Numbers: They Don't Tell the WHOLE Story!

Happy Sunday, peeps! Another weekend that went as fast as it came. Something needs to be done about this. Any ideas? ;-)

Anyway, last weekend I had some struggles with switching from a "loss" mindset to a "maintenance" mindset. I gained back three pounds in two weeks, and honestly, I felt like a failure. I couldn't even maintain the lowest number I hit for a week, so how was I supposed to go about this for LIFE?

After about a day and a half of this, I decided I had enough of my pity party and grabbed my size 8 skinny jeans (same ones as in the "After" pics). Yup, still fit me perfectly. It was that moment that I realized that how my clothes fit and how I feel OVERALL are worth so much more than a number on the scale. I went back to feeling amazing.

Maintenance may have gotten off to a rocky start, but I feel confident that I'm going in the right direction. I realized that just because you hit a "low" of goal (or in my case, a few pounds less), you won't necessarily stay at a SINGLE number forever. Fluid retention happens (hormones or treat meals, as was the case for me a week or two ago), plus fat might be going away while muscle is being built. It's more like a range to stay in. I decided that if I happen to hit the 142 again, great. If I go a few (1-3) pounds above, great. I don't feel any pressure to get to ONE number any more.

Besides, one number doesn't tell a whole story.

For example, in four years, I...
...went from being borderline MORBIDLY obese to a healthy weight!
...was only able to shop in a few stores, but can shop anywhere now!
...used to hate running, now have completed five 5K's! (Hey, it's a start!)
...hated working out in general, but love it now!
...drank A LOT of soda every day, but now can't stand the stuff.
...hated my body but now LOVE how I look and more importantly how I FEEL!

You get the idea. =)

So, after looking at all this, do you see a single number telling my story? Yeah, I don't either. Numbers are part of the picture, but at the end of the day, they should be taken with a grain of salt. In other words, they're not worth as much as we think they are!

Now that I think about it, I believe that this was the mindset I needed in order to truly get into a maintenance mode. Yeah, I knew about all the numbers and stats, but mentally and emotionally, the light didn't come on for me until last week.

Yes, I did have a number I wanted to hit when I was in the process of losing weight. For me, like a lot of other people, that was the "all or nothing" of this journey. However, with enough time, I learned that how my clothes fit, how my body was getting toned, and just how I felt with myself were worth more than that number. Now, I learned that a measly two or three pounds aren't the end of the world. It's more about what my body wants to maintain while loving myself no matter what the number on the scale says.

Besides, don't numbers make us crazy enough in life? ;-)

Have you let a number define your journey at any point? If so, did you let go of the single number and focused on the big picture?