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Losing weight is a sh!t new year’s resolution

ByMiranda

With every intent to offend your sensibilities – please tell me you didn’t set the generic ‘to lose weight’ new year’s resolution?  Losing weight is a sh!t goal.  Strong is the new black. Fit and healthy are worthy ambitions but losing weight for weight loss sake is craptastic.

Why do you want to lose weight? If its to look better cos society says I should and that’s the only way I have worth, we need to change that perspective.  If its to look better which makes me feel better then that’s an improvement.  How about wanting to be healthier? How about wanting your body to be able to do a heap of amazing stuff (and amazing as defined by you – from climbing a flight of stairs without dying to keeping up with the kids through to tackling a half marathon – your body, your yardstick!)?  How about having more energy, sleeping better, maybe making new friends, better mental health and being proud of your body and just living more?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcoyXRCDOv3/?taken-by=mirandaskatemayle

^^my kind of active

A couple of things I’ve learnt:

–> toned body looks better than jiggly body, and that’s irrespective of my weight.  Muscle does way more than fat, so I may weigh more but I look leaner. My still large thighs look heaps better full of muscle than cellulite – truth!

–> muscle weighs more than fat.  I have pictures of me at the same weight at different times in my life.. kinda pre-derby and post-derby and although that mass measurement at both times might be identical, how I looked and how I felt were not!!  If you do have to measure anything – use the tape measure on your waist, hips and thighs – as these numbers drastically differed unlike the number on the scales.  If my goal when joining derby was to lose weight I would’ve failed even though I was healthier, stronger, fitter, leaner, looking and feeling better etc.

–> the number on the scales doesn’t actually define anything important. It doesn’t tell me how many laps I can skate in 5 minutes or how many kilometers I can outdoor skate with a 15kg baby strapped to my back.  It doesn’t tell my how many times I can throw said baby in the air til my arms give out or how many jams I can get back out on the track in a row and be effective.  It doesn’t determine my will power when it comes to walking past the ice cream truck after a long outdoor skate or derby bout.  It doesn’t define my intelligence, nor dictate if I’m a good friend, wife and mother, nor determine my earning potential.  It can’t even accurately predict what size clothing I wear.  All it does is gives me another way to beat myself up that is so freaking arbitrary to meaningful outcomes in my life.

I implore you – ditch the weight loss resolution and retire your scales.  Getting out and getting active is going to do amazing things for more than just your body with a highly probable side effect of losing weight.  Throw out the need to continuously define your self worth based on the number in pounds or kilograms and rephrase that resolution into something more meaningful to you.

[dropcap type=”square”]M [/dropcap]iranda (who no longer weighs herself and is much happier because of it)

 

This Girl Can VIC‘s new year resolution is pretty ambitious: They aim to get 180,000 people more physically active playing sport and walking by 2019 (with a focus on women and girls).  Share your story about getting active in 2018 to support, encourage and inspire others via This Girl Can Victoria community:

This Girl Can by VicHealth encourages women to get active: “This Girl Can celebrates women who are all kinds of active. Women who are giving their all, or giving it a go, but not giving a damn!” I am a This Girl Can Victoria Ambassador. However, the views expressed here are my views only and not those of VicHealth.

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