Recently I shared a blog post about my year without alcohol. I’ve heard from a few of you about being inspired to give up something in 2020. I don’t consider this a New Year’s Resolution. I consider this practice more like eliminating negative things from your life, one thing, and one year at a time. I’m trying to think of a more positive way to frame it rather than “give something up” because that sounds so negative. Maybe:
Letting go….
Releasing….
IDK, I haven’t found the right verbiage yet. Let me know if any of you have any ideas there.
I’ve been thinking for a few weeks now about what I want to “give up” in 2020. In order to stop doing something for a whole year, for me, it needs to be something I consider do-able. For example, if I said I am going to give up chocolate for a whole year….well, that’s just a path to failure for me.
So, what I am going to stop this year? It’s not food related. It’s a behavior
I’m giving up weighing myself.
There, I said it.
Why? Well for a couple of reasons. First, I noticed that I was starting to become a bit obsessive about the number on the scale. I would weigh myself every morning and then enter the number into my fitbit app. I told myself that I needed to do this to keep my eating on plan. Because of course, if I was eating right, the numbers would be good (low) and if I was eating poorly the numbers would be bad (high). But, I would start scrolling through the history of those numbers. I’d look back at a time when the numbers were higher and think “thank goodness I am not there anymore” and look at the low numbers and feel bad about myself for not maintaining those numbers. This was not a healthy cycle, mentally.
Now, if you’ve met me in person you might have little sympathy. I have never had a “weight problem” and never really had to think about losing weight until I started having kids. But, I have always been committed to my health and fitness. Yes, I want to look good but at the ripe old age of 48 it’s more important to me that I feel good and that I am taking care of myself so I am around for my kids. So, if I am saying that the reason I eat right and exercise is so that I will be healthy and feel better, the numbers on the scale should not be so important. So, I had to call bullshit on myself.
So, in 2020 I will NOT step on my bathroom scale. When I visit the cancer center they usually will weigh me but it is in kilos and I don’t bother trying to convert it so it’ll be easier to ignore the number. Even though I made this decision to stop weighing myself, I still felt I needed some kind of a measure of how “on track” I am in terms of my commitment to my health and fitness. So, here’s how I am going to both objectively and subjectively measure how I am doing…without the numbers.
- Energy Level – I know that if I am eating high quality foods and exercising regularly my energy level is not a problem. If I eat crappy food and skip a few workouts a week, I feel tired and sluggish. This is kind of subjective but by paying attention to this and not a number, I feel like I can better dial in exactly what will keep me in peak performance. I have two kids, a husband a house and a business to run. I can’t phone any of that in. I need to make sure I have the energy needed to shop up for my life.
- Strength – If I’m sticking with my weight lifting consistently and pushing myself to get better, this will show up as an increase in strength. This is an objective measure because I will be able to observe if I can lift something I couldn’t before. For example, I know I am currently “on track” because recently I went to lug a big hamper full of launch up the stairs and it was effortless. There was a time that was not the case. It took a lot of effort with two hands. Suddenly it was easy with just one hand. I love when I can feel strong in real life situations….cuz laundry never ends!
- How my clothes fit – This is pretty objective. Either stuff fits or it doesn’t. You all know I LOVE clothes and if I suddenly can’t fit into my favorite jeans anymore, then I know I’ve gone too far. This typically only happens around the holidays, or if I’ve been traveling and out of my element. The key is not to beat myself up because I let the number on the scale go too high. The idea is to recognize I am off track and get back on track immediately. Buying bigger clothes could be considered a shop-ortunity, but I’m not going there.
My goal is that I end up with a new appreciation for my body and what it can do. By focussing more inward on how my body feels I think I’ll be able to get an ever better sense of what foods, activities, etc. serve me vs. those that don’t.
Do you have a resolution or something you’re letting go in 2020? Drop me a comment and let me know.
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