Scale Numbers, Stress, and NSV

I think that there are times that we all get so caught up in the number on the scale that we can sabotage ourselves when we aren’t seeing what we want. I know that I’ve been guilty of this more times than I can count. Add life stressors to the numbers not going the way you want and you can create a backwards spiral before you know it.

Recently I’ve found myself in the grips of such a struggle. Work has been extra stressful for several months now, I’ve recently had a big lifestyle change with the addition of a new relationship, and finally I’ve also tested positive for mononucleosis. Even before I tested positive for mono I had been struggling to keep going because I wasn’t seeing the numbers moving on the scale the way I had wanted to. I had found myself struggling in the mornings to get up and workout and my weekend schedule was completely thrown out of the window. Looking back I can see where my body was telling me to slow down, but it wasn’t until two emergency doctor visits did I finally heed this warning.

Now I will also admit that had it not been for the doctor painting the worse case scenario for my health if I didn’t rest, I probably would still be pushing forward with my double workouts every day despite hating every single minute of them. Instead, the doctor put my struggles in perspective. I was trying to balance so many things that I was neglecting my own body, thereby not just killing my immune system but also fueling my depression. Now I’m not going to say that suddenly taking all of this in has made the scale move again because it really hasn’t. However, I can say that acknowledging the situation not only with my health but also with my stress levels and decreasing my workouts for the time being has made me step back and find time for me. I admit that I’m still obsessing over the number on the scale but today I realized that even though the number may not be changing the way I want it to, I am still making progress.

I think we sometimes let ourselves get so wrapped up in the numbers that we forget about the NSV of the journey. The compliments from others around us, being able to climb a flight of stairs without getting winded, being able to push out just five more burpees than last week, and even being able to wear jewelry that used to be too tight.

I personally don’t wear a lot of jewelry but today I decided that I was going to wear one of the many rings I have been given over the years. Most of them I had been limited to wearing on my pinky fingers because they were too small for me. Today however, when I went to pull the rings I normally wear out of my jewelry box I was shocked to realize that they don’t fit. In fact out of all my rings I only have one ring that still fits. It’s one that I was given and have never been able to wear and it not only fits but it’s even a little loose. This small act reminded me that although I may not be seeing the numbers change I still continue to make progress.

The lesson that we need to remember as we enter the stressful holiday season is that not everything has to be about the number on the scale. If we continue to work hard and give it our best effort we can still make progress. Don’t discount the NSV because those are just as much an indicator of progress as the numbers on the scale.