Jump The Mental Hurdle- Put The Scale Down

Let's face it, we are all in a state of either maintaining, losing, or even gaining weight. Yes, there are women (and men) out there who want to gain weight. Before you say "not a bad problem to have," it is a problem when you are the one dissatisfied with your weight. Whether it is to add a little muscle or to lean out, we let the number on the scale define us! Almost everyone I talk to has a goal weight but you have to ask yourself what a number means. Is 121 pounds really better than 132? That all depends on your goals!

If you had met me a year ago, I would have been unable to tell you how much I weighed because as long as I was still in a size two,  I was a happy camper. I went by my pant size and how I looked in the mirror to tell me if I was reaching goals. It wasn't until I had gained a bit of extra body fat and decided to compete that I became obsessed with weighing myself. Even though my coach wasn't incredibly concerned with my weight, I knew each week I had to report my weight each week at check-in and it became an obsession. I would weigh myself every day even though I already knew that it is not always accurate because your weight can fluctuate; it can hold water weight, gain a few pounds from your food intake over the day and even whether or not you have gone to the bathroom can affect the scale. I of all people knew better, but there I was falling into the same trap that I warned women about all my life. "Put the scale away," I would tell them and yet I kept mine out and weighed myself every day, sometimes twice a day. 

When I stepped on stage I weighed between 115-116 lbs. The weeks following my competition were hard. Trying to slowly increase my calories so that my metabolism would keep up was tedioius but it worked. I knew that it was inevitable that I would gain some "weight" back. Heck, just drinking water again probably added two lbs. after water and sodium depleting the week before. I also knew that most competitors get post comp blues from post comp weight gain and I refused to let all of my hard work go to waste. I was so strict. Strict to the point that having a peice of fruit made me feel guilty. Adding in condiments gave me anxiety and when the scale started going up I freaked. Luckily, I have my fit fam to for support and they assured me that this was normal. Yet, I still strived to maintain my 118 lbs that I had managed to stay at for three weeks afterwards. It became exhasting and probably extremely annoying to my coworkers, friends, and family. I made a mental note of all of the things that I wanted to improve for the 2014 season: hamstrings, glutes, and abs of course. However, to do this, it would take lean muscle gains and a slight increase in my calories which means the scale will go up! 

I knew I had to put the scale away and trust my body. I began going into the gym with my improvements in mind. I continued my meal prep and  continue to eat clean although much more flexible eating, meaning an increase in carbs and actually allowing fruit again. I began to love my workouts again. I have always loved the gym but comp prep can be mentally taxing and when you are operating on a calorie deficit, it can make you hate cardio and dare I say, even gym time. Now that I am in improvement season I am having a blast. I feel like I could stay in the gym for hours when during prep my hours in the gym took every bit of energy out of me. I love my cardio time now. It is more of a stress reliever now than torture! 

It has been almost two months now since my first competition and I feel stronger than ever. I did however, weigh myself today but only for the blog. I am now 121 lbs and my body fat is still down. The weight that I have gained isn't just off season "fluff" ( I can't stand that term by the way). It is my body returning to a sustainable body composition. It is neccesary in order for me to make gains and quite honestly I like my body at this weight. It is impossible to maintain competition lean year round! Impossible and not healthy ( or fun!). I am finally finding a balance, something that I would never have strived for if I hadn't competed and for that I am grateful. As many of you know, my calories are up as well as my carbs and my body is loving the extra carbs! I don't really have cheat meals because my allergies keep me from eating normal cheat foods but I try to be more flexible and make healthy versions of cheat foods for a cheat meal. I make sure that it still has optimum macros for me. And yes, I have fruit and an occasional drink! You gotta live a little. 

When you try to use weight as a gauge for progress you are only setting yourself up for failure. I already knew this, but something happened to me while competiing that made me forget this. Take this photo for example. The photo on the left is me at 117 lbs. a few years ago before I decided to compete but was working out 5 days a week ( not my before picture by the way). I was itty bitty but had very little muscle. I couldn't figure out why I didn't have a stonger core. Looking back it was a combination of eating too little and lifting too light. The photo on the right is one month post show is when I weighed 121 and yet I look much more defined and stronger. 

 This picture goes to show you that weight doesn't tell the whole story. At 117lbs (2010ish) I didn't have nearly as much muscle and in both pictures I was a size 2!!! Just a prime example of why you shouldn't worry over the scale or compare yourself to others!

Bottom line: your weight does NOT define you. Strive for progress and put the scale away! It really helps to get a coach. This helps keep you accountable but also takes away a lot of the guess work! Coaches may ask you to weigh in but they typically go by how your bod looks rather than the scale number. If you have killer abs with an extra five pounds, does it really matter? Not to me!  As I go into inprovement season and even into my next comp prep, I vow to put the scale away. Will you join me?