My Archenemy

We all have one. That one person or thing that can tear us down just when we need to be lifted up. What ever you want to call it, it's there. But mine, has a specific and familiar name. Ladies, you will agree...the bathroom scale is my archenemy. You laugh, but really! How many mornings have you woken up chipper and happy till you step on that scale....dun dun duhhhnnn. The sight of those digits beaming back at you with a larger sum than the day before. How depressing! When you've counted every calorie, ran away from the gluten filled bakery isles and sweated till you couldn't move any more. Yet those numbers seem to climb, ever so steadily. Or worse, stay the same.

Photo retrieved on July 12, 2012 from: 

http://www.theblackpeony.com/2012/05/dont-let-scale-fool-you.html

This link has a great article about weight loss. 

I get caught up in the numbers. Thinking that I did so good the past couple days, surely I am down a few pounds. But then, to my dismay they are the same. So for the past week I have avoided the scale. Focused on what I was eating and doing and not on those dreadful numbers. Seeing unchanging numbers can make you lose hope and give up. If you are going by how you feel, not the pounds you are more likely to keep going with a diet that is meant to make you feel better.

I personally think, that weight loss shouldn't be the only goal in anyones life. Simply because if it is, it will only be a temporary loss. Hence, yo-yo dieting. Being healthy should be the main goal. If losing weight is a result of being healthy then "WAY TO GO!" (and in most cases, the two are linked, you are overweight because you aren't eating healthy and you lose weight once you start eating healthier.) Trust me, I am preaching to myself right now, so I know I am being a little hypocritical.

Luckily I have been seeing a steady decrease in my weight since going GF, but it is still depressing when I see the numbers haven't budged. So, I avoided the scale last week. Did nothing but eat right and focus on my health, not my weight. Yes, they both go hand in hand, but you can change to healthy eating in an instant, you can't change your weight in an instant. So, baby steps.

Photo retrieved on July 12, 2012 from: http://weightlosstory.blogspot.com/

The main thing I noticed this last week. I feel amazing. No churning stomach, no indigestion, lots of energy and have been sleeping through the night peacefully. Also, my clothes are looser! My fairly new jeans (just prior to going GF) are literally falling off me. Now this didn't all just happen last week, it was just something I noticed when I stopped fretting over those numbers on the scale. I don't want to go buy new clothes yet though, simply because I plan on dropping more weight soon. So, to feel better, don't stress about those numbers! They'll go down, just worry about eating healthy and feeling better and sooner or later those numbers on the bathroom scale will match the ones in your head. So from now on, I am NOT going to weigh myself daily. I will every week just to keep record, but no more stressing. If I lose, I lose, if I don't I will retrace my steps ask myself where I need to improve and move on. :)

One little helpful tidbit: Drink lots of water and walk! Water weight is water that the body retains because it thinks it is dehydrated. If you aren't constantly putting water in, it will store it up thinking it won't get anymore anytime soon. So to get rid of that annoying water weight. Keep hydrated. You're body will thank you and let go of all that stored up water. :)