Over the years, one of my clients’ frequent struggles with weight loss is the concept of a number on a scale.  Unfortunately in our society we have been taught that this number means something, when really it is a function of gravity (when you come right down to it).  While there are some considerations that need to be taken when you’re dealing with obese people, for those who are within a healthy body weight range the idea of how much they weigh can still be an obsession, and not a healthy one.

I can’t count the amount of times I’ve heard “I just need to lose another five pounds.”  No you don’t – you need to get into a smaller pant size or you want to look better at the beach.  Or there’s another fundamental reason that you want to be thinner, smaller or have visible abdominals.  I want to be more attractive.  I want to have people pay more attention to me.  Or, on the flipside they want to stop the negative thoughts they have running through their heads constantly about themselves..

The weight on the scale actually has little to do with it.  When I’m judging fitness competitors, do you think weight has anything to do with it?  One person who is the same height could weigh ten pounds more – and actually look a lot better.  I have many friends who are high level performance athletes who don’t think twice about what a scale says – it’s all about how they can do the things they need to do in order to win a race or lift what they need to lift.  Runners aren’t classified by weight, they are classified by speed.  Fitness models and bikini girls are based on height.  Even different clothing manufacturers have different sizes based on demand – you can be a size 4 in one store and a size 8 in another.

Your body changes day to day and month to month.  This is a good thing, and it is based on how you move, what you put into it and even how much stress you allow yourself to experience.  The good news is that these are all things you can affect easily if you simply make a decision to do so.

So my main point to people who obsess about a number on a scale is simply this:  do you walk around with that tattooed on your forehead?  Of course, the answer is no.  And even if you did, do you really think that the people who care about you would judge you based on that number?  I can only imagine a horrible society where if you drifted into the upper range of BMI you would be labelled with a red flag and your coworkers, friends and family would shun you because you are a horrible person.  Some people seem to think this is going to happen to them.

This just doesn’t happen.  Fundamentally, the only person that really cares about how much you weigh – is you.  And you’re insecure about it because at some point in your life you decided that words from someone else or a number on a scale meant more than feeling good about yourself.  Or you think that by dropping that number you’re going to look better to yourself and other people.  Here’s a news flash – they don’t care.  Or at least they shouldn’t, and if they do then you’re probably hanging out with the wrong people.

Your conversation with yourself about that is usually based on what you have been told by other people, some of whom are too stupid to realize that when you were a kid or an adult or they were supposed to care about you they were actually beating you down.  I have a very blunt way of dealing with that: forget them.  You should always be trying to improve, but in my opinion it should be for your own reasons, not one that another person gave you.

Too much today we focus on what other people think, and in a book by Dale Carnegie I read many years ago he summed it up best:  Why are you letting other people decide how you are going to feel?  Let’s be happy with who we are and what we have before we allow any type of words (which mean nothing) to affect our daily lives and how we feel about ourselves.

Let’s focus on the right things:

Feeling better every day.

Performing better every day.

Maybe looking better (for yourself, not someone else).

Come from a place of support for yourself.

Every day try to make yourself and the world around you a little bit better.

If you feel like it, take a picture of your scale weight and post it on your forehead for the world to see.  Maybe we will start a trend so people will figure out how silly it is that they are defining themselves by a number.