Saturday, April 25, 2015

Non-scale Victory - New Pants!

The scale has always had a huge impact on me as I battle my weight. I avoid it when my weight is out of control, I over-use it when I am trying to stay on track. When it tells me want I want it to I am elated and when it doesn't I am deeply disappointed. Sometimes it spurs me to do better and sometimes it simply encourages me to give up. The fact that one little household item can have so much power over me is frustrating. I have actually considered getting rid of it all together. Or at least having my husband keep it under lock and key only to be brought out at agreed upon intervals. "Hi, my name is Chrystal and I am addicted to the scale!" Ugh.
 Do you remember when I brought up the mental battle involved in this journey? This falls in that category for me. It is one of those areas that has affected my success in the past and that I am looking to change. I know that I am completely capable of letting go of this and not allowing the scale to have so much weight (see what I did there) on my life. That I can find comfort and reassurance and worth in something other than a number. If this is truly going to be a life change I have to be able to look past the scale and see the value in the healthy changes I am making whether or not the scale is reflecting those changes.

For this reason I am going to also be celebrating all of the non-scale victories that I can. This is why I am taking monthly pictures so that I can see the changes in my body that can't be explained in a number. I will also be doing measurements because losing inches is just as exciting as losing pounds. I will get excited about bad habits that I eliminate, good habits that I adopt, and healthy mindsets that replace some of the negative tracts that play in my mind.

What are we celebrating today? New pants! About 6 or so weeks ago I went on a hunt for new pants as I had worn my old jeans out. This was the experience that pushed me to really take on this journey. Clothes shopping is never fun when you are extremely overweight but it's even worse when you are at your top weight. When the pair of pants you have to buy is a size you have never bought before and not in the good way. In the weeks leading up to that shopping trip numerous things were starting to push me towards my breaking point when it came to my weight gain. But this was the straw that broke the camel's back. Purchasing (gulp) size 26W pants. That was a horrible feeling.

Fast forward 5 weeks to where I am now and I have lost 20 pounds. Needless to say those pants are getting extremely baggy to the point where I am having to pull my pants up throughout the day. A good problem to have, right? Budget wise I am not thrilled to be having to once again buy new pants but when it's because your last pair got too big there isn't really much room for complaining. I didn't get jeans this time but instead some casual capris to celebrate the warmer weather. Because they had a non-zip/button waste I was able to get a 22W that will allow me to wear them now AND lose more weight without having to replace them in the next 5 weeks (although I wouldn't complain if that happened!).  And you know what? I am celebrating! This is a victory worth getting excited about and I look forward to celebrating new pants each and every time those sizes drop.


Are you a slave to the scale? What ways do you celebrate your healthy lifestyle changes that don't involve weighing yourself?

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