Let’s talk about weight, baby. Wait. Strike that, reverse it. Let’s talk about baby weight. Just for a minute.
For those of us who aren’t special unicorn ladies with freakishly good genetics and/or who waited until we were well into our 30’s to officially join the baby game, it goes a little something like this: Get pregnant. Gain an obscene amount of weight. Have baby. Lose 10 pounds. Keep the rest. Thanks for playing.
With my first kid, it took 9 months of massive postnatal denial, 3 months of a very strict cleanse diet during which I ate water chestnuts for snacks, and waaay more GAP jean orders than I care to admit until I got back to what I considered a tolerable weight. Then 3-ish years later, I got pregnant with #2 and started the whole rigmarole over again. But this time, I knew where I was headed and what I would eventually be capable of tolerating (read: how I needed to diet) in order to lose the baby pounds without totally hating life. Now that I’m exactly one year from that experience, I can safely say it was easier to lose the baby pounds this time around than with numero uno.
Am I 100% happy with my body now? Pfsh. Who is ever 100% happy with their body? (So no.) But I’m content with it. Whether it was the dieting, my body’s muscle memory or just sheer determination that’s gotten me here, I don’t really know. But I do know that at this moment, I’ve got clothes that fit and make me feel good. I’ve sorta got a workout routine. I have eating habits I can sorta stick to. In summary, I’ve reached this point where I give less fucks. Maybe I’m just tired of calorie counting. Maybe I just really like Oreo Blizzards. Maybe the social norms surrounding women and weight are finally changing enough to have a positive effect on me. Maybe it’s a combination of all the things. Honestly, I don’t want to dissect it too much. I just want to spoon it all in and enjoy it.
So as a physical manifestation of my fuckless giving, I did something this week that I’ve been wanting to do but have been stupid about for a while now. I threw away my scale. Just put it right in the garbage along with the dirty diapers and the grease from last weekend’s bacon. This might not seem like a huge deal (especially if you’ve never owned or this soul sucker or you discarded it long ago) but it felt fucking amazing. Literally the best thing ever. And it’s like, why did I even have that thing in the first place? And why have I been afraid to chuck it?
I think I’ve been holding on to the idea that I might need it, that I’m going to want it one day, just in case…in case I move backwards and gain the weight back. And while my mother’s own weight obsession and complete inability to ever throw anything away, even if it has mold growing on it, has definitely been at play here, the fact remains that I don’t want to be attached to a number anymore. I want to be attached to the way I feel. I want to be attached to the fact that I got back to where I was before I got pregnant with #2 and that’s fucking amazing. I want to be attached to the fact that just like pants, scales are bullshit.
As it turns out, most of the internet feels the same way. Join us, won't you? Here are 5 of the best quotes about why everybody should just throw out the damn scale already.
1. Victorious Vaginas
You don’t need a scale to let you know you are doing a good job and making better choices, especially if you’ve started exercising or changed your physical routine. By doing things like weight training, pilates, kickboxing, or yoga (to name a few) your body will gain muscle…maybe the scale doesn’t budge, but your clothes feel and fit better. Perhaps you can sit down in your favorite skinnies and your vagina isn’t eating them. That, my friends, is a huge victory.
2. Feelings
You are allowing a piece of metal to dictate how you feel about yourself…When you allow your self-esteem and self-worth to rest on something external—and that research and science shows is largely out of your control in the long-term—you're boarding a sinking ship. There are so many things about you that are more interesting than the gravitational force of the earth on your body.
3. Hormones
Bonus Reason just for Females: Hormones. Yes, this reason needs just one word to sum it up. Hormones play a big role in wreaking havoc on the scale for women, even causing their weight to fluctuate from day to day, depending on your time of the month. You may not feel bloated, but you could be retaining fluids…So if it’s close to your time of the month, don’t put too much stock on what you see on the scale.
4. It Just Doesn’t Matter
Here’s a thing that the billion-dollar diet industry won’t tell you: Your weight doesn’t actually mean all that much in the grand scheme of things. Yes, really. In most cases, it really doesn’t matter what you weigh. So ditch the scale, and you’ll be that much closer to not obsessing about what the number means about your health or worth as a person.
5. Just Stop
Another radical idea: Stop getting weighed at the doctor’s office. Most people never realize this, but you can actually decline to be weighed at the doctor’s office. And you should, if you don’t want to be triggered by obsessive thoughts about weight in the days and weeks leading up to your appointment and afterward.
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