The Scale

It's incredible that one small piece of equipment has the ability to make you dance for joy in your underwear and the next day make you a sobbing puddle on the floor. The scale. We love to hate it. We wait with baited breath for that little number to dip just a bit lower. We stand absolutely still, in the exact same spot, at the exact same time, to measure the smallest of changes. We are over the moon when the number drops, even just a little; we disintegrate into dejection, feelings of failure and even depression when the number creeps up, even just a little. We are slaves to the scale.
One of the most important lessons I've learned the hard way, is to put away the scale. I may not have lost a whole bunch of weight, I might not be able to do 50lbs rows, I may fluctuate and fall off the wagon, but I try not to don't weigh myself anymore. Why? Because I don't want my happiness or feelings of success to rely on one little (or more accurately, not so little) number.
I can lift more. I can go farther. I can push harder. My jeans are a little bigger. My arms don't stretch out my shirts anymore. I don't hurt so much. I actually enjoy working out (most of the time). I feel lethargic and kind of gross when I don't make it to the gym at least twice a week. These are how I measure my success.
So if you want my secret to successfully getting healthy... here it is: toss the scale. Find something that is more important than that one number to measure against. If you screw up, miss the gym, binge on treats, eat at big delicious greasy burger - so what?! Use every day as your starting point. Every morning that you wake up, be thankful to be alive and start again. Make good choices, move your body and tell yourself that you are capable of anything!