Measuring success by the scales

KD - super super cambridge guru from the minimins forum has posted this brilliant thread this morning. Thank you KD

Measuring success by the scales

Fact: Stick to the plan and you definitely lose weight
Fact: You can control what you put in your mouth
Fact: You cannot control what the scales say.

So what do you celebrate? The scales showing a loss, or the fact that you kept to the diet all week?

What if you stick to the diet, but the scales don’t reflect your effort?
Will you be disappointed, even though you have done everything correctly and couldn’t possibly do any better? Knowing that you will have lost weight…but it didn’t mean anything because the scales are giving the wrong result?

What if you ‘cheat’ and the scales show a big loss…does that mean you’ve succeeded and need a pat on the back?

Or even if you’ve been 100% and the scales are showing a loss? Does it mean more to you? Does that mean you’ve done even better than 100%?

I think the scales are a wonderful tool. I weigh daily, and love seeing them give the same reading day in and out, but that’s not what I really celebrate.I celebrate being in control of what I put in my mouth, because that’s what I have done. I don’t celebrate what the scales say.

So if you’ve stayed the same one week, or just lost that one pound….if you’ve kept to the diet 100%, then be proud, because that’s what it’s all about. Stick to the diet and the weight is coming off….whether or not the scales agree. And you’re worth the same amount of applause than those who have lost more.1lbs, 1 stone, it doesn’t matter.

You can’t do better than 100% after all So do me a favour, and next time you go to your CDC for a weigh in, if you’ve been 100%, go in rejoicing. Tell him/her you are going to be one of their success stories, because you were in control this week and will be next. If the scales reflect this, that’s just the icing on the cake. You’ve lost weight anyway. You don’t need a mechanical instrument to tell you whether you are in control or not.