Screw the scale!

"Gasp!!  That's not a very nice thing to say, Debi."  I know, I know.  I felt kind of funny typing that out, as a matter of fact.  However, it's how I feel.  And I think it's important to convey my feelings in my posts, rather than sugar coat them.

So, yes, there you have it.  Screw The Scale.  I'm done with it for awhile.  In joining this challenge with my friends in November, I thought it would be good to remain accountable during this season - to not gain a bunch of weight like I did this time last year.  What better way to do that then to join a friendly competition where we have to weigh in once a week?  While I am down three pounds since that first weigh in...I lost those three pounds in the first week and have been fluctuating since.  It's frustrating for me to hop on the scale and see a number that deflates my excitement...that negates the amazing job I have been doing these past few weeks.  I tell myself before stepping on that it doesn't matter what it says.  It's how I *FEEL* that matters.  But, for me, the numbers make me feel somehow inadequate.  They make me feel like maybe I need to work a little harder, that I need to eat cleaner - that I am just not doing as well as I thought.

Who wants to feel like that?  Certainly not me!!  I know how hard I have been working - and it has been HARD at times, it's taken every ounce of will (or, rather, won't) power that I can muster some days.  I know how well I have been eating and how much self control I have been exerting, especially in the face of temptations this time of year (ahem, cookie exchanges & holidays).  I am PROUD of myself.  I feel amazing - I have an incredible energy...and a fire inside of me that allows me to take each day as it comes, and not go off on some crazy food binge.  That same fire pushes me to get my workouts in every day, even when I don't quite feel like it.

One thing that really helped me to make this feeling concrete was to take some pictures of myself this afternoon.  So what if the scale is up?  So what if my body wants to hang on at this weight?  So be it.  When looking at my pictures, I see where I can still tone & tighten...but look at those arms!!  Pretty soon, they won't be jiggling as I wave the scale a fond (okay, not fond) farewell.  I am starting to see where my abs might one day be more defined.  And, best of all, that baby belly (thank you to my three BEAUTIFUL little girls, all born within three years and two months of one another) is going away.  That's all due to nutrition right there - and my goal by summer is to have more defined abs as I stick to my nutrition plan.

So - when I feel like what I am doing might not be enough, I will look at these pictures.  Maybe next month I will take and post more pictures - just to show myself that my hard work is most definitely paying off.  And if this energy continues and I gain even more strength than I have now - how could I even question myself?

See ya scale!  I *WON'T* miss you!!