I am a big fantasy lover. I love books that take me to magical kingdoms with mythical creatures, badass heroines, and heroes working together to overcome a great evil. Stories of love, friendship, and found family that make me forget I’m reading. I have often joked that the reason I work out so much and want to keep my body strong and flexible with high endurance is that I know that one day, my yet undiscovered magical powers will come to fruition, and I don’t want my training montage to be too long.
While I am joking, I am trying to convey that while exercising to lose weight is totally 100 percent okay, exercising so you can tackle whatever life throws at you, magical or not, is better. Exercising so you can handle walking 20,000 steps a day on your dream European vacation or lifting weights so you can dominate your kids in all exercise endeavors for as long as possible; these are much more powerful motivating factors than seeing the number on the scale go down.
I have said it before, and I will repeat it: there is nothing wrong with having aesthetic goals. It is absolutely ok to want to lose weight and change the look of your body. I go through periods when my goals are exactly that; I feel no shame when it comes to wanting to look a certain way, and you shouldn’t either. The more significant point I am trying to make is that purely aesthetic goals are not great motivation. If you only exercise to see that number going down without considering all the other amazing ways exercise can improve your life, you are missing the forest for the trees (especially if it is a magical forest).
Mentally, using only the scale to determine success can be devastating. The body is so complex, and while you can hit your exercise and nutrition goals perfectly, the scale might now move as quickly as you would like. When this happens, it is easy to lose the motivation to hit the gym or reach for a nutrient-dense meal. When the scale is the only reason you push play on the workout, and that scale is not meeting your expectations, it becomes much harder to hit play the next day. However, if you back up and look at everything you are doing and start taking into account non-scale related success, your motivation is more likely to stay strong.
Try making some not scale-related goals and start ticking those off and see how that affects your motivation. How could exercise that helps you improve your strength, flexibility, and stamina help you tackle your life better?
If you need a little inspiration from the fantasy world…
I want…
Strong legs and core to hold my seat while flying my dragon
Strong arms and back to swing a sword
or perhaps the stamina to keep up with a gorgeous fae lover….
If you prefer more real-world mortal goals…
I want to….
Carry my groceries without pain
Walk upstairs without getting out of breath
Sleep better
Hike Machu Picchu
Take my kids to Disney World and enjoy it (if you know, you know)
If you need help to stay committed to your health and fitness goals, try taking the scale out of the equation and focusing on lifestyle goals. Trust me, you will enjoy the process more. You are more likely to stay committed when you enjoy what you do. The scale goals will come, too, but you will take so much pressure off yourself if the scale becomes a secondary goal instead of the only goal. And if your magical powers do manifest, one day, you will be ready!
