Numbers Don't Lie, But They Don't Tell The Whole Truth Either

About a 5 Minute Read

One of the most important things you can do in your health journey, especially when it involves weight loss, is to determine the way you will measure your success. While that may sound like a simple and obvious part of the process, it’s not as easy as you may think.

Take a close look at your health goal. How specific is it? I often hear things like, “I want to feel better,” or “I want to have more energy,” or “I want to look good.” When your goal is vague like that, how will you know when you “get there?” What does it look and feel like? How can you measure it? What does it actually mean to you? And what level of effort are you willing to put in to achieve it?

Other clients tell me, “I want to lose 50 pounds in the next 6 months,” or “I want to lose 10-15 pounds in a month,” or even, “I just want to drop these last 10 pounds, and I want to do it in the next 2 weeks.” Those sound like specific goals, but I hate to tell you, they are also nebulous - and usually unrealistic. But you said…. ! Yes, I did. Just bear with me.

Our bodies change as we age. We change body composition, and we change shape. Some of it depends on genetics, though we can often work around our “tendencies” with lifestyle choices (I’ll do a whole post on that another time.). Our lifestyle choices have a much great effect than you may think, but today we’re talking about numbers.

Choosing an amount of weight to lose is where most of us start. It’s the way we’re taught to think, but it’s wrong. Let me show you what I mean. Here are 5 women who weigh exactly the same on the scale. They each weigh 150 pounds.

If you saw these women on the street, would you believe they all weigh the same? Unlikely. So is the scale wrong? Of course not. When you set a goal of losing X pounds, you have very little control over what your body will do. You have NO control over how - or where - or if - the weight will come off. Your hormone levels, activity level, food sensitivities, environment, stress, sleep status, as well as dozens of other factors, all can interfere with weight loss. And Weight Loss is a very different thing to Fat Loss, so again, the scale can’t possibly show you the whole picture. This is why I stress mindset first whenever I work with clients.

We give the scale WAY too much power over us. We allow it to define us; we allow it to determine whether we’re good or bad, worthy of love and respect, and even whether we should be allowed to eat or drink certain things. But it’s just data. It’s merely a number that indicates your relationship with gravity. It tells us nothing about how intelligent, caring, and compassionate you are. It tells nothing about your greatest strengths and accomplishments. And it will never, ever, show your true inner beauty. And aren’t those things more important? Aren’t those the things you recognize and admire in others?

So let’s kick that scale to the curb. Let’s find another way to measure success.

How, then, can we measure our success? What about tracking body composition changes through photos? What about using a measuring tape (since muscle is more dense than fat, you can trim down a lot without seeing any changes on the scale)? What about tracking improvement in certain blood markers? What about focusing on how you’ve learned to love yourself instead of saying something negative every time you look in the mirror? What about focusing on how you’re stronger, both mentally and physically? Can you walk for an hour now when you could barely do 30 minutes before? Have you been consistently cooking healthier meals 4 nights a week? Have you learned to enjoy that exercise class that you attend 3 times a week? Those things are much more important - and accurate - than the number on the scale.

I decided to write about this topic today because I had my own sort of epiphany while on holiday over the past week. Last year I wrote about how I gained over 10 pounds when I was in the US helping my father post-surgery. And do you want to know something? I haven’t lost a single pound in the past 15 months. My weight has fluctuated a few pounds here and there, but the reality is that I weigh almost exactly the same as when I got back from the US. And while those numbers don’t lie, they’re not telling the whole truth either. So if I only cared about the scale I would feel devastated, because I’ve changed a lot of things over that time.

What I have done is learn how to love my body just as it is RIGHT NOW. It has taken a lot of work, and it has been completely worth it. And because I have learned to accept my body and love it as it is (even though I’d still like to make some improvements), I feel a lot less stress if the scale fluctuates a little bit here and there. Since I’ve learned that I am worthy of my own love and respect, it has been much easier for me to take better care of myself. It has been easier to get back into strength training consistently, and I’m walking more. I drink a bit less wine, and my portions are smaller now because I let my body decide how much it wants instead of always feeding it what I think it needs. As a result, I like the way I feel. I’m stronger. I’m much more confident in my body. For me, those are much better ways to experience success than a meaningless number on the scale.

So, back to my vacation story. During our trip, we spent an evening visiting friends we haven’t seen since July. Every single person I saw told me that I looked like I had lost a lot of weight. I was told I looked vibrant and healthy. I was told that the work I’ve put in is obvious and looks great on me. People noticed my muscle tone. People noticed.

If I only judged my progress by what the scale told me, I would feel devastated. I would feel frustrated. I would feel defeated. Instead, I focus on how I feel in my body. I enjoy feeling stronger and walking confidently. I enjoy fitting into clothes I couldn’t wear last year because my shape was different. Most importantly, I don’t judge myself because of that *#&$%@ number on the scale. (And just for the record, I do still use the scale from time to time, but my relationship with it is much healthier now. Besides, how else can I weigh my over-sized suitcase before a trip?)

Anyway, my point in all of this is to offer you a healthier alternative. When you decide it’s time to start working out again or to lose some weight, or to make some other change to your health, leave the scale and other nebulous goals out of it. Choose how you will track your progress in a way that is more meaningful. Focus on how you feel. Put your efforts into the process and enjoy the journey. Decide that you will feel great in your own skin no matter the outcome.

You are SO worth it.

Have a health of a day,

Juli

P.S. If you would like help with these things, let me know. I have some openings in my schedule for individual coaching and will be announcing some new group coaching opportunities in the near future!