To Weigh or Not To Weigh

You may have noticed that I have not posted a weigh in for a couple of weeks.  Well the last time I posted my weight I received a message from my brother in law Al, a friend and Bikram Yoga Instructor, that said “Throw that scale away and just live healthy!”  My initial thought was, yea right, I wish.  The idea kept coming back to me though.

This journey of mine is about more than what the numbers on the scale read, it is about overall health.  One of the biggest hurdles for me continues to be my self image.  As I have said before I cannot remember a time when I have not felt fat.  I am not entirely sure that even if the scale read 150 (which would be my normal BMI range) that I would somehow instantly feel better about myself.

Of course I want to weigh less, to have less fat, and this process began with a goal to no longer be overweight according to the government’s BMI standards.  Lately though I find myself focusing on different things.  My goals now focus on things like strengthening my heart, being around a long time for my family, feeling good about myself whether I’m looking in the mirror or not.  These goals that were once in the back of my mind have become primary.

If I do give up focusing on my weight it poses some issues for me.  How will I track my progress?  How will I know I have reached my goals?  When I think about these questions now it emphasizes for me that this journey of becoming and staying a healthy human being is not one with an end, but something I will have to continue indefinitely.  This realization was a bit disheartening but it is something that I need to embrace if I am to truly reach these goals.

I will continue to weigh myself every once in a while but it will not remain such an important part of my health goals or this website.

Tomorrow morning Michelle and I head to western Massachusetts to the Kripalu Center for a retreat with Kris Carr of CrazySexyLife.com.  According to the website it will be an Adventure in Health, Spiritual Wealth, and Happiness (I know it sounds kinda vegan cheesy but I don’t care.) I am so looking forward to it and am hoping that it will be a wonderful weekend of relaxation, learning, soul searching and yoga.  It will be a great start to the new goals I have for myself.  I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

So what do you think, is it a good idea to give up the numbers on my scale?