Non scale victories – Why They’re Important

I first heard the term “non scale victory” sometime last year and quickly blew it off thinking, “I have so much weight to lose, the only thing that matters is getting out of the “overweight” category on the weight charts.” Oh how wrong I was…

Rather than obsessing about a number on a scale (which tells you oh-so-very-little about your actual progress), non-scale victories give you the opportunity to celebrate things of significance, however “small” they may seem but things you know are evidence of change in your habits and daily life.

One of my favorite trainers, Autumn Calabrese, writes a great article on non-scale victories and ten questions you can ask yourself here.

So as long as I can remember, I’ve HATED wearing shorts. Seriously, if I can’t use the hate word I will say STRONGLY DISLIKE! Even as a teen working day camps in the sweltering heat all day, I really disliked shorts. Disliked shopping for them. Disliked wearing them. Disliked everything about them. And so for the past several (ten plus?) years I’ve had no more than a pair of shorts in my wardrobe, saving them for things like daylong trips in the sun to the zoo or Six Flags. In fact, until THIS year I only had one pair of shorts I had worn in the last four or five years… (see right, June 2014)

So imagine my surprise today when I realized I was grabbing for one of my NEW pairs of shorts this summer and thinking to myself, “Man, I wish I had MORE shorts to choose from I wear these so much!” Literally for the first time in my life, I LOVE wearing shorts. I can’t point to exactly why this is, other than increased confidence in my own skin and the transformation I’ve experienced over the past year.

The other awesome thing about non-scale victories? You just get to keep celebrating them. Even when you’re not expecting them, you realize you’ve achieved one! They catch you off guard and encourage the heck out of you. Maybe it’s really nailing that one move you’ve been modifying in your workouts since you began, or realizing your craving for a particular food of weakness is completely gone. Whatever it is, its worth celebrating! And no matter what, keep from obsessing from the number on the scale and focus on how you FEEL instead!

Below, an average day, just CHOOSING to wear my shorts 🙂