Losing weight can take a toll on your body both physically and emotionally, especially when you work so hard and don’t see the weight dropping. Oprah Winfrey has struggled with weight loss for years and she recently shared the details about her 42-pound weight loss which she succeeded by ignoring the numbers on the scale.
When people begin a weight loss program, they often have a goal in mind. They want to lose a certain number of pounds and start by weighing themselves constantly after working out and dieting, they rush to look at the scale to see if they’ve lost any weight. This can be a particularly stressful thing to do and Oprah knows how unmotivating it is to see that you’ve worked your butt off and you haven’t lost any weight.
“At 200 pounds, I was okay,” she told Weight Watchers Magazine. “I have never, ever, ever been at that point. And then at 190 pounds, I was okay. If I don’t lose another pound right now, I’m still okay. The fullness of life, the fullness of being, the self-acceptance–I’d never done tat before. I’d always beaten myself up because I was tied to a number.”
I know that that many women can relate to the way she feels. We’ve all seen the photos on Instagram of women sharing their weight loss journey and many have gained a lot of muscle, but when they look at the photos their bodies are completely different. Muscle is heavier than fat, which makes you look leaner even though you might still weigh the same amount.
Instead of focusing on the numbers on the scale, women should focus on the way they feel, the way their pants feel, the way their belly looks flatter, and the stronger they are because they are getting out there gaining muscle that they didn’t have before. That’s what really matters. Focusing on specific numbers, you are only setting yourself up for failure and frustration.
“When the weight started to come off, I needed to get clear on my intention. I could lose weight to fit a dress size, or attend an event, or to make other people like me. But I couldn’t keep it off for those reasons. I always put the weight back on,” she said. This is something that many of us can relate to because the words diet and exercise program have a start and a finish date. Changing your mindset and the way you see food and a healthy fitness routine is forever.
“This time I changed the intention to, ‘I want to be the healthiest I can be–physically, emotionally, spiritually.’ So the process and purpose of losing shifted for me. It was easier because my intention was clearer.”