You Are More Than A Number
“I suck at life because I don’t have a six pack.”
“I’m not good looking enough.”
“My fitness sucks — I need to workout more because my deadlift is not 2xBw.”
“I won’t take my shirt off nor even think about going to the beach until I’m 10% body fat”.
This was my thought process not too long ago when I was insecure and had low self-confidence. I had no identity; external validations were my puppet master. No matter how much progress I’ve made along the way — it was never good enough. I needed a number, a metric, or a specific title to feel good about myself and feel accepted.
Maybe you’ve had a couple negative thoughts running around in your head. Maybe you’ve told yourself you’re a failure because the scale says you’re 5lbs heavier than you were a week ago.
Maybe you feel like a disappointment because you’re fixated on weighing a certain amount — no matter how much progress you’ve made along the way.
Maybe you’re flooded with guilt and feel like cow manure for having too much wine last night. Perhaps you keep comparing yourself to someone else, without looking at his or her entire story.
Perhaps you always obsess over the 1% that isn’t your best and downplay the 99% that makes you remarkable and unique.
I understand this talk. It’s crippling, depressing, and sucks the quality of life away from us. But, it doesn’t have to be this way — because our value is more than a number on a scale. More than having a perfectly sculpted six pack. More than being the strongest in the gym. More than waiting on a certain body fat percentage to pursue that cutie you’ve had your eye on.
The truth is — you’re good enough already. You were good enough yesterday. You’ll be good enough tomorrow.
Why? Because you’re more than just a number.
The problems with letting the scale put a damper in your corn flakes
The scale is nothing more than a mindfuck that can(and will) drive you insane if you focus all your attention there.
Fluctuations in weight is a normal part of life — my weight fluctuates around 5lbs. There are a multitude of factors that can cause you to fluctuate in weight such as the types of foods you’re eating, hydration levels, stress,and hormones.
Feeling like rubbish because your bodyfat isn’t low enough
Until I was 10%, I told myself I wasn’t good enough to walk around shirtless at the beach or for a run in the park.
Here’s a huge lesson I learned…
If you’re placing expectations that the world will change, dates will flock to you, and you’ll instantly be cured of all your insecurities and problems because of a body fat % — then you’re in for a rude awakening.
Once I reached 10% — nothing magical happened.
I still woke up with sloppy hair. I still had to cook my eggs, drink my milk, and walk to the store just as the next-door neighbor who might’ve been 15% body fat.
Self-worth doesn’t improve from having a six pack. That’s superficial. Improving self-worth starts inside. It improves by going through the journey, teaching yourself discipline and realizing that with hard work and consistency — anything is possible in life and fitness.
A number won’t magically fix all your internal problems.
You’re pretending and lying to yourself if you think a tighter stomach, bigger chest, bigger arms, toned legs, or eliminating cellulite will pull a Houdini on all your personal demons. That’s building fake confidence. Needing external metrics to feel good about yourself isn’t the DNA of a truly confident person.
True confidence comes from within, being comfortable with who you are and what you stand for — regardless of others opinion. Improve your physique and health not for others approval, but for yourself.
Hey, I’m Julian — thanks for reading the words above. I’m a writer and fitness & lifestyle architect whose main hub is over at the art of fitness and life. I also share essays & quick thoughts over here at https://medium.com/@julianhayes. Join me on one of those platforms or just say what’s up on twitter: @thejulianhayes
Originally published at 206fitness.com on December 1, 2014.
