The Number Effect
So I was was in the middle of writing a lovely post about fiber and its importance in our daily life...but then I got distracted and decided to talk about something completely different. And since my blog topics seem to have no rhyme or reason to them, I figure I might as well keep the confusing trend going and talk about a subject that has been on my mind recently: numbers. In other words: weight, BMI, calories, pant size, shirt size, etc.
I find it fascinating that our culture puts so much pressure and emphasis on these numbers. People don't try to "be healthier," they try to "lose weight." They don't try to "be healthier," they try to "eat less calories." They don't try to "be healthier," but they try to "decrease waist size." Which is fine! Even this morning I was telling my mom about my recent strength training endeavors and how I have gained thirteen pounds from it.
But then I got thinking.
What is my job as a future dietitian? It's not to help people lose weight (a shocker, I know); it's to help people become healthier, and losing weight can be a consequence of a healthier lifestyle. But why do we focus so much on numbers? Why do we say, "I am 160 pounds," not "I am a person who weighs 160 pounds"? When a child is born, you don't say, "Hi everybody, I would like you to welcome 7 pounds and 14 ounces to the family." Yet we talk about ourselves this way. I wish bathroom scales were never invented--people would be a lot happier that way.
Because when it comes down to it, we are not numbers. When we give numbers power we inadvertently let the scale tell us how much we are worth. An inanimate object can control us. Which is not the way it should be. You control you. You control your lifestyle.
I recently had a friend tell me that he couldn't have the donut I offered him because he had already had his treat for the week. Even though he wanted the donut, he said that he couldn't have it, not that he wouldn't have it. He gave power to the number on the scale (not to mention he gave me the power to eat another donut). What is most surprising is this man is incredibly fit and healthy; his endorphins would probably benefit from a donut! I know mine always do.
But all of this brings us to one central point: perhaps if we focus less on what the scale tells us, and focus more on what our body tells us, we would make more progress in the direction we want to go.
I once met a lady who wanted to lose weight, so she started walking five miles every morning. After an entire year, she did not lose a single pound. Not one! Many people would think that she wasted a year, but she didn't. This woman gained so much, though the scale didn't budge. She gained endurance, strength, muscle tone, and most of all...CONFIDENCE. She gained confidence in herself. She felt better than she ever had before, and she stopped letting the scale dictate her feelings.
As a dietitian once told me, "the body is not math; it's too complicated for that." Metabolism is a crazy thing! It changes based on age, activity level, hormones, stress, mental issues, and overall health. In other words, our metabolisms are constantly changing and adjusting. What does that mean? It is impossible to track with numbers. And trust me, I have tried.
Part of this problem could originate from health professionals. It is easier to organize patients when you put them in a category based on symptoms. Like the SAT and ACT, their patients have a 'score' that places them in a group, but it doesn't always reflect the intelligence (or in this case, health) of that person.
For example, when I was struggling with anorexia, I needed medical help. But I didn't get any. Part of this was definitely my denial that I had a problem and the lies about the number of calories I was eating, but another part of it was my weight. Technically, 118 pounds was a healthy weight for my age and height at the time. But I was far from healthy. And I often wonder what would have happened if the doctor had recognized that something was wrong and decided to do something about it. Maybe nothing. But maybe it would have stopped it from happening.
Which is why we need to treat people, not numbers. We need to focus on health, not weight or size. We need to try to "be healthier," not "lose weight," "decrease waist size," or "eat less calories." Sure, eating less calories can be the way to become healthier. Losing weight can occasionally be the answer. And decreasing waist size can be more helpful to some than to others.
But you are not these numbers. There's no way you can take all of those good and wonderful things about you and shove them into a small and increasingly smaller box that has a number painted across it. Focus on what you want to become and on what you want to do with your lifestyle and the numbers will follow.
If you think about it, it hardly ever goes the opposite way. If you focus on numbers first, the lifestyle hardly ever follows. It just doesn't work. When you focus internally, on feeling better, eating better, becoming your best self, the lifestyle and number changes become habits. They become permanent. They help you feel confident, just like the woman in the story I shared.
So be happy! Eat and be active. Become healthier, however that may look to you. Sometimes you may think you are making little progress, but as you look back you will see how much you have changed, the health you have gained, and the confidence that has blossomed. Focus on the "why," not the "what." Why you want to get healthier, not the number you think will get you there.
Because that's what it is all about, isn't it? Happiness. "Losing weight" evokes pity, but "becoming healthier" evokes support (and usually somebody will join in on the journey with you).
