You’re working so hard, going to the gym 3 times a week, eating well, but it seems like no matter what you do, nothing’s happening. Your weight is staying exactly where it was before. This chief complaint is so common, so let’s explore.

 

The Chief Complaint: I’m working so hard, but the scale isn’t budging

I’m joined by Doc, an anonymous doctor who shares her lifelong weight loss struggles with me. She opens up about how she started a weight loss journey that was at first successful, but she’s been at a plateau for a while now, and can’t seem to budge that scale. Despite being the strongest she’s ever been, working out with a personal trainer 3 times a week, and eating well, the number isn’t going down.

Doc is obviously frustrated. She feels like she’s sacrificing so much of her life and money to be in the gym, but she’s not getting any return on her investment. Doc says that she’s the strongest and the healthiest she’s ever been, despite the scale’s lack of movement. 

When I ask her how she’d view herself if the scale didn’t exist, Doc says she’d be much happier with the progress she’s made. She feels like she’s so much stronger than most women, that she can bench press 200lbs, more than any women even weigh. Doc understands that she needs to come to terms with where she is right now before she can see that downward tick on the scale.

Doc believes that seeing the number on the scale go down is the only measurement that matters. She feels it’s positive reinforcement, and when it doesn’t happen, she feels discouraged and is more likely to fall into unhealthy habits, make unhealthy choices, or go out to eat multiple nights in a row.

When Doc experiences this, she’s repeating the story that she’s never going to lose weight to herself. This becomes, in essence, the truth, because she doesn’t believe that she’s capable of losing weight. So she’s perpetuating this cycle.

In order to break this cycle, the first thing we need to do is show ourselves love for where we’re at right now. Next, we need to reevaluate what expectations we have for ourselves. For Doc, when she realized that she’s made incredible progress in her fitness journey and sets new goals related to her training and how she’s feeling, her entire perspective shifted.

I’m not saying you’ll never experience doubts or frustrations about your weight loss journey. But when you change your outlook about why you’re training and what matters most - your overall health - the number on the scale becomes less important.

 

Homework

I want you to throw your scale in the back of the closet and start evaluating your training and fitness journey on less superficial statistics. How does this make you feel? Let me know in the comments on the episode page!

 

In This Episode 

• How you’d see yourself if the scale didn’t exist
• Why you need to come to terms with where you are right now 
• How to reframe the fact that the scale gives you positive reinforcement
• What happens when you believe the negative stories you tell yourself that you’re never going to lose weight
• Why you need to show yourself love
• How to reevaluate your expectations of yourself
• What happens when you change your outlook about why you’re training

 

Quotes 

“Despite me being overweight, by definition, and being obese by BMI definition, my lab numbers do look good.” (9:56)

“So the question is: are you willing today to start adopting the thought of “this is all worth it?” (27:51)

“Your result is that you are going to reach every goal you want to because you’re operating from that place of happiness.” (28:39)

 

Resources Mentioned

Which Body Type are You? Find out with this free quiz!

Find Life Coaching for Women Physicians Online

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Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts

Podcast production by the team at Counterweight Creative