I finally got around to posting a Weight Watchers Wednesday post! It feels like it has been too long.
Let me get right to it. I do not have a gain/loss to report because I put my scale away.
I don’t go to WW meetings; I have the Weight Watchers at Home kit. So, I do not have to have weekly weigh-ins, but I usually weight myself once a week.
A couple of weeks ago, I was in the bathroom and I got on the scale. I do not know why. It was not my weigh day and, worse yet, I was getting my period, which means I usually gain about 2 pounds.
Well, I had gained about 2 pounds, but my irrational, emotion-driven brain (at least the irrational, emotion-driven side of my brain) immediately started the self-defeating talk. I was able to reason my way through it, but it was not a fun time for me.
Why does that little plastic doodad have so much power?
Why do we give it so much power?
That same morning, I came across this article: The Toss-Your-Scale Diet Plan.
You’re sailing along in life, feeling pretty good about everything, even your body. No, it isn’t perfect, but it is yours and it is doing what it’s supposed to do — mowing the lawn, ironing your skirt, playing baseball with the kids. Then you get on the scale. You weigh more than you thought you did, and within a nanosecond, the scary voice in your mind begins to rant: “You’re fat, you’re a failure, you don’t deserve to feel good about anything!” Suddenly everything that was right before you stepped on the scale is wrong.
Most of us have experienced this shocking self-esteem swing, and although we hate it, we don’t see any way out. But I do. The solution is to just stop weighing yourself. Throw away your scale.
So, I did. Well, I put away my scale.
And I feel great!
I don’t need a scale to tell me when I am losing weight. I have clothes that will feel looser. I have an image in the mirror that will look better. I have a husband whose eyes will tell me all I need to know. (Though, his eyes already tell me all I need to know, which is that he loves me no matter how I look. But, still.)
If I stick to my healthy eating plan (yeah, I mean diet) and keep adding in more exercise, the weight will keep coming off and I don’t need a scale for validation.
I know this is radical and goes against our very nature, but at least read the article. The writer totally understands the mind of a crazy, weight-obsessed woman.
I will weigh myself again after I lose a pants size or two, just so I can celebrate the victory (and, no, I do not mean with a triple-scoop, hot fudge sundae), but no more obsessing over those little numbers that own me.
Or should I say, used to own me.
Okay, here’s a recipe.
Weight Watchers Banana-Oatmeal Bread. 4 Points.
I made this, but I added cinnamon and vanilla. It’s just weird to me that they were not already in the recipe.
The kids loved it. I thought the texture was slightly rubbery, but it was over all, pretty good.
12:33 am on May 22nd, 2008
When I started Weight Watchers one of the first things I did was put away my scale. I put it under the bed and didn’t weigh myself, ever. The only time I weighed in was at the weekly meetings. The weighing can make me crazy but once a week I could handle.
Recently I started weighing myself again at home. Mostly it started because I have a body fat percentage scale and wanted to know my percentage of body fat. Unfortunately it also tells me my weight. I’m better now and don’t get so neurotic over the number but I still wish I could avoid it altogether. One good thing is I don’t know how accurate my home scale is so I take the number with a grain of salt.
So I think it is an incredibly great thing you did and I think more women should do it. You’re not going to miss it I bet!