look back on their life.

Why?

Because it's ultimately not important.

THE TOP FIVE REGRETS OF THE DYING

Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care--caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives.

She wrote a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

In her experience, when you look back on your life, here's what you're likely to regret.

YOU MIGHT SAY: I WISH...

1. I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

2. I hadn't worked so hard.

3. I had the courage to express my feelings.

4. I had stayed in touch with my friends.

5. I had let myself be happier.

How's the for quickly re-orienting your compass back to true North?

IT TAKES COURAGE TO LOSE WEIGHT...LET ME EXPLAIN

Look again at the #1 regret.

What does it mean to "have courage to live a life true to yourself"?

We all recognize there's latent potential inside use--adventures we could have, impact we could make, and lives we could change...if we can get out of our own way.

People who expressed the #1 regret, wished they had been brave enough to lean into hard things--hard conversations, transformative experiences, and meaningful work.

Having courage means not taking the easy road, when you know the hard road leads to something better.

Having courage means you try to become all you can be, with all you've been given.

When you look back on your life, you're going to be WAY less concerned with how much you weighed, and much more interested in how much you mattered.

SO WHY DOES THE SCALE BUM YOU OUT SO EASILY?

The scale puts you in a funk because you know you have potential to become more, but you feel blocked.

What you really want, isn't to weigh a particular amount.

What you want, is the health, the confidence, the impact, and the lifestyle you perceive comes with being your ideal weight.

Am I right?

The scale just tells you if you are, or are not, on course.

AND THAT'S THE POINT

The scale is simply a feedback tool.

When the scale shows a less-than-desirable number, so many people internalize that moment as if they just read "Who you are is not good enough" rather than the truth which is "what you are doing to lose weight is missing something."

You feel the difference?

AIMING YOUR FRUSTRATION IN A BETTER DIRECTION

Instead of attaching your identity to the scale, let's use it for what it is good at...feedback.

Can we agree that human physiology and human nature are timeless?

If that's true, then 99% of what blocks your weight-loss (read "health") isn't something outside your control.

Sure, your schedule and responsibilities might be a challenge, but that's not a physiological factor. It's a logistical one.

If you're blocked, then something is wrong with your approach, and maybe your priorities.

The good news is this also means your body is not the problem.

You just haven't used the feedback from the scale to upgrade your thinking.

IN OTHER WORDS...THERE ARE IMPORTANT LESSONS YOU'VE NOT LEARNED

There are people, in a situation similar to yours, who have been successful at building the health and body composition they want.

Here's what they've done, that you haven't...yet:

They have...

1. Taken the feedback from the scale (said "thank you") and let it guide them to look for better questions. In other words, they have relentlessly sought to educate themselves.

2. They have built a strategy for their life, not a cookie-cutter path to success peddled all over in the health industry.

3. Found the courage to keep going, and adjusting their approach as they grow and change.

DOESN'T THAT FEEL BETTER ALREADY?

What you have...is a strategy problem.

You have some important, unlearned lessons.

Both of those are fixable.

The next time the scale doesn't "cooperate," say "Huh, thanks for the feedback. I wonder what may be slowing down my progress."

Then, honor your latent potential and go learn something new.

HAVE COURAGE

Keep trying.

This is the only shot you get at life.

Don't look back and wonder what could have been.

Lean into the hard stuff...for what it will make of you.

Give thought to what you want in life, focus on building health, make a plan, and take action.

Focus on that, and you'll be unstoppable.

With any luck you might even lose track of where you put that scale.

You got this...keep going,

Christian

PS. If you feel like you're ready to clarify your health goals, put in the work, and you could use some coaching and accountability to get you where you want to be, check this out. It may be just what you've been looking for.