Taking the "no scale" pledge, and a gym endorsement

First off this evening, I've gotten a few comments this week from John Swapceinski, the founder of Rate My Professors, below this post.  He's defending RMP, and I'm honored (genuinely) that he stopped by.

This is the week we find out the truth.  Over the summer, I decided to try and kick my diet and exercise level up another notch.   I added another day of Pilates, kept three days a week of boxing classes, tried some new lifting routines, and upped my running mileage back up to around 45 miles per week.  My body has gotten much stronger and harder in the past two months, but at the price of a huge time commitment.  That was easy on a summer school routine, but now things get dicier: I've got seven classes to teach, my volunteer youth ministry picks up again, and I want to spend good quality time with my wife.  And I really want to find a way to average at least 7 hours of sleep per night.

I'll report whether I can keep this up.

Whatever I've been doing diet wise and exercise wise, it's working.  Though I am not as fast as I was in my hardcore running days of the late 1990s, I'm carrying much more lean muscle.  I feel fitter than I ever have.  And -- this is the best of all -- I  haven't had a cold in months.  For years, I got a cold every couple of weeks (possibly because I was too thin and living off Power Bars and Diet Coke).   Now, I'm getting lots more fresh veggies, am pumping in lots of soy product and vegetarian protein supplements, and I feel great.

I've decided to take a break, however, from getting on the scale.  After all these years, I still have to fight against my compulsiveness and my anxiety.  The scale and the mirror are both triggers for me at times.  Years ago, when I was going through a particularly hard time around body issues, I had to take a "no-scale, no being naked in front of the mirror pledge".  The latter may seem particularly silly, but as embarrassing as it is to admit, I still battle "body image dysmorphia" day in and day out.  I'm no longer starving myself or mutilating my flesh, and that's a plus. I like my body a lot these days.  But I realize I am in a better position to love it when I don't study it too closely, or weigh myself too often.

I wonder -- has my father's death in June contributed to this noticeable uptick in an already exhausting workout schedule?  Am I avoiding productive grieving through exercise addiction, or am I appropriately channeling my pain into something healthy?

In any event, after once last climb on the scale this afternoon (177.7 pounds), I'm taking the pledge: no scales for the rest of 2006.  I see a few of my students and friends at the gym, and they see me.   A couple of them read this blog.  If you see me heading for the scale, folks, please feel free to stage an intervention!  I'll buy you coffee if you do!

Oh, and let me make a plug for my boxing gym, which has just moved to a new location.  Pepe and Mauricio, who run Classic Kick Boxing, are two dear and amazing men; they've become good friends to us.  If you live in the Pasadena area and want to try learning this remarkable sport (or just want to get in better shape), give these lads a call.  In six months, they've given me a lot of laughs, made me sweat, and given me a pretty damn hard left hook.

Comments

[Randy]

Why in God's name do you think anyone else cares about what you weigh or whether you mount a scale? Such delusions are in themselves laugable.

[Weefz]

Because that's what friends do, Randy. You may not but you're not the only reader of this blog.

[DaveTheRave]

I admire your schedule Hugo. I do the same mileage as you per week.....but I walk! - I do 90 minutes walking each day - good way to break up the day.

Don't get too hung up on your weight - muscle's heavier than fat anyway, so minor weight gain or loss doesn't necessarily equate to looking leaner.

[Angiportus]

My house has been scale-free since day one. But I don't know if my new regimen--walk who knows how many miles on a cement floor picking orders--will strengthen me or kill me. Anybody need a QC inspector with machinist background?
I've got body image problems also; it seems endemic these days. A while back I was in the car with my 2 cousins and they started in on how some young girls on the sidewalk were dressed so scantily, and all they were concerned about was how much fat was hanging out--not about how these girls might be unwittingly attracting male attention they might not be ready to handle. Cousins then began talking about their own weight issues, and I had all I could do to change the subject.
Keep up the good work[s].

[Lynn Gazis-Sax]

I have to admit, I tend to stack things on top of the scale so that it's inconvenient to get it out. Joel, though, needs to monitor his weight for his diabetes, so he periodically frees the scale.

[Sara]

I only weigh myself when I have a doctor's visit. No matter what the scale says, I always freak out. I just don't need to do it anymore.

[Hugo]

Randy, a reminder: I write this blog (which I pay for) for myself. I deliberately blur the line between the personal and the professional, because this is the ideal forum in which to do so. That's the beauty of blogs. No one made you read this post.

We have no scale at home, I am happy to say. But at my local 24 Hour Fitness, they have a nice electronic one that looks awfully seductive.

[Mermade]

I go to 24 Hour Fitness in Pasadena too- but I always take the evening classes. The machines bore me to death.

Anyway, after you said, "The first step to loving yourself is getting off the scale" in class last semester, I stopped - and I feel better about myself. I don't miss the scale. You'll greatly benefit from sticking to you your own advice. If I see you at the gym heading towards a scale, I'll be sure to stop you!

[glendenb]

You are a far braver man than I! Giving up the scale is more than I'm prepared to do - but I've been workng my butt off (literally) the last year - I've lost nearly 60 pounds. I'm struggling with my last 10 pounds with a personal goal of 175. I'm proud of my accomplishment so I share whenever I can - between various cardio, kick boxing, yoga, pilates and circuit training routines, I've done something incredibly difficult. Reclaiming my physical fitness life has immeasurably improved my overall life. I've barely begun to delve into the connection between physical fitness and mental and emotional fitness. It's as if there has be an inner healthy before the body follows - fitness and health are more than being thin or strong or having defined muscles. I believe physical fitness and health are about living well in our bodies.

About body image dysmorphia. How many of us look in the mirror and like what we see? A friend of mine recently suggested the self-hatred, even self dislike is a form of sin. That our bodies are a gift from God and the Divine will for us to love and live in our bodies well. If we dislike them and/or mistreat them, we are abusing the Divine gift - we are falling short of the mark to resurrect the original meaning of the Hebrew word for sin. In teaching sexuality education, I lead a session on body image and help people draw the connection between healthy self image and treating the body well and poor self image and treating the body badly. I am increasingly coming to believe that we are called to honor the physical self, to love our bodies with their flaws and different shapes and sizes but also to be physically health which is not the same thing as thin.

I believe there's a connection between regular exercise and self-esteem - exercise can become an expression of poor esteem, an escape or it can boost self esteem as you successfully complete a kick boxing routine or power yoga or pilates routine. The connection also between successfully training one's body to do the exercises can boost self esteem. At times, however, a demanding, rigorous exercise routine can become punitive, damaging to the body - overtraining at a minimum actual damage in the extreme. Can it be an escape? I don't know - I always feel emotionally and intellectually more clear after exercise, even if I can barely walk up the stairs I've worked so hard.

[Shawna R. B. Atteberry]

I totally understand about the scale. I was a borderline anorexic through most of my 20s, and I refuse to own a scale or voluntarily step on one (the exception being the doctor's office). I am much happier now. Feeling good and being healthy are my goals now. And like you, I feel much better and get sick much less now that I am a healthy weight and put aside the destructive eating habits caused by the scale.