I am currently on a “I’m going to be 30 this month” diet. I’ve been eating better and exercising more. I can definitely see changes and I definitely feel better, but I haven’t made that much ‘progress’ on the scale.
For as long as I can remember, weight has been an issue for me. I remember a doctor telling my dad at a checkup that I was “well over the usual weight for my age” but that I “carried it well.”
Despite that “compliment” to my eight-year-old weight distribution, I find it impossible not to obsess over the number on the scale. I know that weight is just a number, but it’s hard to break a decades-long habit that is so engrained in how I live my life.
Thankfully, there are people out there like Instagram user @yolaforthewin who are demonstrating that weight is absolutely just a number.
Yola, a fitness trainer from the Netherlands regularly posts photos of herself in workout clothes or swimwear, showing off her toned body and serving up major #fitnessgoals to her 81.4K followers.
Yesterday, she let her followers behind the curtain a bit by posting a side by side photo of herself.
The image on the left was taken three years ago and shows Yola weighing 58kg and showing off her stomach in a black sports bra and black workout pants. On the right is Yola today, weighing 64kg in a bikini and with absolutely perfect abs.
“Three years, six kilos and a new bikini,” the caption reads.” I was scrolling back in my phone and found this ‘old’ (non-flexed) picture. Weight is just a number.”
The photo has racked up 12.3k likes and almost 500 comments.
Watch: Mum of two Justine McCabe created this incredible time-lapse video of her weight loss. (Post continues after video.)
Comments range from people tagging others so as to remind them that weight is just a number, to notes to Yola herself.
“Thanks for showing weight has nothing to do with healthy lifestyle,” reads one comment. (Post continues after gallery.)
Inspirational celebrity body image quotes.
So next time I step on the scale I’m going to think about Yola and remind myself that the number doesn’t matter.
I’m never going to look as fit as she does but with a little flexing, better posture, and the right clothing I can look like my best self.
Watch Yolaforthewin work out.
Top Comments
If you are fit and healthy and carry quite a bit of muscle then weight isn't really relevant. However if you are not fit and carry a lot of fat then it is a number which indicates your risk factors for a range of heath conditions
Ladies the point isn't whether you like how she looks or not it's to see yourself for who & how you are & to not focus on the scale. Yes if you're 100kg overweight then the scale can be a helpful tool to see if you're making progress but it's not the ONLY tool. I always advise people to only use a scale once a month & also to measure themselves as sometimes the tape measure says more than the scale does & where you think you're not losing weight or have plateaued where in fact you are it's just you've been building muscle!!! It's also a great Idea to take some pictures so you can SEE for yourself how far you've come rather than rely on people you haven't seen for a while to make comments
The issue is people get this "magic number" in their mind & think that if they just reach it all these magical things will happen & they'll be happy forever when in fact that is not the case at all - it's great to have goals but your self esteem is in your mind, it has nothing to do with your body or a number on a scale