So find your "why" and stick to it! Be the best you you can be. And make sure to never pass up the opportunity to have a donut. Because only having one treat a week sounds like a lifestyle I don't want to live.
I find it fascinating that our culture puts so much pressure and emphasis on these numbers. People don't try to "be healthier," they try to "lose weight." They don't try to "be healthier," they try to "eat less calories." They don't try to "be healthier," but they try to "decrease waist size." Which is fine! Even this morning I was telling my mom about my recent strength training endeavors and how I have gained thirteen pounds from it.
But then I got thinking.
What is my job as a future dietitian? It's not to help people lose weight (a shocker, I know); it's to help people become healthier, and losing weight can be a consequence of a healthier lifestyle. But why do we focus so much on numbers? Why do we say, "I am 160 pounds," not "I am a person who weighs 160 pounds"? When a child is born, you don't say, "Hi everybody, I would like you to welcome 7 pounds and 14 ounces to the family." Yet we talk about ourselves this way. I wish bathroom scales were never invented--people would be a lot happier that way.
Because when it comes down to it, we are not numbers. When we give numbers power we inadvertently let the scale tell us how much we are worth. An inanimate object can control us. Which is not the way it should be. You control you. You control your lifestyle.
I recently had a friend tell me that he couldn't have the donut I offered him because he had already had his treat for the week. Even though he wanted the donut, he said that he couldn't have it, not that he wouldn't have it. He gave power to the number on the scale (not to mention he gave me the power to eat another donut). What is most surprising is this man is incredibly fit and healthy; his endorphins would probably benefit from a donut! I know mine always do.
But all of this brings us to one central point: perhaps if we focus less on what the scale tells us, and focus more on what our body tells us, we would make more progress in the direction we want to go.
I once met a lady who wanted to lose weight, so she started walking five miles every morning. After an entire year, she did not lose a single pound. Not one! Many people would think that she wasted a year, but she didn't. This woman gained so much, though the scale didn't budge. She gained endurance, strength, muscle tone, and most of all...CONFIDENCE. She gained confidence in herself. She felt better than she ever had before, and she stopped letting the scale dictate her feelings.As a dietitian once told me, "the body is not math; it's too complicated for that." Metabolism is a crazy thing! It changes based on age, activity level, hormones, stress, mental issues, and overall health. In other words, our metabolisms are constantly changing and adjusting. What does that mean? It is impossible to track with numbers. And trust me, I have tried.
Part of this problem could originate from health professionals. It is easier to organize patients when you put them in a category based on symptoms. Like the SAT and ACT, their patients have a 'score' that places them in a group, but it doesn't always reflect the intelligence (or in this case, health) of that person.
For example, when I was struggling with anorexia, I needed medical help. But I didn't get any. Part of this was definitely my denial that I had a problem and the lies about the number of calories I was eating, but another part of it was my weight. Technically, 118 pounds was a healthy weight for my age and height at the time. But I was far from healthy. And I often wonder what would have happened if the doctor had recognized that something was wrong and decided to do something about it. Maybe nothing. But maybe it would have stopped it from happening.
Which is why we need to treat people, not numbers. We need to focus on health, not weight or size. We need to try to "be healthier," not "lose weight," "decrease waist size," or "eat less calories." Sure, eating less calories can be the way to become healthier. Losing weight can occasionally be the answer. And decreasing waist size can be more helpful to some than to others.
But you are not these numbers. There's no way you can take all of those good and wonderful things about you and shove them into a small and increasingly smaller box that has a number painted across it. Focus on what you want to become and on what you want to do with your lifestyle and the numbers will follow.
If you think about it, it hardly ever goes the opposite way. If you focus on numbers first, the lifestyle hardly ever follows. It just doesn't work. When you focus internally, on feeling better, eating better, becoming your best self, the lifestyle and number changes become habits. They become permanent. They help you feel confident, just like the woman in the story I shared.So be happy! Eat and be active. Become healthier, however that may look to you. Sometimes you may think you are making little progress, but as you look back you will see how much you have changed, the health you have gained, and the confidence that has blossomed. Focus on the "why," not the "what." Why you want to get healthier, not the number you think will get you there.
Because that's what it is all about, isn't it? Happiness. "Losing weight" evokes pity, but "becoming healthier" evokes support (and usually somebody will join in on the journey with you).
So find your "why" and stick to it! Be the best you you can be. And make sure to never pass up the opportunity to have a donut. Because only having one treat a week sounds like a lifestyle I don't want to live.
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