STIMULATE YOUR DETERMINATION: THE SCALE STOOD BETWEEN HER AND SUCCESS
Kym Hubert lost 85 pounds, but not until she finally threw out the scale that had become her obsession. Kym, of Chino Hills, California, had struggled with her weight for 20 years—a consequence of her preference for fatty foods (chocolate milkshakes were her favorite). In 1991, she joined a weight-loss program that required daily weigh-ins. After 4 months, she dropped out, discouraged. But she didn’t get rid of the scale.
Soon, Kym was weighing herself three times a day: in the morning after she got out of the shower (to see if she had lost weight overnight), before dinner (to see if she had lost weight during the day), and before bed (to see if she had gained weight during dinner). Unfortunately, her scale seldom showed good news. By June 1997, she weighed 245 pounds.
Desperate to help Kym overcome her obsession with her weight, her husband smashed her scale. At first, she felt exasperated and frustrated. “It was sort of like having your addiction taken away from you,” she says. “I became very depressed about my weight.” But eventually, she was able to refocus her energy on a new interest: walking.
“My husband, who’s a runner, belongs to a group that includes runners and walkers. He kept asking me to join the walkers in the group,” she recalls. “I finally decided that I could sit either around and stay depressed or try something that might bring my husband and me closer together.”
On her first outing with the walkers, Kym trekked 1 miles. She hurt afterward, but she agreed to meet the group the following Saturday. Pretty soon, she was also walking 3 nights a week, either with her husband or a girlfriend.
By April 1998, Kym felt fit enough to add running to her fitness program. In October of that year, she joined a gym and weighed herself for the first time in months. She had lost 80 pounds, thanks largely to walking and running. And, as a bonus, she says, “My relationship with my husband has improved 1,000 percent. We’re spending more time together, and I’m not feeling depressed anymore.”
Today, at age 41, Kym is more concerned about how she looks and feels than how much she weighs. She’ll never again use a scale to measure her success.
WINNING ACTION
Stay off your scale. When you’re trying to slim down, don’t rely on your scale to measure your success. Because muscle is heavier than fat, your weight may not change much as you become more fit. Instead, some experts recommend using your clothes as a guide. Do your shirts and ST pants feel looser? Do you have more room in the waist? If so, celebrate. That’s the sign that you’re making progress.
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