Measuring your wellness without scales

Step up on the scale-is it a daily ritual for you? The number on scale decides your mood and happiness for the day?

Then you have landed at the right place.

Your health is not linked to the number on scale!

Nor just the size of your jeans defines your complete wellness.

What if I tell you today to ditch the scale and still measure your wellness correctly?

Yes the scale gives some indication about one’s health but not all round perspective.

Weight naturally fluctuates. Sometimes your body holds onto more water than normal. If you’re a woman, your weight will move with your cycle. Food and drink consumption can also wildly impact the scale within a couple of hours. Exercise is the same. Want to try a (weird) little experiment…weigh yourself before and after going to the bathroom. You might see a difference of upto a kg!

This is not fat loss or gain. It’s simple weight fluctuation and it really gives you no indication of health status.

A scale only reveals your body weight at a specific time, but not overall health. Your overall health depends on your fat mass, lean muscle, water mass, bone mass, daily activity, food intake, metabolism, age and genetics, which a scale does not report.

Yes, forget the trauma of standing on the scales ever so often and read on about other ways of measuring your wellness which will not only make you feel good about yourself but may give you an insight to tackle those problem areas as well.

If you are already trying to eat more healthy, managing daily physical activity or workouts and making a gradual shift in your lifestyle, do not rely solely on scale. Celebrate these victories instead:

How you feel in YOUR body?

Do you feel lighter in your stomach? Bloating, acidity ,gas or constipation has reduced? This all shows your digestion has improved. You are regaining your gut balance.

 Is your skin clearer?

Do you feel any changes in your skin? Has your skin started glowing or is becoming bright or the onset of pimples has reduced. Its all  because of the reduced toxins in your body. New efforts that you are making are actually paying off.

Does your mood stay stable throughout the day?

 Less irritability, anger, feeling of positivity and happiness are all result of hormonal balance which your body is slowly regaining back.

Are you are already receiving complements from your friends or colleagues?

Not only is it an instant feel-good but also a visual stamp of approval. It gives a boost to your confidence, you feel good internally, motivating yourself to stick to the path.

 Are your clothes fitting better?

Again your pant or kurta fitting is an instant judge. The inches are lost only when one loses body fat unlike the total body weight. If  you are fitting better in your old clothes, your efforts are already showing results.

How are your energy levels?

  Do you have sustained energy throughout the day or are you still feeling a mid-day slump? How often do you hit the snooze button? Do you feel energised or tired when you wake up? These are indicators that you should pay attention to.  A balanced eating pattern gives you enthusiasm and vigour, it will help you remain constant and steady without any slumps in the day.

Are you keeping track of your strength levels?

When you work out, do you feel strong and empowered? Your endurance level is another good indicator to measure your fitness. Every rep that you can increase, every minute more that you can hold a position, every added weight you hold and succeed is a positive indication that you are on the right track.

Sometimes the weight may not change on the weighing scale inspite of regular workouts. This is because though your fat mass has gone down. Due to weight training, muscle mass has increased. This is an excellent change inside the body as higher is the muscle mass better is the metabolism. Better is the metabolism, faster is the fat loss.

How is your sleep quality?

We all know that a good night sleep improves our focus, attention, memory and creativity. This is not enough. It does much more than that by reducing stress and depression. Helps in balancing your hormones and hence the metabolism.  The repair and regeneration of the damaged tissue happens only during the sleep. It also helps in improving the immune system.

If you are sleeping better, all the above functions in the body are happening much more efficiently.

How are any previous symptoms or medical conditions? Have they improved?

If any of your blood test reports are not normal be it lipid profile (cholesterol), uric acid, blood glucose or thyroid, it indicates your overall body function is affected. Any efforts which lead to improvement in blood reports indicate improvement in your overall health.

Is there any improvement in your blood sugar levels or your thyroid pill dosage is reduced or you are put off medication for the cholesterol or uric acid. All these improvements are part of your achievement towards wellness.

 

In a nutshell: Use how you feel to measure your health

Always be mindful of your wellness and your body as you keep up (or don’t) on a balanced eating pattern, exercise and sleeping habits. Compare yourself in both cases: do you feel more active and flexible or lazy and tired for no reason? Can you climb up the stairs two at a time or do you feel out of breath?

Look for signs of progress. Feedback from friends and family, in your workout performance, in the way your clothes fit – everything counts. Nothing is too small.

All these are small live indicators that point towards your overall health. Celebrate your wins, create mini-goals and achieve them. Reward yourself with your favourite non-food item or experience.

Focus on health and wellness that goes much deeper than a number on the scale and you will have a true focus of adopting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

P.S. : On the occasion that you have to use a scale, measure yourself on the same scale. Weigh yourself max once a week, first thing in the morning after voiding.

Healthy living starts with addressing your belief system and then following with consistent action towards total mind-body wellness.

Eat healthy move more be persistent.

 

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