Results of The Scale Project

Last week, I decided to take a break from some numbers, and spent a whole week without keeping track of my calories or stepping on the scale.  I wasn't sure how I would fare, but I survived, and  [gasp!] my clothes still fit.

Here are a few of my thoughts from the week: 

Day 1 - I thought about food less, and there was less snacking.  More importantly, there was no bedtime munching.

Day 2 - I had lunch with a friend and didn't cut the mayo from my sandwich.  Oh, and I had onion rings.

Day 3 - I didn't realize pulling out the scale each morning was so ingrained in my morning ritual, and it's making me a little anxious not knowing my weight.  

 

Day 5 -  Due to a crisis with our water heater (insert future post topic here) the night before, food was fuel today.  Isn't that how it should be?  

Day 7 - I'm feeling a bit fluffy and wonder how bad the scale will jump in the morning, but that doesn't stop me from indulging in a donut Sunday morning and a slice of cake Sunday evening.  

The result:

My indulgences for the week included - but not limited to - onion rings, apple fritter, real ice cream, a donut, and cake.  The party is over.

I stepped on the scale yesterday morning to a gain of one pound.  That's not a big deal, but I know I indulged more because I didn't keep track of what I ate.  The "no weigh-in" was the hardest part of the week.  I compared this week to how I feel after a race.  After weeks of following a training schedule, my mind needs a break from figuring pace and distance.  So I just run based on how I feel.  This gives me time to refocus my goals.  This was my weight break, and I've refocused.    

Going forward, I have decided to keep my positive attitude during the week with once a week weigh-ins, but I will still keep track of my calories daily.  I'll see how this process works.  My personality is too obsessive to let it go completely, and with an upcoming marathon Sunday I need to make sure I get a certain number of calories and carbohydrates (just another number to track).

The Scale Project

Those of you who know me well know that I can be a little obsessive about my weight.  Okay…maybe the word “little” is a bit of an understatement.  I pretty much have a love/hate/hate/hate relationship with my scale on a daily basis, so I should probably just come right out and admit that I obsess over the number I see on the scale.  For those of you who didn’t know that, I’m sorry I shattered your image of me. 

In the past two to three years, I mostly had success with the number on the scale moving down.  It took me a while, but I finally adjusted my brain to shopping for clothing in sizes I had not worn since middle school.  I started feeling more confident and became aware of my health.  My energy was up along with my activity level.  But even with running on a regular basis, I began to notice my weight had crept up last January, so I added a weight loss app to my iPhone.  I could track my daily calories to help me hit my goal weight.  Up until this point, I had only weighed once a week, but this new program had a place for me to record my daily weight.  Now it has become a habit for me to weigh every day.  

I’m tired of it.

A year later, this January, I started strength training to help increase my speed as a runner.  Since then, I have steadily watched the number on the scale creep up.  Seeing this on a daily basis – the ups and downs (but mostly ups) – is really starting to do a number on my attitude even though I know in my head (and from the constant reminders of those close to me) that it’s the addition of the muscle.

Enter:   The Scale Project

To combat this negative feeling and to get my mind off the constant calorie counting, I am instituting a “no weigh-in” policy for this week only.  I weighed on Monday morning -because I had a doctor’s appointment anyway, and I do want to make sure my scale is still calibrated right- but I am not going to weigh or count calories for a whole week.  This may sound silly or uneventful, but to me it's a big deal. 

Someday, maybe I’ll have the courage to completely throw my scale out, but for now I just want to make it through the week.  I’ll report next week how I fared.

Looking for Attention?

When I was younger, I did what I could to fit in.  I didn’t like to stand out from the crowd; I just wanted to blend in.  I didn’t want to speak up or draw attention to myself, and there were so many times this attribute was a negative force in my life.  In some situations it’s only through God’s mercy that I’m still around. 

I’ve noticed in the last few years that no matter how much I want to blend in, it’s just not going to happen.  First of all, when our family expanded from three children to four, we drew attention whenever we went shopping or out to eat.  Two of my children have no qualms about being noticed by others, while it seems the other two - like me - would rather shrink back or run the opposite direction. 

While I definitely understand this tendency to blend in, I’m trying to discourage it in my children.  I’ve missed out on so many opportunities in my past because I was being shy.  The more I learn and grow in my faith is helping me understand this has been my biggest weakness.  I have been afraid of rejection, ridicule, or just being noticed. 

But I’m not called to blend in.  I’m not called to be part of the crowd.  I’m called to be different and stand out – no matter what the situation.  It’s time for me to be more assertive, more certain of who I am.  That’s what I need my children to emulate.

“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”  I John 4:4      

The Little Things

If you ever want to gain a little perspective on life, try gardening with young children.  By young, I mean the age where they still enjoy going to fill up the watering can or to grab the tool you left on the front porch when you just made the trek to the back.  To listen to the thought process of my little ones just adds to my enjoyment of spending time in the garden.

Sunday evening, I was trying to finish some planting and I asked my youngest if he wanted to get the watering can off the front porch, but to be careful.  It was full.  He was excited to be given such an important job so he took off.  A few minutes later, I could hear him calling for me.  I knew the tone was for help so I sent the nine year-old to help him.

When he came running back (with his sister carrying the watering can), he was out of breath and bright-eyed.  He said, "Mommy, I prayed to God and asked for help because the watering can was too heavy.  Then Abby showed up to help me!"

I could have told him I sent Abby when I heard him call out, but I realized he was right.  He had prayed for help and help came.  His simple prayer was answered.

So often I save my prayers for the big things that come along - illnesses, job searches, surgeries, making the right decisions...  But I can learn from this simple little action by my six year-old.  God cares about all my needs, and he wants me to ask for his help.  It's not just the big things that matter.      

Have you prayed for any little things lately?