Are you scale obsessed?
Do you own a pair of bathroom scales? Do you weigh yourself daily? weekly? Does that number on the scale stress you out and rule your life???
I say throw out the scale! Burn the scale ! Break the scale!
When my bathroom scales died, I never replaced them as I was becoming obsessed with them. I weighed myself with clothes, without clothes, without jewellery, I probably would have taken off my hair as I have so much if I could ! After years and years of measuring my food on a scale, weighing my body on a scale, I have a pretty good idea of how much food I should be eating. Remember too that our body fluctuates daily depending on many factors including where women are in their cycles, water retention, and the amount of muscle we have . So this dependency on the scale can cause us to obsess and mess with our minds.
In fact, I believe we all really know how much we should be eating but at times we do not. Plates sizes and as a result portion sizes have increased over the years as well. What used to be a small coffee cup size is now a medium, a medium has become a large and so on! We are even “tricked” into eating more. Some places offer to boost us to the extra size if we add an extra dollar to our choice! I remember years ago on a road trip stopping at a pizza hut and the waiter telling us for an extra dollar I could get the bigger size and I remember telling him but I don’t want the bigger size and my husband saying get it its only a dollar. so guess what happened? We ordered the bigger size but I did not eat it all and it went to waste and I hate wasting!
If we are not using our scales to weigh and measure our food, how then should be know how much we should be eating.
Well, first rule of thumb according to Harvard website is:
- half of our plate should be non starchy veggies and some fruit
- A quarter lean protein
- Divide the rest of the plate with healthy carbs such as quinoa, brown rice and sweet potato and healthy fats.
- Drink lots of water
It’s that simple!
Another great measure is to use the scale you have already built into your body..!!! Your hand! A serve of protein is roughly the size of your palm, eat healthy fats such as half and avocado, a small serve of nuts and EVOO.
This makes eating out so much easier and so less obsessive. We know our bodies best and we really know when when we are over our comfort zone. Our clothes tell us, our bodies tell us, we have less energy, we feel sluggish, we have extra love handles to hold onto.
We know when we eat well and exercise, our clothes fit better, our love handles diminish, our energy levels are boosted. So throw away the scale unless you are making a cake and need to measure ingredients or you need to weigh your suitcase!