Scale down: Learning to define health beyond weight numbers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – People who are obese are more likely to develop heart disease and diabetes and have strokes. For many people, there’s a never-ending struggle to achieve what’s considered a healthy weight. But a holistic way of thinking has some ditching their scales and defining their health in other ways.

We hit the streets and asked the question, “How often do you weigh yourself?”

“I would say maybe quarterly? Yeah. It’s very rare. I like to just get on there and then I’m like, yep, cool, same weight,” says Bethany Davis.

“I really don’t weigh myself but I like to stay active three or four times a week by going to the gym and playing different sports,” says Joel Miklas.

Miklas counts his workouts instead of pounds and so does his wife.

“So I used to, but no, no more. It doesn’t represent how I feel or how my body should look like, or should feel like,” says Sandra Gitau-Miklas.

Lori Osachy with Body Image Counseling Center agrees.

“The only time I step on a scale is at the doctor,” Osachy said.

She coaches clients to practice intuitive eating.

“Intuitive eating is eating according to hunger. And when you’re eating beyond hunger, beyond the point of satiety, there’s an emotional reason, or if you’re restricting. A lot of times stress affects our hunger,” Osachy said. '

Experts say it’s more important to understand why you are eating certain foods. (WJXT)

She said it’s more important to understand why you are eating certain foods. Are your habits tied to your emotions? Maybe your eating habits are tied to how you grew up or what you were taught or you’re just more hungry because you’re moving more.

Osachy works with registered dietitian and nutritionist Liz Lagasse who said eating for reasons other than hunger are important to identify. It takes work and Lagasse said it starts with asking some questions.

“Tell me your story. I want to know about their relationship with food and with their own body, how did that get formed? So, I asked people to pull me back to elementary school age, even earlier if you want. Tell me how did your family do food? What was food like in your home? What was the talk around food?” says Lagasse.

Unpacking your feelings surrounding food and your body is one way to understand your habits.

A holistic way of thinking has some ditching their scales and defining their health in other ways. (WJXT)

Lagasse said there might be some things you want to change or work through that numbers on a scale don’t explain.

“The scale is just a number. And it’s not an accurate measurement of health, and definitely not happiness,” Lagasse said.

Lagasse believes once you intuitively eat you tend to not overeat because you’re not depriving yourself. She also says you should give yourself grace, understanding you might not ever be a size 2 and that’s OK.


About the Author:

Anchor on The Morning Show team and reporter specializing on health issues.