Day One Hundred and Fifty Seven!!!!!!

The Scale? Or the Mirror?


Body positivity is based in the notion that any size that you are you are accepted. Body positivity is an amazing movement that I fully support. The movement has a slogan that has come to my attention and that the slogan is ‘I am not just a number’. 


This is true, each of us is not based on a number. However, people do identify with the numbering system. Let’s think about age for example. Based on age we have an idea of whether a person looks their age or does not. You could look older (which is great for awhile) or be seen as younger (which works for a longer while). Unless you hate to continually be carded at the liquor store. 


Another number that is an important measurement tool is that of weight. ‘I am not just a number’ implies that there is an identification of worth that occurs based upon whatever that number is. A persons worth is not based on the number they are in age or the number that is identified on the scale. We can change the way that we look, with hair dye, cosmetics, and cosmetic surgery. We can change what we look like we weigh by the clothes we wear. 


Should we scrap the scale all together?


I have never considered losing weight purely by looking in the mirror, because I find that I actually can’t tell the difference of what I weigh and if I have lost or gained in weight. I have always used a scale because a scale provides a measurement tool that I can rely on. 


When I was in school, my schools health class learned about what the BMI is, our ideal body weight, and some bullshit about how carbs are good for you.


My goal for this year is to lose 50 pounds, and I am happy to say I have lost 20 of those 50 pounds (just 30 more to go, yay!). But if I had to base my weight loss on what I see in the mirror I don’t think I would be NEARLY as far along as using a scale to provide a number for my weight. 


I personally believe that using a scale has benefited me in a way that a mirror never could, it kept me on track, kept me hopeful, and it kept me accountable. If I scrapped the scale today I think that I would slowly go back to the habits that I had before because who can honestly tell?


Dr. Laurie however states “That using the scale can actually go away at a certain point when you have achieved your management phase. You can actually start to ‘feel’ your body and then know exactly what weight you are by looking in the mirror and feeling your clothes and the way that they fit. At this point it is just a matter of feeling your way forward, no longer having to pay attention to the carb count specifically, and just being able to feel your weight each day to know what the next days carb count needs to be”.


Oh, I would love to get to that point of body positivity!