Appreciating the Non-Scale Victories
If a goal of yours is to change your body composition this year, hopefully I have taught you how to set realistic goals, how to take care of yourself and the importance of decreasing your stress.
How are things going for you so far?
It’s been almost 3 months since you have set those New Year’s resolutions and some of you may be wanting to throw in the towel or keep going as you have seen some measurable results, such as seeing the number on the scale go down. That’s great for those of you that have seen some changes but for those of you that haven’t, don’t give up yet!
Remember that achieving overall health and wellness is way more than just physical or seeing that scale number go down.
Honestly if you haven’t already, you should just let out some aggression and take a sledgehammer to your scale – as scale weight doesn’t mean as much as some of the non-scale victories that you have probably already achieved. The fact that you are so focused on the scale is preventing you from seeing all your success!
Don’t get me wrong….seeing the number go down some is great, but is it good weight loss? Are you getting rid of the body fat and changing your body composition or are you getting rid of your muscle which keeps your metabolism high? Muscle does weigh more than fat so make sure that you are paying attention to how your clothes feel rather than the number on the scale.
Pay attention to your non-scale victories to keep your intrinsic motivation high.
Examples of non-scale factors include:
Physical Outside
- Clearer skin
- Longer, stronger nails, stronger, thicker hair
- Fresher breath
- Whiter teeth
- Clothes fitting better
- Wedding ring fitting better
- Less bloating
- Clothes fitting better
- Less joint swelling
- Feeling more confident in your appearance
Physical Inside
- Healthier gums
- Less stiff joints
- Less painful joints
- Less stomach pain
- Less diarrhea or constipation
- Less gas
- Improved digestion
- Fewer seasonal allergies
- Fewer migraines
- Fewer asthma attacks
- Less acid reflux
- Less chronic pain
- Less chronic fatigue
- Less shoulder/back /knee pain
- Improved blood pressure
- Improved cholesterol numbers
- Improved blood sugar regulation
- Recovering faster from an injury or illness
- Reduced or eliminated medications
Mood, Emotion and Psychology
- You’re happier
- You’re more outgoing
- You’re more patient
- You laugh more
- You’re less anxious
- You’re less stressed
- You handle stress better
- Your kids say you’re more fun
- Fewer mood swings
- Less depression
- Improved mental health
- Fewer sugar cravings
- Fewer carb cravings
- Improved body image
- Improved self-esteem
- Improved self-confidence
- Less reliance on the scale
- Feeling in control of your food
Food and Behaviors
- Healthier relationship with food
- Improved disordered eating habits
- No more binging
- Practicing mindful eating
- Learned how to read a label
- Eats to satiety
- Listens to your body
- Abandoned yo-yo or crash dieting
- No longer afraid of dietary fat
- Learned how to cook
- No longer use food for comfort
- No longer use food as reward
- No longer a slave to sugar/carbs
- Can identify cravings vs. hunger
- Fewer cravings
- Healthy strategies to deal with cravings
- More nutrition in your diet
- No more food guilt or shame
As you go through this list, take out your pen or highlighter to mark off some of these achievements that you may have already completed. You will be able to see all of these results to stay motivated and moving forward.
Remember the 6 dimensions of wellness wheel as you may have seen more results in improving your social, environmental, spiritual, Intellectual, financial, physical and emotional health than you may think.
Everything in life contributes to living a longer, happier, and higher quality of life. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather look at all of your non-scale victories rather than paying attention to a number on a scale – which just ends up causing stress anyways.
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