A healthy lifestyle comes from sustained commitment to develop healthier habits. It takes consistency, patience and positivity. It's really easy to focus your definition of progress on the scale. Oftentimes, this can be the limiting factor to stay motivated long term. How do we learn to celebrate the non-scale victories that bring us positivity, reinforce consistency and identify results beyond the scale?
What are non-scale victories?
Non-scale victories, also known as NSV's, are improvements to your health or lifestyle that are not measured by the scale. It's easy to get caught up in the number on the scale. It's easy to base all of your progress on that one number, but it's truly just a snapshot of the journey.
What are some of the NSV's we should be celebrating?
Clothes fitting better than they used to
Feeling stronger in your everyday life. Opened a jar with no problem!
Participating in activities that were at one point limited by your previous size
Your energy has improved
Your sleep has improved
Your overall mood and outlook on life have improved
You've reached a fitness goal or broken through plateaus that were not previously possible. Maybe that pull-up happened this week!
Diminished pain. Have those knees quieted down a little?
Measurements have changed
Your skin has improved
You look better in pictures
Your medical markers have improved
For most people, losing weight is an important goal. While it's okay to measure your progress on the scale, we suggest not using it as the only way to measure your success. It's important to keep in mind that it's common for people to experience simultaneous muscle gain AND weight loss. If you lose 5 pounds of fat, but gain 5 pounds of muscle, there is zero movement on the scale. Pretty discouraging after more than a month on a program. But that's also a significant change in body composition.
By celebrating the non-scale victories, we are more likely to stay on course and stay motivated in our journey. We encourage you to look at the NSV's that you have accomplished so far. Celebrate all the energy you have invested into becoming a healthier version of you!