The Health Chronicles: Weight Watching

Not that long ago, people used to be obsessed with weight as the barometer for how healthy someone was. And while it is of course one of many factors that can tell us about a person’s health, it is not the be all and end all.

Around 10 years ago, the last time I made significant progress in my health journey, I wasn’t weight obsessed, but it was the main category I was looking at when trying to be healthier. Yes, I was doing the right exercises and also eating healthy as well. However, I was not focusing on other factors that would also help me in my health journey. I was losing weight (I lost 20 pounds then), but it did not end up staying off.

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Last week, I talked about some results I got from my own blood tests, and how I will need to make and stick with some pretty significant changes to my lifestyle in order to achieve some goals I need to hit. Along with exercising, proper diet and prioritizing sleep, weight and in particular waist circumference reduction are major areas I need to get right. I don’t think many people like stepping on the scale, even if they are healthy. So, how do I achieve a healthy relationship with the scale and measuring my waist without getting discouraged?

Don’t measure yourself every day.

When I have talked to some friends, they would tell me how they wanted to step on the scale every day to check their weight. I tried to gently tell them that's not healthy. Honestly, depending on what you eat during the day and your daily activity, one’s weight can fluctuate as much as 3 pounds during the day. And while I understand the want to step on to a scale to measure oneself, especially when you think you’re doing well, it’s a lot better to continue doing the right thing and wait rather than look for immediate results.

For someone like me, I did not gain all of this weight/change my body overnight in the wrong way. I can’t expect the healthy changes to happen overnight as well.

So, how will I handle weight and measuring my waist during this crucial point in my own health journey? As I mentioned last week, I need to lose 15 pounds before the summer is done. If I do that, I will be about halfway to what my weight should be for someone my age and my height. I *think* I will measure myself weekly for weight, and maybe biweekly for waist circumference. That way, I can keep track of progress without inundating myself with too much information or perhaps getting discouraged.

I have to keep reminding myself. While I do need to have a bit of a sprint to course correct some habits and get a few numbers under control, overall this is a marathon. I should be focused on where I want to be 6 months to a year from now, and not what I am seeing week to week. I have to keep my head down and trust that doing the right thing will yield the results that I want in the long run.

Therefore, I actually won’t measure my weight again until June. Last week I saw a fluctuation in my weight of 5 pounds over the span of 24 hours. That for me was the universe telling me to just get started doing the right thing and we can worry about those specific numbers later. And that’s what I am going to do.

Now it’s time to go for a walk, do some grocery shopping, and prep cook for the week. I hope you all have a wonderful week and continue to stay healthy in all aspects of your life!

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