There comes a time in life where, on occasion, you have to man up and admit you were wrong. I HATE such occasions, but this past few days I have to admit I have been utterly slapped down ! :-)
Yesterday, a few of my ww buddies were on twitter, bemoaning the fact that they had only lost 0.5lbs at weight in etc etc.....there ensued a debate which kinda went as follows....
*Top UK PT* Ditch the scales!
*Me* They're fine as PART of your arsenal to measure progress
*Top UK PT* They're inaccurate and many factors affect reading! Go to the loo and then weigh in!
*Me* As long as they're used sensibly and as a controlled experiement then surely they're ok!
*Top UK PT* As you well know they can encourage an unhealthy dependency. Use clothes to measure your progress
This made me think. About how clothes can be JUST as fickle as the scales. You know those old reliable jeans that are your 'go to' ?? Well, on a 'fat' day, they're just as likely to indicate a 'gain' as the the scales are! I then planned a whole chuffing blog post exposing this fact and feeling VERY smug about myself.
And then...........
today is a Bank Holiday here in the UK, so Rich and I decided to go out to play in the beautiful sunshine we've been having. Getting ready, I grabbed a pair of shorts which I was triumphant to 'get bakc into' this time last year, just to see if they fit .......bearing in mind all the b*tching I have been doing of late at myself because I feel like I've gained weight. Tried them on. And below is the result.
Massively too big. As in can't-wear-them-without-indecent-exposure-too-big.....Error.
See, I've been consistently(unfavourably) comparing my physique to 'this time last May' when, looking back, I felt much more lean and honed and toned, and I WAS LIGHTER ON THE SCALES ! This year, I am heavier.....however, a quick check back through facebook shows me quite clearly WEARING these same shorts on holiday with my girlfriends, cartwheeling along the beach in them, in fact, so they absolutely fitted me and - more to the point - stayed up this tie last year. SO. Moral of the sory is, YES I may be heavier BUT once again the CLOTHEs have proven to be the best gauge of progress, because I am quite clearly smaller tham I was this time last year.
And whilst, in the grand scheme of things, none of this matters one iota, the moral of the story is that I could either be really down about the fact I am heavier (according to scales) than last year and feel sh*t about myself and take a train straight to self pity city and moan about undoing all my hard work and giving in and slacking off and being a crap example etc etc OR I can go with the indisputable evidence of that pair of shorts and feeel all of a sudden on top of the world like I can do ANYTHING and rejoice in the fact that my body HAS changed....seemingly for the better.
SO, in conclusion, I must eat humble pie. The scales are categorically NOT the best measure of progress. In fact they mess with my mind. I knew this....I of all people knew this...but I reeeeeally and truly thought I had a handle on it. Turns out - not so much.
So yet again,Mark, you were right. I will TRY and ignore the scales (again!!!) and continue trying to measure what I deem to be 'progress' in this way. I am totes glad you're in my life ! (annoying though it is to be once again proven wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Ditch the scales people (she admits, begrudgingly !!!!!!!!)
Love Lizzie xoxo
