Maintaining a Healthy Relationship with your Scale

While weight is by no means the best marker of progress, it is the most commonly used. It’s simple, accessible, and reveals the trend in your body’s composition.

But for some, stepping on the scale and weighing in can be upsetting, disappointing, or addictive. Here are some tips to maintain a healthy relationship with your scale if you decide to track your weight:

– First, nothing says you have to track your weight! Health comes in many sizes and you can observe your progress by noting how you physically and mentally feel, how your clothes fit, your resting heart rate, measurements, bloodwork, before and after pictures, progress in the gym, habit tracking, and more.

– Acknowledge that the number on the scale is simply data. It does not define you. It is not a numerical value of your worth, health, or fitness level.

– Accept and understand that it is perfectly normal for your weight to fluctuate, and that your maintenance weight is a sliding scale of 5-10lbs up or down. Just because you see a 2lbs increase does not mean it’s time to diet.

– Depending on your comfort level, consider weighing yourself daily at the same time. Record the weight every day and take a weekly average to even out the daily fluctuations and get a better understanding of your trend.

– If you find yourself obsessively weighing multiple times a day, it might be time to take a break from the scale. Put it somewhere out of sight and rely on other markers of progress, or try weighing in only once a day, then once a week, once a month, and then maybe not at all.

Hydration

Most people are chronically dehydrated and never even realize it. Oftentimes when people are tired or light-headed they reach for coffee or food, but in reality they may be better off having a glass of water.

All it takes is 1% of dehydration to reduce endurance, strength, and cognitive performance; in fact, if you feel thirsty, you’re already dehydrated! Symptoms can include dry skin, fatigue and weakness, increased body temperature, muscle cramping, headaches, nausea, darker urine, dry mucous membranes (eyes, nose, mouth), dizziness, moodiness, and difficulty concentrating and remembering.

Water can also help with weight loss since it makes you feel fuller, especially when consumed before a meal, and it replaces calorie laden drinks like pop and juice, which make up over 400 calories a day in an average person’s diet.

So how much water do you need?

There are many recommendations out there: 8 cups a day, 30-40mL of water for every kilogram of bodyweight, 16 cups of water a day for men and 11 cups for women from fluid and non-fluid sources, half your bodyweight in ounces—the list goes on. Your best bet is to stay ahead of your thirst and sip often throughout the day while drinking a glass or two of water with your meals. It’s also important to drink at least 1-2 cups of water before, during, and after exercise, and increase water intake by a cup or two when the weather turns hot.

Although water is the optimal way to hydrate, you can still get your H2O from coffee, tea, fruits, vegetables, juices, and even soda, but recall the disadvantages that may come with those beverages, namely sugar, sodium, and caffeine.