Weight is just a number

So last night I was thinking to myself.  Not the best start to things, but there it is.  I was thinking about making a post about how weight is just a number and on top of that, kind of an unreliable one from day to day and even week to week.

I decided to check my weight.  Knowing that the number could go up or down depending on a varying number of factors, I steeled myself in my decision to make this post.  Lo and behold, the number had changed.  Remember the number that I told you before? 539 something? Last night it was 530. 

I did it again this morning. 526.  

Now I have decided to only track my weight in myfitnesspal once a week - on Wednesdays, so I won't be updating that.  Also, while I don't always expect the weight to drop that fast over the coming weeks/months, it will go fast because of the calorie intake I have and, well, the fact that I know my body.  In the past I have been known to drop (at most) 15 pounds in a week.  Crazy, I know, but before you get mad at me for how my body works, realize JUST how much I have to lose.  Proportionally, we are the same and it doesn't happen every week.

What am I trying to say with all of this?

The number on the scale is a combination of a lot of things.  Mostly how much ice cream I have eaten over the years. budumtss.

Salt can influence how much water you retain, and consequentially, your weight. Other factors: muscle gain, food still in your system and time of day.

Also, let me dump this one you: It sounds like a joke, but if you haven't "dropped the kids off at the pool" recently, that can have an influence.  Kinda crappy. (for those who are counting, thats 2 poo puns for this paragraph...three if you count me using the number 2 a few words ago.)

Alone, scales suck.  Combined with other factors though, they can tell you quite a lot.  

For example: Weigh more but, say, your waistline is smaller? Guess what?! You've lost fat, but gained muscle! 

When you weigh yourself, do it by your actions. You are not the number, you are an amazing person.  You are the person that successfully ate within your meal plan even if it is just for one meal.  You are the wonderful human that decided to have a banana instead of a doughnut.  You are the beautiful being that chose to walk instead of sit on your couch.  You are loved for who you are, not the effects of your mass under gravity.  Weight is just a damn number.

Tomorrow: Selfie Saturday!

Keep on walkin!