For my first ”Tipping the Scale” post I wanted to share the one practice I used, and still do, that everyone has the hardest time wrapping their head around. At first blush people view it as mentally crushing and defeating, but if you take the right attitude and stick to it you’ll be amazed. Some might call it a weigh-in, but I call it a “Check-In” and it’s done daily on the scale. That’s right, every day you and the scale have a nice little chat. Here’s why…
DAILY REMINDER OF YOUR CHOICE
During my first stint of weight loss I had planned on the standard once, maybe twice, a week weigh-in that most of us adopt. Easy, scheduled, trackable, hoping to see some big losses, and filled of dread! My doctor had a different idea. He wanted me to step on the scale every day and night. You read right…I stepped on the scale every day and night With.Out.Fail! As tough as it was to get started at first it quickly became habit.
The doctor told me the purpose of this exercise was to visually check-in and then consciously make a choice each day whether it was going to be a Gain, Maintain, or Lose day. From that moment forward every action during the day was driven by that choice.
If it was a “Gain” or “I don’t care” day, then so be it, I consciously made the choice and knew what that meant for when i made the choice to “Lose”…it was going to be a lot harder! Quickly my choice of gain became held for a “cheat day” and even then I started to cut those to a “cheat meal” not an entire day. I hated playing catch-up!
The practice worked! I actually started to enjoy the daily check-in and conversation I had with myself. The daily check-in kept my motivators and reasons for loss in front of me. A daily reminder of choice became power.
A BETTER FEEL FOR YOUR BODY
As I was checking in daily I found that I started to understand my body better. Because I was checking in at night as well, I got a “feel” for how the day went. I wasn’t waiting to the end of the week wondering ”How did this happen? What did I eat & when?”. We all gain throughout the day, but I could start to see how much or how little and map it back to what I had done. Basically, an easy way to hold myself accountable for the choice of the day.
I also started to develop a “feel” for my overall weight. After a couple of months I could start to tell whether I was up or down before I even got on the scale. It is now to the point I can pretty much tell you how many pounds I’m up or down.
But it wasn’t just about a feel for the number, it’s a feel for what was causing that number…water weight or real weight for example. Was I bloaded or really full? Was I going to bed satiated or hungry or as “Fatty Pig Fatty”?
Again, it took some time, but my mind and body started to communicate and the scale was now just validation, a gauge, regardless of which way my choices had caused the scale to tip.
CELEBRATE THE SMALL WINS
All too often when we only check-in once a week our numbers are extreme either way. We either lost a lot, gained a lot, or lost less than we think we should. I mean we worked hard this week. We hit our workouts, did our cardio, ate well…what’s going on? Why did this or that happen!? It becomes frustrating and quickly we say, “Why even try? I’m not seeing the results.”
A daily check-in allows you to celebrate the smallest of wins. You lost a pound from yesterday and you know it because in the morning you weighed X, the night you weighed X+3, and this morning you weigh X-1 from yesterday’s morning check-in. It’s small, but come on…you just lost a pound in a day!
Again, you can map out the previous day or two and replicate exactly what got you the one pound loss. Maybe the next day you stay the same, but the day after that, you lost another pound. You are slowly chipping away at a number that once seem unattainable.
These regular celebrations of the small wins makes it easier to make the daily choice to lose or maintain! It makes what you’ve done worth it.
So what happens when you gain a pound in a day? Chances are something changed, but when you gain a pound you can do the same exercise and look at what was different. Either way you can still celebrate because it’s instant feedback which means quicker fixes in a positive way!
SO…
There is a lot that goes into losing weight and the peronsal battle that it becomes. The beauty of the journey is that there is freedom to try, to change, and to choose! Make those choices a daily habit and you’ll find yourself making better choices daily. Better choices lead to a better life which, with time and effort, will start to tip your way!
