Why the Scale Can Do More Harm Than Good

Dieting sucks. Tying your self-worth to a number on the scale sucks. Deprivation sucks. Forcing yourself to do a workout you despise sucks. So, um, it’s no wonder people seem to think that being “healthy” is boring or tortuous! That’s why we’re all about you finding and developing your own healthy living jam that’s made of eats you love and workouts that feel fun. (In fact, we wrote a whole book on this Anti-Diet awesome style of life!)

But sometimes breaking free of the diet drama is hard. There are SO many diets out there, and they all promise huge results. Results that we know are ridiculous, but, gosh, sometimes it DOES sound awesome to eat what you want, skip the gym and looking rockin’ hot in a bikini. I’ll admit that.

But, dieting NEVER works in the long term. And it’s not because of you — or your lack of willpower. The whole concept of dieting is flawed and it sets you up for failure. I can go on and on again about my own personal experience with this being true or I could just share this infographic from Green Mountain at Fox Run that sums it up PERFECTLY. Titled “Why the Scale Can Do More Harm Than Good,” this infographic is a part of its Healthy Weight Week (started yesterday!), and I am so, so, so in love with it.

Yes! This is why the dieting, over-obsessing and restricting never works. It’s not you. It’s the system. So join me this week — and forever — and celebrate being truly healthy by listening to your hunger, respecting your body and what it’s telling you, and breaking up with the obsessive scale weighing and calorie counting. Like we said yesterday, you’re worth doing it for. You don’t need to be a smaller size to be of value, and you can’t hate yourself healthy!

Any aha moments from this infographic? Have you ditched the sacle and diet drama, too? —Jenn