Numbers. We can’t move through life without encountering them, can we ? In school I really had a not so good relationship with math. I just didn’t get why the alphabet needed to be added in to confuse things. Thank goodness for a patient teacher who worked with me to get me through my final year in high school.
Why can’t numbers be as much fun as words!?
Words tell stories and paint pictures. You can visually set pictures in someone’s mind with words and artistically create with them.
Numbers are a slow form of torture to me… but nonetheless they are a part of life. I do have a good working relationship with them now… but I still prefer words 😉
Of course we deal with them in practical ways in life. We handle money, work with finances, deal with time, and for some, their jobs might heavily involve numbers and epic number skills.
There are other numbers we deal with too… on a health and wellness level we deal with the numbers on a scale, the measurements of our bodies, numbers from lab work and the numbers of our blood pressure and heart rate, to the sizes of clothes we wear.
Now I’ve written several posts on the scale and how that shouldn’t dominate our life or determine our worth. And it’s true… it shouldn’t. I’ve talked about keeping your focus on being healthy and loving yourself. A scale is only a single tool in our health journey, and definitely not the only one. Nor does it determine our overall health.
Let me be perfectly clear… I knew exactly when I was carrying to much fat and what those numbers on the scale meant. As adults, we know when we’re overweight, and need to change that for our own continued good health. When I talk about not being defined by numbers I am not encouraging you to stay in a place of not being the best “healthy you” that you can be. Excess fat contributes to many preventable health issues and I will always encourage you to move in a direction that will lessen that on your body.
I trust you will take the necessary steps to get to your healthy weight zone and we all have what is considered a healthy weight zone. By that I mean a 5 lb balance in either direction of our ideal weight.
When I was on my journey to lose weight I accepted where I was at for that moment. I just focused on loving myself right where I was as I moved towards my goal of getting fat gone.
Today, whereas I’m not focused on those numbers, I am aware of them. I am aware of the numbers on scale even though I don’t weigh in often.
I am aware of my sizes ( yes, I say sizes because most women have a couple they can land between) I have jeans that I consider to be perfect for me so as long as they are fitting well I’m good. And yeah, I can still get excited when my hard work is revealed in smaller pants.
Shallow? Maybe. Or just a reward for hard work, discipline and eventual success for my labor?
I’m aware of my measurements.
I know because of my body composition now, I’m measured more by body fat percentage, than a BMI number.
I’m aware of my heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, resting heart rate and what my lab numbers are.
I’m aware of these things because I know they all play a part together in all of who I am.
These things don’t define me… or give me worth… but they are important for me to have an awareness of for my overall health and well being.
So I want to encourage you, if you’re on a journey to lose weight and get fit, awesome!
Keep in mind the importance and awareness of knowing your “numbers” but don’t lose sight of the fact you are moving closer to being healthy and strong, not just for you, but for those who love you too.
No matter what stage we are in on our journeys it’s important to keep in mind these are tools that help us be aware of our health and fitness levels.
Remember though, as those numbers change, the overall physical benefits will be loss of fat, more energy, strength, mental clarity, less aches and pains on our body from carrying excess weight, possible reversing of some health issues and…well… maybe a new pair of jeans 😉
Tell me… do you practice an awareness of your numbers? Not an unhealthy focus, but simply an awareness for the purpose of maintaining your health.
sassyfitnesschick 