The "Power" of the Scale

Its taken over 30 years to realize that I don't care what the number on the scale says. My day won't be ruined if I weigh in one pound up. I won't entertain any thoughts that my worth has been compromised should my weight increase and likewise, I will not feel like I am a better person should my weight decrease.

To clarify, with this post I don't intend to imply that my weight doesn't concern me. Nor do I mean to say that I've given up and that I wouldn't care if I weighed 300#! I mean to say that I don't have a particular number in my head that I believe is my "best" weight. I do not believe that there is a single magic weight for me at which all my performance and health goals will come true. So whether it's 135# or 155#, I do not care so long as my health and performance is getting better daily! I will not sacrifice either in order to achieve a "magic number".

Use the number on the scale as a single data point in an ongoing "study". Too often is a sudden weight change due to the gain or loss of water, so it's not worth getting all worried about being up four pounds the day after a wicked food and booze bender. [Actually, wtf are you doing weighing yourself the day after that? I mean come on, if you haven't pooed yet all that food is still in you. The scale doesn't lie but it can't un-weigh your dinner, it sure isn't magic!] What does concern me are trends like a steady and significant increase in weight or a change in weight along with a simultaneous increase in exhaustion or malaise. Using the number on the scale in conjunction with other information such as how I feel, how my clothes fit, how my digestion is doing and how I'm recovering from workouts, is more appropriate and can better assist in learning more about how your own body responds to its environment. 

Do not imbue your scale with supernatural powers! It isn't a deity, just a battery-operated tool!

Trust me though, it hasn't always been this way for me. I used to weigh in each day or two with the sole purpose of seeing if my current diet plan was working. I'd also weigh in after a cheat to see how much damage I had done. Using the scale was either rewarding or punishing; never just retrieving data, free from emotion.

So what changed my mind? It was my body that changed my mind for me. All I had to do was LISTEN to my body, eat, allow my body to tell me what it needed, eat clean and train right. And eat.

This is me four years ago at 130#. LOOK at those spaghetti arms!

This second picture is just four years later (2012) when I weigh 150#.























OMG I'm huge right? In those four years I should have beaten my self up emotionally every time my weight went up right? I mean, this is obvious proof that all weight gain is bad...right? [For all of you that miss out on sarcasm, the answers to the above questions are all 'no'.]

All joking aside, I sometimes think about all the things I would have missed out on if I had allowed the scale to decide for me how skimpy my dinner would be that night. It's staggering. I can say that I am pretty dag-gone happy (and SO thankful) to have gained those 20#! I wouldn't be the person I am today because I wouldn't have enjoyed the experiences I have had.

More important than the black and white number on the scale is your health and happiness, now AND in the long run. Let your GOALS be your guide!

With fittest intentions,

Michelle

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But It's GOOD Kool-Aid!

The first stage of recovery, they say, is denial. Denial that CrossFit is better than doing 3 sets of 10 on the leg extension & 90 minutes on the elliptical. Denial that I'd been practically wasting my good hard earned money on a gym membership that didn't get me all that much fitter than I'd already been. But I could elliptical like the DICKENS!

Then, they say, there is anger. Anger that I'd never been told about this before! Anger that this information was so hard to find! Anger that my personal trainer had not ever made me do this!

After the anger passes though there is grief. Grief over all the time I had wasted in the gym, bopping pseudo-aimlessly from machine to machine. Grief that all the "Flat Abs Move" newsletters had brought me nowhere memorable.

Then there's bargaining. "Okay, okay! At least I'm fit enough to START CrossFit now," utilizing the "fit enough to begin" excuse that all those that HAVE started know to be a silly mythical creature.

Finally, thankfully, there is acceptance. Acceptance of the fact that my journey home, long around as it may have been, was necessary. Acceptance of the fact that I had not wasted any time in the gym no matter how ineffective it may now seem. That portion of my life was an education, a necessary experience (or evil, both of which apply quite well) that set me up to succeed when I finally found CrossFit.

I can say with certainty that I am proud to wear that ridiculous and delirious "I can't believe I volunteer for this $hit" CrossFit grin most days of the week.

Now, I know that you may not get it...yet. But hey, why don't you come over tonight. I've got this new flavor of Kool-Aid.

Want a taste?

Purpose

                 

What are you doing? 

Why are you doing that?

Do you think that's the best way to get what you want?

What DO you want?

These can simultaneously be the easiest and the most difficult questions to answer. You can be simplistic and literal, "I'm drinking coffee to wake up because I want to wake up." Or in my case right now "well, I'm writing a blog post. Why? Because I want to connect with all of you out there in the world; share my thoughts, my hopes, feelings, experiences and the occasional tirade (lucky you!) and hopefully inspire you to engage me in return."

As CrossFitters though, we are accustomed to being asked "why do you DO that to yourself?" I don't know about you but I have a tendency to stumble over my words when it comes to explain our workouts to an outsider. I stumble over science and application and emotion and it comes out, "uuum because it's awesome..DOH!" So I am proud to say that at long last I have discovered a stylish & elegant way to describe it. It came to me in yoga the other night as we were discussing the Yoga Sutras.

The first word (in Sanskrit, being first denotes great importance) of the second chapter in the Yoga Sutras is "tapas." Not to be confused with small tasty Spanish dishes that cost $15 each, tapas can be translated as austerity, self-discipline, dedication, and motivation. Tapas initially referred to ones committal to Yoga as a method of perfecting the body, senses and the mind in order to become a "shining one". I happen to think it applies equally well to CrossFit (or your physical discipline of choice).

• Tapas is a taking on a discipline (yoga or CrossFit etc) and knowingly and lovingly devoting yourself to it in order to reach a goal.
• It is not a chore, it is not a burden. Without your desire for the end result, there is no tapas. 
• Tapas is the strength and courage to commit to your goals despite trials and tribulation. 
• Tapas is fiery: it is a deep passionate desire and yearning to achieve your goals. No obstacle is too great because your inner fire will incinerate anything that stands in your way! Tapas is NOT a to-do list and it is NOT complacency!
• This burning desire makes the path, and the challenges you encounter, LESS burdensome because your heart is set on the goal instead of on the difficulty of each obstacle.

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you will fall amongst the stars."

So why do I continuously return to CrossFit and to yoga? Why do I take a beating and come back happily tomorrow? Because these are my disciplines, they are how I care for myself. I CrossFit and do yoga to push the limits of my mind and body, and then to push beyond that. My abilities, heart, and mind are constantly achieving, discovering and seeking new horizons. I do yoga in addition to CrossFit because I want to be able to have strength and flexibility in every possible combination of directions that my body can achieve; leave no stone unturned! I am a better person because of the work I have done in each of my disciplines. I am a better friend, daughter, sister, co-worker, coach and athlete because of them. I have a burning desire to be better than yesterday, to consistently evolve into the highest and best form of my self that could possibly exist! I want to shine!

Do you want to shine?

“Discipline is remembering what you really want.”
“Tapas…is the choice of finding a better way.”
~ Doug Keller