Scale Away

I have decided, over the course of my life, that there is no way that you can quantify your health.  You can measure certain things like blood pressure, heart rate, and even your brain waves, but there isn't any way to measure how we truly feel.  The only way that we can actually find that out is through our own personal measurements of wellness.  There is only one question that will give any shred of an answer.  How do you define wellness?  Everyone's definition of wellness is different, just like someone's sense of style.  We create our wellness from the choices of foods that eat to the amount of exercise that we ascribe to on a daily basis.  We are constantly a slave to our social pressures, because of television, celebrities, fashion magazines, models, department stores, tabloids, and even the people that we encounter every day.  The most common picture of wellness comes in the form of crash dieting or serial dieting.  This can come from the influence of your peers or by the over-glamorization of certain fad diets that consistently convince women that they can lose weight by using their unhealthy systems and products.  We stand on a scale every morning and sigh, because we are never thin enough.  

In reality, we are able to measure our own sense of wellness without the influence of others or the media.  We can find a way to feel a sense of energy and self-esteem if we realize that we don't have to stress over food or numbers on a scale.  When you just walk that extra flight of stairs or stop drinking carbonated beverages, you feel a sense of accomplishment.  After a while, you forget that you are actually doing that and it becomes a way of life.  You aren't weighing yourself, but you are getting rid of something that will weigh you down.  This doesn't mean that you won't slip, but it does mean that you are trying.  Another thing that some people have to leave behind them is envy, because some people are naturally thin and others are just naturally curvy.  I am naturally curvy and I know that I will never be a size four.  As long as I am healthy and making reasonable goals, I don't feel really bad about that.  Regardless of our body type, we can use our overall energy level to gauge our wellness.   When you put aside your scale, you are setting aside a stressor.  The scale often leads to obsessing about every pound.  If you just respect your body, then your wellness factor will cooperate.  I stopped weighing myself for about six months, then realized my weight from my doctor.  Made me smile to say the least.  I still don't weigh myself, because I consider that my body is at the right weight for the moment. 

When you evaluate your wellness level from a logical standpoint, you are looking at your overall fitness.  Are you well nourished and fit without feeling easily fatigued or suffering other existing health problems due to lack of fitness?  Having that bloated or overweight feeling raises concerns, but it something that you can correct.  You always have the chance to make things right.  You can bring your own sense of wellness.  I'm not thin right now, but I am definitely working on that.  I want to feel more energetic and live longer.  This is definitely prompted by the health problems that my mother suffered with when she was alive.  Right now, I am trying to make walking a source of happiness.  I want my knees and muscles to gain strength and mobility for my own well-being.  Plus the walking and the exercise produces endorphins that make me feel very peaceful and happy.  I highly recommend that for anyone who feels depressed.  Eating whole foods is another way to attain wellness.  There are always substitutions for the heavy things you've been eating without sacrificing flavor.  I've become addicted to fruit and raw veggies, plus I've cut down on my dairy a great deal.  Fiber is the most important thing though, because it keeps the body moving.  Read your labels too, because you will be surprised what some companies call food, when it really isn't!

Even though weighing yourself is technically informative, it really can inhibit you from making your short term goals.  If you aren't happy the entire time that you are trying to better yourself, how can you build yourself esteem and really make for total wellness?  Your body knows its health more than the numbers on the scale.  If you communicate with your body and listen to the signs, your image of wellness will be tailored to your needs.  Your life is more important than stressing over numbers, because you need to enjoy life.  When you feel physical wellness, then your self-esteem will enter a state of positivity.  You will be able to focus on your life, rather than counting calories.  Eating healthy should just be a natural progression and exercise shouldn't be a chore.  Sometimes the latter is harder than the former.  I should work on that a bit more.  Working on the natural traits of health aren't easy, but they are totally worth it.  Having someone who helps you along the way is great too!  Moral support is the great comfort when you are moving into a healthy lifestyle.  Change is hard and having someone who has either been through it already or just wants to help you through your journey is the best thing going for you.  Aldous Huxley said, "There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self."  Throw away your scale and change yourself without the restraint of numbers.