Tricks to tip scales in your favour

THIS week I reached goal weight.

But. Hold your applause. This column is not to boast or seek praise. In fact, it’s the opposite.

Why? If you’re aiming to get fit and healthy now or in the new year, don’t worry too much about goal weight. It is good to have a goal to work towards, but a specific goal weight can be counterintuitive. Because while you’re worrying about the number on the scale, so many other amazing things are happening to your body, mind and emotions that you may be missing.

This is not a unique idea, but I finally understand the wisdom of it: Instead of setting a goal weight, we should set a goal feeling.

Don’t get me wrong. I was happy to see that illusive number on the scale. It was gratifying to finally have reached what I had set out to do nearly three years ago.

Way back, when I joined the WeighLess programme in my early 20s, the team leader had calculated my ideal weight as 63.25kg. Not 63kg. No. I didn’t reach goal weight that time – or in any of my other attempts over the years. In fact, I just piled on more and more weight the older I got. The reasons are plentiful – and just about all of them are related to a lack of proper education about nutrition and the negative relationships we develop with food through messages from the people around us, mainstream media, and food industry marketing machines. Over the years, I have climbed on the proverbial wagon numerous times, but each time just fell off harder than before.

In January 2017 when I decided to lose “some” weight, I figured that as I was nearly 20 years older than when I’d had a proper assessment of my “ideal weight” done, I’d give myself the leeway of an extra 1.75kg and aim for 65kg.

At the time I was 107.4kg.

This time round I had way more weight to lose, and lots more damage to my health to undo. What did I do differently this time round?

The answer is simple – but the implementation hard. You need to educate yourself – about nutrition, exercise... about how the two work together – and know your body.

Learn to feel and hear its cues again. And don’t let anyone tell you that losing weight or getting in shape is easy. They’ll tell you all about calories in vs calories out and how you need to be in calorie deficit to lose weight. Sure, that’s technically correct. But can they explain what it actually means in practical terms? Can they explain to you how your body feels when you’re consumed “enough calories”? Only you know your body. So as you start thinking – inevitably – about your health goals for the new year, maybe add to the list how you’d like to feel about your body.

Maybe you want to be strong, feel comfortable in a pair of jeans or be able to play with your children without feeling out of breath. Make that your start. If you want to pick a number, do it. But that number – attained or not – doesn’t define you.