Living a healthy lifestyle isn’t only about your weight! It’s a mental, physical, and emotional journey! Yet, we get so caught up with numbers – number on the scale; the jeans or dress size; the calories consumed or burned.
I’m all about tracking those metrics when my clients are in the right head space to do so; but, I also advocate that we celebrate ALL WINS, big or small that have nothing to do with numbers! We call these NON SCALE VICTORIES (NSV for short).
Focus on more than just what the scale or your size says.
How are you feeling?
Are your clothes fitting better?
Are you going up and down the stairs better?
Do you feel happier?
Is your energy improving?
Are you sleeping better?
As a Honolulu Personal Trainer and Lifestyle Coach living on Oahu, Hawaii, at each weekly client check-in (in person or virtually), I ask my clients to list off some NSV’s they had that week. And ya know what? The answers are AWESOME! Most of all, having them acknowledge their personal wins by noting them down hand to type, reminds them that they are AWESOME too!
Here’s are some recent client NSV’s:
“I had my first hangout since COVID with friends. Which is a different type of win!” -Lindsey T
“I can feel that I’m getting stronger because I’m doing some workouts quicker.” – Sonya S.
“My hunger seems more stable. I have less cravings and less snacking.” – Kristin N.
“Getting back on track at end of week. Putting exercise back on the priority.” – Debbie T.
Remember, our body weight fluctuates, and that’s totally normal. It can change daily depending on our water intake, sodium intake, hormonal changes, that time of the month…and so many other things.
So relying ONLY on the numbers as a way of measuring our progress can actually cause us to feel frustrated and lead us to give up when we don’t see the changes we expect (that darn number on the scale!) quick enough. Instead, learn to identify and celebrate non-scale victories.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST RECENT NON SCALE VICTORY? I would love to hear about it to celebrate YOU!
