Fitness Friday: 58 Things The Scale Can’t Measure
1. Muscle mass.
2. Blood volume.
3. Bone density.
4. Size of internal organs.
5. Water retention.
6. Blood sugar levels.
7. Resting heart rate.
8. Blood pressure.
9. How many push-ups you can do.
10. How many pull-ups you can do.
11. How long you can hold a plank.
12. How long you can balance on one foot in Warrior 3, while also doing bicep curls.
13. How much you’ve improved in all these exercises since January.
14. How far you can run.
15. How fast you can run.
16. How you ran a mile today when six months ago you could only walk.
17. Hours of training.
18. How you conquered that hill on your bike.
19. How you showed up for your workout every day last week, even when you didn’t feel like it.
20. How you searched Pinterest and made out a meal plan and read labels and strolled the aisles of the grocery store to make the best possible choices.
21. The twenty-one (give or take) healthy meals you prepare and eat each week.
22. How you wanted the pie but reached for the apple.
23. How you disciplined yourself to go to bed and get proper rest.
24. How you drank 150 oz. of pure, filtered water every day.
25. How, when you screwed up and ended up in McDonald’s drive-thru, you picked yourself back up and made the next good choice.
26. Energy levels.
27. Your ability to manage stress.
28. Joy.
29. Peace.
30. The love and patience you exhibited through rocking a sick baby, cleaning up puke, checking math homework, counseling the defiant teen or correcting the strong-willed toddler.
31. Resilience.
32. Effort.
33. Kindness.
34. Bravery.
35. Selflessness.
36. Generosity.
37. Perseverance.
38. The strength of your marriage.
39. How you held your tongue when you wanted to explode.
40. How much you’ve grown in holding your tongue when you want to explode.
41. The number of encouraging words you spoke.
42. Value.
43. Mental health.
44. Passion.
45. Faithfulness.
46. Loyalty.
47. Success.
48. Talent.
49. Purpose.
50. Greatness.
51. Potential.
52. Beauty.
53. Focus.
54. Determination.
55. Wisdom.
56. Compassion.
57. Quality of Life.
58. Worth.
In other words: Everything EXCEPT the downward force your body creates as a result of its relation to gravity.
It’s only how much you weigh.
That’s it.
Don’t place too much importance on this number.
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For more on putting the scale in its place:
The Scale
Today When I Look in the Mirror
9 Things I Learned from Gaining and Losing 20-ish Pounds
Want Health? Ditch This
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Linking up with Jill today.
Sandy,
I believe that I can tell you work well on all 58 of those things. You are right what we weigh compares little to those things we weigh in regard to character.
I don’t know how well I do on all 58, but I do know that I can’t measure them on my scale. I’m leading a group of ladies in a 90-Day Challenge, and today was weigh-in day. And I have to admit, I was a little disappointed in my progress this month–my WEIGHT progress. I had to sit down and think about all the progress I made that was NOT weight. So, basically, I wrote this post for me. 🙂
Thanks for your constant encouragement, Mark.
I’ve been trying to lose 10 pounds and it’s been really tough! I’ve been faithful to work out and done a pretty good job on the “diet” part too. But still, with 6 pounds to go…that stupid scale cannot be the barometer of my progress.
Love this Sandy! I know it all to be true but there are days when I know stepping on a scale is not a good idea. Something about my mood (or whatever) would throw all this out the window and then place way too much importance on the number. And if the number isn’t what I think it should be? OMG!
Great post! I agree completely! I had to tell myself forever some of these things as I stopped living and dying by the scale.