I have had more days than I can count when how I felt about my body was defined by the number on the scale. I know that I am not alone. For so many years of my life, I was robbed of peace of mind as a result of what the scale read. The “scale experiment” I shared with you here reveals just how utterly random the number on the scale can be. So many factors beyond my food intake and my exercise contributed to what I weighed each day. I threw away the scale when my daughter was born almost 14 years ago and haven’t weighed myself since. Learn more about how and why I did this by joining our Body Love Program. 
Last week in part one, I outlined how the scale has been a part of our lives, by choice or not. I explained why I decided to show you how my scale responded to a full week of daily weight measurement alongside an honest exposé of my lifestyle that week. Our body weight is much more than a reflection of our diet and exercise choices on any given day. For many women, body weight can be a barometer of how we feel about ourselves, and, like so many other moving pieces in our bodies, it can change moment by moment in response to dozens of factors outside of diet and exercise. My scale experiment will show you how little diet and exercise “weigh” on the scale.This week was a great week to measure because:
- I ate out with friends twice in one week – unusually indulgent for me!
- My food choices weren’t “perfect”, like pretzel bites, fake cheese and wine for dinner, and licorice bites for dessert! – I can’t remember the last time I skipped a real dinner!
- My sleep was less than eight hours the nights I celebrated with friends, unlike my usually consistent sleep schedule.
So here it is! Below is a log of my weight fluctuations for one week. You will see that I do not include the actual numbers I saw on the scale, just the amounts that I gained or lost each day. Our weight is determined by so many different factors such as height, body type, muscle mass, hydration, etc., so the numbers I see should be different than the numbers you see! I weighed myself at the same time every morning. 
My observations:
- My “weight loss” of 2 pounds happened after the one day of the week I broke my “fast” from Intermittent Fasting and ate breakfast and one day after I just messed around in my gym with a very light “workout” day.
- Take a guess what happened the day I got in 15,000+ steps? The following day, Sunday, my weight stayed the same.
- My weight fluctuated 3 pounds. The days I didn’t feel my best were not the days I weighed more. The days I felt stronger had more to do with my sleep than my diet or workout.
It took me years of personal exploration to find that the number on the scale does not matter nearly as much as how I feel about the number on the scale and why I made it significant. I gave up weighing myself and worrying about clothing size. When I did – something truly miraculous happened. 
I am beyond excited to launch Alexandria Wellness’ Body Love Program. This program is grounded in self-reflection, motivated by curiosity, and inspired by a commitment to relate to ourselves with kindness, compassion, and strength. It is a program designed to:
- Demystify why women have such challenging relationships with their bodies
- Address the burden that these challenging relationships create for so many of us
- Sever our negative relationship with the scale and create new ways to measure our bodies and how we feel about them
- Transform this critically important relationship – between you and your body – into one of love and ease
Click here to learn more and sign up!
As women, many of us are excruciatingly hard on ourselves when it comes to our bodies. Join us to find a true anchor to your wellness and shed the shame, comparison story, fears, and negative self-talk. Join us for our Information Session to learn how to appreciate your body for all it gives to you. Join us to learn how – and why – it is so important to love your body.
