Weighing yourself can become addictive. It is easy to allow the number on the scales to dictate how we feel, how we dress, how we eat and basically how the day unfolds.
We can be hooked by regular or even more obsessive weighing if we develop an attachment to checking on what the scales say. Checking behaviour can also take the form of measuring, trying on clothes, taking selfies, or checking in the mirror and it can become really destructive. If you have ever been stuck in this loop you will understand just how damaging it can be.
We can get drawn in by a desire to be a certain weight, to lose a lot of weight or to battle with a yo-yo pattern. Sometimes there can be a desire to reach an unrealistic weight which can keep us stuck in feelings of failure and set up a cycle of deprivation eating.
What the scales say can create all kinds of reactions from binging, to starving to hibernating. When we become dependent on the scales, we hand the power of how we are feeling to something external. The thing is, our weight fluctuates all the time and the number on the scales never a reflection of our inner worth no matter how good or bad it is.
But it is too easy to become attached to being a particular weight and size or averse to ourselves or food when we don’t measure up. Freedom from both attachment and aversion is a central concept Yoga and Ayurveda.
Learning to be with things right now, as they are, is the point of freedom.
We can still make lifestyle changes and still choose to keep growing and learning, but the freedom comes when we learn to let go of the judgements when we do not meet our own expectations. In fact, letting go of the criticisms opens up the space for healing and change. We can get fooled into thinking that the scales will enable us to stay in control, but in fact they usually have the opposite effect in the long run. It might feel scary to let go of them, especially if they have ruled your routine for a long time.
The trick is to be present with yourself, to learn to witness yourself as you are, without judgement or reaction. Investigate your current size and shape by all means, but be with it and breathe. To free yourself from the chains of the weighing scales, put them out of sight or get rid of them and begin to cultivate the part of you that can just notice without judging. Be aware of your feelings, and even be aware of judgemental thoughts. Watch them come and go, you don’t have to react to them, they will pass and they are not ‘true’. As these thoughts lose their grip over you, you will find your true freedom with food and eating.
Developing a meditation or mindfulness practice will enable you to learn to be present and to enjoy the only moment that matters, this moment now. Choosing to let go of the scales will really help you to live in the moment. In turn, living mindfully will free you from seeking external verification from needing to check in with the scales or other forms of external verification.
Of course learning to live mindfully is a lifelong journey and letting go of attachments and aversions is a process, so be gentle and kind with yourself. Be patient and try it for a day, or a week or a month and see how it feels to be free from the weighing scales jail!