Several years ago my daughter The Workout Mama was my personal trainer and noticed how I let the display on the scale color my days good or bad.  She actually kidnapped the little square box with digital numbers in order to give me a rest that would allow me to  concentrate on practicing healthy habits of movement and nutritious eating.  You see the scale had become a distraction to my goals and a bit of a boss.

I come from a family that struggles with their weight so hopping on and off the scale was second nature from the time I young.    When Tamara took this picture of me and the scale — right before before she locked it in the trunk of her car and drove away — I felt uncertain.  But in time it was freeing and taught me to look at progress in a healthy lifestyle differently ….  We are all more than a number on a scale and success is found with every workout, each healthy choice of food or drink that goes in our mouth, the kindness we extend, the dreams we follow, etc.  Today I look at this picture and see a healthy woman in her 50’s.  Today I see a woman who was going to have some challenges in the years ahead with Interstitial Cystitis, Sleep Apnea and 2 bouts of shingles but her body is going to fight hard  to get her back on her feet.  Today I see a woman who works full-time, has energy to care for her family, and is an active grandmother to a toddler and infant.  

Silly me – I was making great progress even though I didn’t feel like it at the time of the picture!

Here is what I believe and try to put into practice.  God formed me and knows my body….this place where I live….better than anyone.  He made it to move so until I can’t move anymore, I do what I can (each day is different and I try to blend kindness for myself along with challenging myself not to do less that I can).  I practice fueling my body (most of the time) with what evidence shows are nutritious foods and drinks.  I use supplementations (a good multi-vitamin, vitamin D, fish oil, antioxidants and probiotics) because no matter how much care I take with my food, the truth is that the way our foods are grown and produced I can’t get everything I need by eating and drinking.  These days I weigh myself 1 – 2 times a week  Do I see the number I’d like to?  No but on most day I’m okay with that because I’m more than a number on a scale.

Deliciously Inspired gives me a place to share some old recipes but also what I’m learning to care for myself with the hope that you’ll find one or two things to help you.  This week I discovered a new blog.  As I read Hayley’s words I remembered the above picture and thought I’ve made progress in my relationship with the scale and that’s worth blogging about.