Five Tips for Saying Good-bye to Your Scale

For so many of us, weighing ourselves has become a daily ritual that has us giving a small machine the power to dictate how we feel about ourselves. Some people get on the scale multiple times each day, and will literally drop into a state of deep sadness or frustration, or self-loathing if the scale doesn’t tell us what we want to hear.

So if the scale has become an ominous presence in your life, it may be time to say goodbye. Simply put, this silly machine does not define who you are. You do. So in the interest of reclaiming your power and setting yourself free, here are five great tips for saying goodbye to the scale.

1. Bury Your Scale

The only thing a scale measures is the gravitational pull of the earth on your body. When the scale holds a daily presence that evaluates your worth for the day, it’s got too much power. Sometimes it’s the constant pressure that daily weighing brings that’s the problem. The scale cannot tell you how amazing you are, what a kind person you are, or how much love you give and receive.

You don’t need a scale to determine your worth. Just say NO to weighing yourself. Bury it, get rid of it, hide it, take a hammer to it, donate it to a medical professional or homeless shelter, make a new invention out of it, but get it out of your life. You can even ask the doctor not to tell you your weight when you go for your annual physical.

2. Enjoy the Mirror

This can be a tough one for folks. Many people use the mirror, and other reflective surfaces, to torture themselves into “evidence” that they are not loveable. This is such a no-win habit that causes more pain than necessary.

Instead, only look in the mirror, or reflective surface, if you can truly commit to using your mind to find what’s right rather than what’s wrong. Notice how you look, observe your body, say kind words, engage yourself as you are without judgment. Use the mirror to recognize your beauty or humanity, not critique your supposed imperfections. Make the mirror something to enjoy rather than dread.

It’s not our weight that is good or bad. It’s our projections of what that weight means about who we are, our worth, and what kind of life we give ourselves. Use the power of the mind for good to uplift your spirit and be kind to yourself.

3. Feel Your Body

Be in your body. Focus on what it feels like inside. The field of Dynamic Eating Psychology teaches us that our bodies are full of wisdom – emotions, intuitions, and sensations. Embracing embodiment shifts our relationship with our body and we learn to see it not as a superficial commodity, but as an invaluable resource of wisdom, intuition, and knowing.

When we feel our body, we engage presence. We slow down and tune in to how we feel about certain situations, which helps us get a better idea of what we need to do to honor who we are as human beings. When we are fully embodied, we can stand our ground and take pleasure in the simple things.

4. Weigh Your Values Instead of Your Body

When we get obsessed with the scale, it’s often because we do not have a clear understanding of our purpose in life and how to evaluate our successes. Instead of using weight on a scale to measure your value, ask yourself what you truly value in life.

If what’s most meaningful to you is connection with others, then obsessing over a number will only take you farther from that. If you value making a positive contribution to society, consider whether putting your energy into scale management is helping or hindering that goal.

Cut out the scale, and start to evaluate whether you’re living what matters most to you. Engage in activities and communities that reflect back to you the things that you value most. The people with whom we choose to surround ourselves can be better emotional mirrors than physical ones. It’s all a matter of discerning what matters most.

5. Enjoy Your Life

So many people believe that they need to look a certain way or weigh a certain amount before they can truly enjoy life. So we diet, we exercise, and we do what we can to control our eating so we can finally have the body that we believe will make us happy. But life is too short and this approach never quite works.

It’s time to stop putting happiness and self acceptance into the future. It’s time to let go of all the conditions that we put on self love. Don’t wait. Now is the time to live your life. Now is the time to be the real you. It’s fine to keep working on your body if that’s what you truly need to do. But anyone can work on weight loss while enjoying and celebrating life right now. It may even help you reach your goals faster.

Life is too short and precious to put off living while waiting to have the ideal body first. Be happy now.