How To Stay Consistent When The Scale Disappoints You

One of my goals with my lifestyle blog is to be transparent.

So, here it goes…

Today, for no particular reason at all, I decided to step on my scale.

To be honest, I have a horrible habit of consistently looking at myself in the mirror, checking for changes.

As I looked this morning, I felt happiness creep in because I felt like I saw so many changes, just as I’ve noticed for the last few weeks.

Out of excitement, I tried my luck, and grabbed a pair of old jeans that stopped fitting some time ago.

I wasn’t surprised when they still didn’t fit. To my defense, the jeans are super skinny fit and I found them in the Juniors section several years ago.

Since I didn’t have luck with the jeans, I hastily grabbed my scale before I could talk myself out of it. (I hate scales btw, and I usually steer clear from them due to the exact title of this blog).

Disappointment instantly rushed through my body as the three digit number read.

“How can this be?”

“But, I’ve been working so hard, haven’t I??“

“Maybe I’m doing something wrong…?“

Debilitating thoughts bombarded my head as question after question fired as freely as a deflating balloon.

My motivated and inspirational feelings were quickly replaced with doubt, uncertainty, and fear.

(Okay, okay, enough of the novel-like words; Long story short, I was discouraged AF!)

Instead of wallowing in my feelings, I chose to still get my workout in as planned, amongst a few other things that I’ll list below.

It has helped me get out of the Post-Scale Rut, and I hope it will help you do the same.

Support

Once I finished my workout (which I felt amazingly strong in btw!) my husband was here to comfort me in the way any good husband should.

Running to my online fitness support group helped quite a bit as well. Reading comments and chatting with other women reminded me of my goals and helped me replace vanity with actual facts.

I want to be healthy, not just lose weight. It’s easy to lose sight of this when we aren’t careful.

This is why I strongly suggest that you surround yourself with like-minded people on the same or similar journey as you are.

Most of my support is found online in my support group. However, if you are spiritual, God is the ultimate Guider, and you should always go to Him. Feel free to connect to The Source you feel connected with, whatever that may be.

Reaffirm

When the scale causes upset, now is not the time to be hard on yourself.

It is time to reaffirm what you have already been doing.

Have you been exercising consistently? You’re amazing!

Are you eating healthy consistently? That’s great!

Are you drinking water and managing self care? You are doing the damn thing!

Use this time to point out what’s good! Celebrate your wins!

By doing this, you switch that negative, defeating inner voice that causes discouragement into gentleness and self-appreciation.

Re-Evaluate

This tip sort of goes hand in hand with Reaffirm, but slightly different and just as effective.

Once you’ve given yourself a loving pat on the back for all the good things you have been doing, now is the time to look at the full picture a little closer.

It’s also a time to be honest with yourself, without attacking or self-defeating words.

Grab whatever you use to track and jot down your healthy lifestyle; what have you been doing? What haven’t you been doing?

Maybe you haven’t been eating as healthy as you initially thought. It’s even possible your workouts have became too easy for you and you’re in need of a challenge.

Whatever the case may be, you’ll become aware of it once you reevaluate and be honest with yourself.

If you just so happen to realize that you haven’t been as consistent, it’s okay! This is the main reason for this tip, but it is not a reason to beat yourself up.

Readjust

There are many factors to consider when the scale either doesn’t budge or increases.

Insider suggests that the scale can go up or down based on what you’ve eaten, your workouts, and time of day.

Once you pinpoint what you believe to be the problem, make plans to incorporate or take it out going forward.

And if you don’t need to adjust anything, great! Remember to be patient with your progress as you keep going.

For myself, I honestly believe I may need a little more cardio throughout the week. Therefore, I’ll be adding some jump rope sessions 2 days out of the week.

Pro-tip (Bonus)

Although the scale is an universal way to measure progress, keep in mind that it isn’t the only method.

Personally, the scale upset me to the core, so I’ll be placing it back in my closet (where it rightfully belongs lol).

I plan to measure progress by keeping tabs on my Fitbit Dashboard. There, I will be able to see my consistency in regards to sleep habits, exercise, and more.

Other ways to track progress is taking your measurements with a tape measure, using waist beads, capturing and comparing photos of yourself at different angles, or even noticing when your strength has increased.

Conclusion

The scale may have upset you. I get it. I totally do. But, don’t allow this to be the thing that makes you fall away from your plan/goal.

As the old saying goes, “Whatever is worth having, is worth working for.” Continue to put forth effort every single day, re-evaluate when you need to, never be too good to challenge yourself, and remember to congratulate yourself along the way (no matter how small the progress may be.)

We’ve got this!

While you’re here, let me know in the comments below which tip you’ll be using to get yourself out of the Post-Scale Rut!