To everyone who said they would lose weight during 2019: Don't listen to the scale right now.
I made a resolution to lose weight this year. Generally, I wanted to get back on track with the healthy lifestyle I used to follow. I played sports in high school, but in college, I realized didn't have time for it anymore. Working out and eating healthy makes me feel good, so I thought it would be easy to get back to my routine.
It wasn't easy. My schedule is so packed that I have to schedule time to work out. And it's not always easy to stick to that schedule.
Because I can't literally dedicate my life to being healthy, I thought that counting calories and weighing myself every day would lead me to a healthier lifestyle.
It didn't. The scale made me feel worse. Gaining a pound started to mean failure to me.
Counting calories was not bad for me at first; it allowed me to be more conscious of my food choices and control my portion size. However, because of my self-critical nature, things soon took a sour turn.
I have a tendency to overeat because I don't eat regular meals every day (thanks, college). Any time I would overeat, I would weigh myself the next morning and feel a little upset if I gained even a little weight or lost a minuscule amount of weight. This mentality really doesn't make sense; you can't gain weight that fast, and your weight fluctuates depending on many factors.
I decided to take a less strict and more flexible approach to my healthy lifestyle. I'm not counting calories, but I'm keeping in mind how much I'm eating and being careful not to overeat. Every once in a while, I'll have a cookie and enjoy it. I've been doing that a lot more lately, and it's okay. These aren't your "cheat" days; you're living your life.
The way we talk about food is so important. Yes, America's obesity rates are very high, but because of this, the fear of being fat drives the need for dangerous diets with extreme calorie restriction. The fear of being fat leads to Instagram stars advertising tea that is supposed to lead to weight loss (I'm talking about you, Kim K).
If calorie restriction is so unhealthy, then why are we encouraging it?
Everything is okay in moderation. In fact, we shouldn't really be saying that certain types of food are okay and others aren't okay.
It's okay to eat something because it tastes good.
It's okay to choose a "healthier" food as an alternative to one that isn't as healthy, but it's also okay to do the opposite.
Dieting can ruin our mentality. Guilt should not be associated with food. Food is fuel. It's what keeps us going.
The number on the scale shouldn't make you want to eat less.
Yes, I am trying to eat less, but not in the way you think. I am trying to stop stress eating and binge-eating at night. I'm trying to develop a healthier relationship with food. I'm trying to lose weight, but I don't want it to control me.
I let it control me for a while. That made me hate myself. So now I'm learning to love my body, no matter what number the scale says, and I couldn't be happier.
