Throw away those scales!

About, ummm, maybe 6 weeks or so ago, I'm not sure, my scales ran out of batteries.

And they were warning me for about 4 weeks before that that the batteries were low, so I can't say that I haven't had plenty of opportunity to get a new battery. But I haven't. 

Generally I am a religious scales watcher, every morning before breakfast, watching myself track up and down, being happy with the losses and working out the whys or justifying the gains. 

The scales in question, relegated to the far
corner of the bathroom.

But in the last however long it has been, I have found a kind of freedom in not doing that. I have begun thinking that it is not about numbers when I measure my fitness and health, or at least, not about those numbers. I kindof started feeling this way when I was getting compliments for looking trim, but it was because although I was running, I was in the throes of worrying about the blue small person, and so not eating properly, and I was feeling tired and bleah. And I wondered if that was actually healthy...

So when my scales died I started to use other measures:

• How am I sleeping? Sleep is so important, and I need quite a lot of it. But when you wake up because a small person is unwell, and you wake up because you are worrying about things, and you wake up just because you can ... One of my first things to change was my evening routine, so that I could sleep properly and get up far too early without becoming exhausted.

• How is my fitness going? Exercise is also so important, both in terms of endorphins to make me feel good, and wearing me out to sleep properly (see point 1). So I have to ask myself if I am keeping up some sort of a routine, and watch how many bits of exercise I might be doing of a week. I can feel if I am hitting harder or quicker in my boxing fitness class; I can track the distance and speeds I am running ... So another of my things to watch, rather than change, was that I was doing what I needed to. That may only be 2-3 bits a week with the carnage that has been going on around me, but at least I can be consistent.

• How are my clothes fitting? And do I feel good in the outfits I put on? Much more important than being skinny is confidence; if I can put something on in the morning and feel good about my day, then I am winning. And there are a couple of reasons why this is actually a much more reliable measure than weight; firstly because, being of the female persuasion, my shape and weight change quite radically over the course of a month and not always in a logical way, but if I suddenly put on 2kgs (which can totally happen) I may not actually feel or look that different, so I shouldn't stress about it. Also, I have been told often that muscle weighs more than fat, so if I have less wibbly bits, I can quite possibly weigh more, which seems counter-intuitive, and sure isn't a motivation to exercise!

There are several advantages to this approach; well there must be, because I am feeling a whole lot better than I did 6 weeks ago.

• It's about quality rather than numbers. The maths teachers at school tell me that a qualitative approach gives you more depth and understanding than a purely quantitative one - well at least I think that's what they tell me, as Maths-lish is not my best foreign language. So what I think that means is, if I feel better, then I am better. On a fit and healthy scale, perception is all-important.

• I don't have to be down on myself. This is quite good just at the moment because now that the blue small person is feeling better, he is really getting into his 'Food Bloggers' module at school (maybe not so much the blogging bit, but definitely the food!) and so he has been coming home with delicious things to share - as a good mother I am hardly going to say no to cinnamon biscuits, or chocolate cake that is halfway to brownie, or especially his latest offering, chocolate eclairs! And then the pink small person decided she wanted to do some baking too, and made gluten-free lemon meringue pie, just so I could share it. The best choice here is definitely NOT to say "o no, I can't, I shouldn't" ... is it?! (Besides, everything has been so yum! And this week he's making macarons...)

• Because I am not having to focus on the scales, I can focus on those other measures instead, and that gives me a lot more balance. Balance is key. Getting the right things done and not stressing about the things that don't need to be stressed about also makes me feel better. Those other measures can fit nicely into my day, or my week, and long-term they are far more sustainable.

Having the batteries run out on my scales has been very good for me. 

I keep coming back to that big idea that this blog is about fitness and health, and, well, fitness and health are about feeling good in yourself and about yourself. 

And at the moment, I don't need scales to help me with that.