The only weight you should care about is how much are you lifting.

Get off that damn scale. Matter of fact, pick it up and put it away. Put it in the place next to the Christmas ornaments, or have some fun and throw it around the backyard like a frisbee into the concrete garage wall. That will at least make you feel good for a little bit. Don’t let it be in your sight. Out of sight- out of mind. The only time I would prefer anyone to go on a scale is when they feel awesome about themselves. Only when you feel you look good, feel good, have tons of energy and are performing workouts and “other activities” well. Then, when you look down at the little whitebox of evil, realize this is the weight you should like and is good for you, NO MATTER what the number is. Try it- only weigh yourself when you feel good.

The next part of this blog I will explain my idea of why the scale is junk. I hope no one gets too offended by the following remarks; if you, do i’m sorry that you don’t feel the same way and can’t see my perspective. First I will start my answer to why the scale is junk with another question- What does the scale do, really? Does it tell you how healthy you are? NO. Does it tell you how to change the number it gives? NO. Does it tell you that maybe you drank a lot of water today and that’s why it is heavier by 2 pounds? NO. Does it make you feel bad about yourself when it’s not what you were hoping for? YUP. Don’t get me wrong, it is a tool, but that is all it is - a tool. It doesn’t tell us how we look, feel or perform. Society has screwed people’s minds to base their enjoyment, quality of life and confidence by that stupid number that blinks when you step on it. It is a tool that, in my opinion, is the most overused and manipulated number in society today. It is a tool to tell us weight, not how we should feel about ourselves.

Everyone has an ideal weight, but no one can tell us what that is by a chart of height, frame and size of your pinky toe. You have all heard of body mass index (aka BMI or BS). According to that chart, I am underweight for my size and frame which would make unhealthy. What a load of crap. The way you should find out if you are overweight or underweight is by looking at what you can do. Can you lift, throw, jump, run and do everyday activities? How well can you do them? Would losing a few pounds help or hinder your overall level of fitness? Once you decide if losing or gaining weight will increase the majority of your ten physical fitness attributes then you know what you should do. Why base everything off your level of fitness and performance instead  of the number on the scale- because fitness directly effect your quality of life. The better your fitness, the more you enjoy playing with your kids and hiking through trails. The longer you live and are able to play with your grandchildren and show the young-ins that grandma and grandpa have mad skills. That is what life is all about.

Here is an example that drives me nuts- The person who smokes to lose weight or stay skinny so they feel good about themselves. They might lose weight, sure, they most likely will die younger and live a lower quality of life because they aren’t healthy and can’t walk up a flight of stairs without coughing up a lung.

As extreme as this is, it’s truly not much different when people eat very little or try to starve themselves to lose weight. They might do it and they might even feel good because a scale says they lost weight, but how good is that person feeling about themselves. They a fragile. Over time if they trip on a curb they may break like a glass vase. It might even look good but you have to be sooo careful not to break it.

To wrap this up- Get off the damn scale and feel good about yourself because of what you do or what you are working on doing, not because a stupid piece of plastic blinked 5 pounds more then you expected. Ask yourself how do you look, feel, perform and what’s your quality of life. If you need to be lighter or heavier to achieve the fore-mentioned, do it through healthy nutrition. Don’t cut corners.

Oh yeah, when you get to the point of feeling in tip top condition give the scale the finger for me.

Justin Scarsella

I’m thinking of having everyone record EVERYTHING that you eat EVERYDAY. Yes it will be annoying but it will keep you honest. Every week you will have to send Abel or myself the previous weeks meals and snacks.

Anyone else have any other ideas to help them stay on track. What motivates you for the month? Is it having to pay money or doing burpees, or being called out in front of others or what? Lets try and throw some ideas around on how we want to do it this time. All ideas are welcomed.

Check out this link by CrossFit FootBall on the Paleo Diet!

I am assuming everyone is still strictly Zoning? Ha! You aren’t the only one that has been slipping. We are all in the same wagon, many of us were in the driver’s seat but now we are holding on to the side being dragged along hoping not to let go. I want to give evryone three ways to help you stay on the Zone and get back to good eating.

1. Study the Zone. 

If you haven’t bought a Zone book, you should and you should read it. Just by constantly reading about the Zone and what the Zone does for you, will help you stay strong and motivated. I recommend reading “Mastering the Zone” and “Enter the Zone” by Dr. Barry Sears. They both are very in depth but do help you feel the need, not just the want, to Zone hard. For a few other recommendations, visit here. This is an article from the CrossFit Journal that gives brief explantions of why nutrition is so important.

2. Keep a nutritional journal.

Everything you eat, everything, write it down. Write down when you eat it, how you feel after, how you feel an hour later, how much did you eat. Be specific. This way next time you see the Oreos you can go back into the journal and read about how bad you felt last time you ate 1/2 the bag.

3. Write down why you should eat well.

I know what your list will look like:

• lower body weight
• decrease body fat
• health and longevity
• more energy
• blah, blah, blah

That list is CRAP.

Your list should look like this:

• I want to lose X number of pounds by this date.
• I want to be down to X % Body fat.
• I will set an example for my kids so they develop good healthy eating habits to prevent diabetes and obesity.
• I want to be around and functional as long as possible to watch my kids grow up, graduate, get married and be there for my spouse.
• I don’t want heart disease or other chronic illness that could be a result of my poor nutrion. I don’t want family and friends to see me in that kind of condition.
• I want to be able to deadlift X#.
• I will recover from WODs faster and stronger.
• I will compete with so and so.
• When I go to the beach I want people to stare at me with their tongues hanging out.

Read your list daily, no 3 times, no every chance you get until it’s a constant reminder of why you should eat good. Add to it, know it, believe it.

Do these 3 steps and I promise you will be able to stay motivated. We all just lose sight of what we wanted. We need to always refresh our minds on how come nutrion is so important. If you fell off the wagon, you can easily jump back on. With the great people in our community buddy up and get an accountability partner. Help each other to help yourself. (Bikini season is coming, Abel are you ready for it. I heard he has a new pink poke-a-dot one). 

J-constantly-needs-to-re-motivate-himself-as-well-Scars

Zone Rules for Dining Out.