I couldn’t believe it. I had spent the last few days watching everything I ate, making sure I was moving more and been more active then I had been in months. And there I was. Staring at a weight GAIN of 3 pounds. To say I was disheartened would have been a massive understatement. It was only 6:30 am and this small moment colored the remainder of my day. The gloom lurked around every corner and skulked behind me like a stray cat waiting to be fed. And, boy, did I feed it. Every little thing that went wrong that day took me further into my funk. And it seemed everything seemed to remind me of those unwanted pounds. Picking out what to wear. Deciding what to eat. Catching a glimpse of my reflection in the store window.
Fast forward to the following morning. I looked over at my scale and then gingerly stepped on it. TWO MORE POUNDS! WTH??!! I was just sick. I went through everything I had eaten the day before. Started beating myself up for the handful of candy sours that I ate mid-afternoon and the chips and salsa I shared with my husband after the kids went to bed. And we’re off to the races… my stray cat of misery and me.
The next morning, I took one look at my scale and could feel the tears welling up before I had even stepped on it. Then I stopped myself. Who said I had to step on it? And why today? Why am I doing this to myself every single stinkin’ day? The scale’s number had such a huge effect on my whole outlook for the day. I determined right then that I would only get on that scale one day a week. Once I made that decision I knew I had to do two things.
- Determine what day that was going to be.
- Post a reminder so that I didn’t forget my decision in a conspicuous place.
In case you’re curious, this was my thought process for choosing a day: Saturdays and Sundays didn’t seem like a good option because Weekend. Monday was definitively out because Monday’s are hard enough as it is. I couldn’t pick Tuesday or Wednesday because those were generally the days that I was trying to make up for any damage I did over the previous weekend. And Friday was out because who wants to START the weekend off on that note… (Scale. Note. See what I did there?) That left Thursday to take on the unenviable, but hopefully redeemable, task of Scale Stepping. I then moved on to creating my reminder. (see photo)
We have very little real control over the things that bombard us throughout the day. I’m learning how important it is to take those opportunities we DO have and make whatever positive changes we can. This little step of deciding to forego a daily weigh in will go a long way in taking back the power from that sinister scale.
Is there a pebble in your shoe? A seemingly small thing that just chafes and wears down your day? What small action can you take today to shift the power? Share in the comments below. We all can learn from each other.