71: Overcoming Scale Drama
The scale says 150 lbs. What are you thinking?
Some of you are thinking - this is amazing!
Others of you are thinking - this is awful!
How can that be? It’s the exact same number.
The number is neutral. It’s what you think ABOUT the number that makes it mean anything. That’s why two people can see the same number but make it mean completely different things.
One person can make it mean she’s great and spend the day feeling happy and carefree.
The other can make it mean she’s a failure and spend the day feeling depressed and hopeless.
It’s all in what you make it mean about yourself and what you do with that information.
EPISODE 71: Overcoming Scale Drama
SHOW NOTES
(0:00) Intro
Welcome back to the club!
I listened to a coaching call where the life coach was coaching someone on scale drama - and it was so good and made me think of so many things I want to share with you, that I had to get here so we chat it up.
So this woman had gotten on the scale and gained 2 lbs, it created all of this mind drama and part of the reaction to that was that she ate a bunch of chocolate. Which is so weird when we do something like that. We’re like “oh, the scale is higher, let’s eat more.” So weird right? We think it’s not working so we double make it not work by sabotaging our selves with more food.
What’s also weird is that we do that on the flip side too - like oh look, I lost some lbs, there’s room for that chocolate after all. And we “reward” our selves with food. We are such strange beings.
(2:27) When we stand on the scale and lose our everlivin’ minds.
This is why I strongly discourage people from getting on a scale in Feast 2 Fast®. Our weight can fluctuate so much based on water, hormones, whether you’ve pooped lately...and scale weight is not always the best or most reliable source of progress. I ask people to monitor the way they feel, their energy levels, their sleep, the way their clothes fit.
If you listened to the Behind the Scenes Weight Loss Story podcast episode I did with Rebecca, one of my clients, Feast 2 Fasters member of The CHC, you might remember that she didn’t lose scale weight in the first round of F2F but noticed things were changing with her body. Eventually she did have a whoosh of weight loss. And that can totally happen, but how many of us would get on a scale, not see it move and stay committed to a healthier diet?
People get irritated and discouraged when they don’t see progress in a week.
That’s why I’m not a big fan of the scale but this life coach has a totally different view. She actually encourages people to get on the scale every day - not to monitor weight, but to monitor the mind. She wants you to face your scale drama head on and realize it’s all just thoughts.
(5:05) Consider this…
The scale says 150 lbs. - what are you thinking?
Some of you are thinking - that would be amazing!
Others of you are thinking - that would be awful!.
How can that be? It’s the exact same number.
The point that the life coach makes is that it’s not about the number, it’s the thought ABOUT the number that creates the drama. The actual number on the scale is just a piece of information. The scale is indifferent, it has no agenda, it is not alive, it’s not judging you, it’s a piece of plastic that conveys a piece of information.
But 2 people can look at that number, same data, and have a totally different spin on it.
Standing on the scale is a good way to figure out your brain about yourself.
What is your relationship with yourself when you see that number?
What do you make it mean about yourself?
What do you tell yourself?
What actions does it drive you to when you tell yourself this story about what the number means?
Think how quickly and automatically your brain will tell a story based on that number!
The scale can’t talk y’all, that’s your self-talk which has real repercussions and consequences and is why we must take captive these thoughts that do not serve us and lead us to self-sabotaging actions.
(7:25) A different scenario…
A different story someone might think when they get on the scale is, “I’m holding steady at my goal weight, even though i’ve been hitting the chips and the margaritas a lot lately, I guess my body is fine with that, good I can keep eating a drinking it up.”
This story still leads the person into self-sabotaging action. Eating and drinking a lot of chips and margaritas all the time is not good for your health even if it doesn’t affect your weight.
So the story is going to be different based on the person. Even if you’re looking at the same set of facts. It was funny because the life coach used the example of how you can watch Fox News and CNN news which may be reporting on the same data but with a completely different spin. Same news, different story.
Think of the person who gets on the scale and the news is 150 pounds. It can be the same news, different story.
So the questions to ask yourself when you stand on the scale and read the news is :
What channel are you on?
What story are you telling yourself about what this number means?
How does the story change when the scale goes up or down?
A story can jerk your mind around and affect your mood, your actions because it create so much drama.
When you can step back and look at your thoughts and see how they lead to the cascade of feelings and actions and results, you can unravel some of these mysteries of your life.
(9:56) Thought Downloads:
A thought download may look like: the scale says 150 pounds…
T: oh, no this isn’t working
F: discouraged
A: is a self-sabotaging action of eating all the chips and the
R: you continue to yo-yo diet or can’t lose weight.
There is always this cascade of events that happen from a thought - no matter what subject we’re talking about in your life - this is the case. You must monitor what’s going on in your head if you want to get better results in your life.
Proverbs 4:23 says:
More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it.
I have a blog post called Self-Coaching Christians that breaks down and explains this process more. And it’s why we spend a whole month on it in The Christian Health Club. It’s so key. And it’s so scripturally relevant which is why I think it’s very important to make it apart of the health process.
(12:35) Ok, let’s go back to our news analogy.
When it comes to seeing the number on the scale, Instead of making a judgement on yourself, play the role of a neutral journalist.
Not reactive, not opinionated , not judgmental. Just the facts ma’am.
What if we could practice standing on the scale, looking at the number as a neutral journalist who is just gathering the facts.
Now, if you want to be more of an investigative reporter, you could do that as well. You could get curious about the number on the scale without getting judgmental.
Like, ok the scale went up 3 lbs from yesterday….what are some reasonable explanations here? Why could that be? I had more carbs yesterday, maybe I’m retaining water. I’m ovulating, could be a hormonal fluctuation. Or, I’ve been drinking like a fish, this makes complete sense.
Let it help inform your situation.
How much more reasonable and less dramatic is that than looking at the number on the scale and letting your brain scream judgement at you?
We can inform ourselves instead of berating ourselves.
I think we think that the more we beat ourselves up - the more motivated we’ll be to make change.
We don’t typically take positive action from negative thoughts and feelings. It’s why it’s important to use that thought download process to inform you of how your self-talk is leading you to the actions you take.
(15:29) Here’s another interesting approach to getting on the scale:
What do you want to think when you see the number?
Not what number do you want to see on the scale?
What do you want to think about the number no matter what it is ?
Decide ahead of time, decide what you’re going to think and do no matter what it says.
I am going to challenge all of you scale users, scale abusers to do this thought work. If the scale is going to be a part of your health journey progress, then get right with it. We ain’t got time for scale drama.
If your scale news feed is negative, switch channels. Switch to a positive news feed. I think we’re all tired of bad news these days, tell me some good news. Tell yourself some good news.
You get to decide which new channel you’re on and how it informs you.
Okay my friends, hope you enjoyed this. If you like these kind of coaching episodes let me know by leaving a review!
(17:30) .Outro & Disclaimer
Thanks for listening! Have a healthy and blessed week!