SCRAP YOUR SCALE
3-5 p.m. Saturday. Free. Gotta Dance, 1778 Ellsworth Industrial Drive N.W., Atlanta.
The Atlanta Center for Eating Disorders is organizing this event, which is also a fundraiser for Feeding America, a national hunger-relief charity. For more information, go to www.eatingdisorders.cc.
HOW TO GAUGE SUCCESS
You are eating better, exercising more. The number on the scale is not what you hoped it would be. Remember, the number on the scale is not the end-all be-all. Here are some other ways to measure if your healthy lifestyle changes are successful:
- More endurance — even as simple as walking without getting shortness of breath or experiencing pain. Or maybe it's the aerobics class that used to tire you after 10 minutes but now you can still go strong for the entire 30-minute class.
- Lower cholesterol and smaller waist circumference (which drastically reduces risk for diseases such as cardiovascular and diabetes).
- Inches lost. Your clothes fit better or maybe you can now get into smaller-sized jeans.
- Better diet. Sticking to a new dietary habit (such as eating more fruits and vegetables every day) for an extended period of time.
- Increased energy level and overall sense of well-being. Simply put, you feel better.
SOURCE: Kristen Smith, a registered dietitian for WellStar Comprehensive Bariatric Services program
If you hate your scale, here’s an idea for you: toss it. But not before giving it a good whack first.
The Atlanta Center for Eating Disorders is organizing a “Scrap Your Scale” event 3-5 p.m. Saturday at Gotta Dance in Atlanta. The event is designed to encourage men and women to stop obsessing over a number on the scale and let go of the associations between that number and your mood, confidence and self-esteem.
Experts say when people focus primarily on an external measure of self-worth, such as their daily weight, it can keep them from developing other sources of satisfaction such as job accomplishments, hobbies and relationships.
In partnership with the Eating Disorders Information Network (EDIN), people are invited to bring their scales to Saturday’s event to decorate with paints, stickers, markers, etc. — and then break the scales into pieces as part of a cathartic exercise.
Former Miss Georgia Leighton Jordan, who has been open about her efforts to overcome an eating disorder gripping her for several years, adorned her scale with paints and then smashed it with an ax during her journey toward recovery in 2012.
“Our identity is so much more than a number on a piece of plastic, but unfortunately millions of people step on their scale every morning and allow the number to dictate how they will feel about themselves, what they will or will not eat, and how much they will work out. It’s an addiction that feeds low self-esteem and depression,” said Jordan, who is participating in the event.
While scales can become a dangerous obsession for men and women battling eating disorders, experts agree scales also can be misleading and a deterrent to weight loss for anyone wanting to make healthy lifestyle changes.
Kristen Smith, a registered dietitian for WellStar Comprehensive Bariatric Services program, said weight can fluctuate greatly day to day because of a variety of reasons, including water retention and timing of last meal. Smith said she has noticed patients weighing themselves daily tend to become obsessive and overly analytical about the fluctuating number on the scale.
Scales, she added, are best used for measuring long-term weight-loss success. And even then, the number on the scale is only one measuring stick of success. A shrinking waist circumference, lower cholesterol, a boost in energy and even a feeling of more get-up-and-go can all signal health improvements — but none of them will show up on a scale.
Carlos Daniels Jr., an Atlanta fitness trainer, tries to de-emphasize the number on a scale with clients, even telling some clients to banish the scale.
“As a society, we are obsessed with the scale and it’s the primary part of the dialogue when people talk about getting healthy and staying fit,” said Daniel, owner of CPowered2, a training fitness program.
Daniels said he typically weighs clients once or twice a month. He tries to emphasize other changes such as how your clothes fit and your energy levels.
The “Scrap Your Scale” event also is designed to dispel myths about eating disorders. Dr. Linda Buchanan, clinical director of the Atlanta Center for Eating Disorders, said common myths include eating disorders are a matter of choice, and that only white girls from the suburbs get eating disorders.
Up to 24 million people of all ages suffer from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder), according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. The association estimates 10 to 15 percent of people with eating disorders are male. And a 2009 study by the University of Southern California found African-American girls are 50 percent more likely than white girls to be bulimic.
Other myths include eating disorders are a matter of vanity or a way to get attention.
“I work with people every day who feel enslaved by their scales,” Buchanan said. “One of the most courageous acts that these individuals can do is give up daily weighing and learn to trust their bodies again. In our culture, where we are bombarded with the messages about being thin and even the message that people should weigh daily, it is no surprise how difficult it would be to put their scales away.”
Jordan hopes others will try the path she has chosen.
“I know my life changed for the better the day I decided to step away from my scale,” Jordan said, “and on the day I decided to wake up every morning and focus on my identity outside of body image and a number.”
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