Monday, April 18, 2011

Measuring Weight Loss Success

I know I've said this before, but it is important to repeat because it really goes against what so many people think/believe about achieving weight loss success.

Do not measure your weight loss success by the number on the scale!

At least, not entirely.

I know how gratifying it can be to see the number on the scale drop when our goal is to lose weight. I also know how frustrating it can be to have the number hover, drop just a little, or even go up when we are doing "everything right," making healthy choices about eating, exercise and working on our mindset.

Truth is, sometimes you are redistributing your weight. So the scale won't show any difference or not enough difference in the "right" direction.

This is why we have to change our mindset about losing weight successfully--it is not just about dropping pounds. Our mindset must shift to one of gaining health.

My friend Cathy was telling me how frustrated she was. She looked in the mirror and couldn't see any improvement. (2 issues there, but that's a different story.) And she was working out and making healthy food choices and she "only" lost 1 pound in the last week.

Of course I could lecture forever about 1 pound is a very healthy weight loss rate in a week (isn't that what the experts tell us) but when we want to drop weight it just doesn't feel satisfactory at all.

What Cathy did next though was a great way to shift her mindset. She decided to try on clothes that she couldn't get on last month.

Guess what? They fit! Even though she hadn't lost a lot of pounds, her efforts ARE paying off. Not only is she actually getting smaller, she is much more fit than she was a month ago.

Objective measures of weight loss are tools...but we must use several different tools because any one by itself does not reveal the entire picture.

Keep taking the steps to achieve health and your weight loss success is guaranteed!
  1. Love & accept yourself where you are right now
  2. Shift your mindset about weight loss
  3. Eat consciously
  4. Get up and move every day
To the healthy, energetic, slender bodies we deserve!

3 comments:

sotm121097 said...

Thanks for this post, I try hard to not focus on the number on the scale but I find that just how I feel physically is what bothers me most. I can't fit into most of my clothes and I can't afford new ones right now either. How were you able to loose the weight without dieting and getting obsessed?

Laurie Tossy said...

The key to losing weight successfully without dieting and getting obsessed is shifting our mindset--about weight loss, about our bodies, and about ourselves.

At http://RefuseToDiet.com I teach methods people can use to shift their mindset...and that site is free (at least for now), so I encourage you to sign up there.

Feeling physically bad can be just the inspiration you need to make changes to a healthier lifestyle. So that is not necessarily a bad thing. It is how we choose to react to the feeling that is the problem, more than the feeling itself.

To your healthy, energetic, slender body--you deserve it!

Healthy diet foods said...

I believe if we want to succeed in a diet we should take a small change but continuously since the results will also be maximal