No-Weigh '19: What Happened When I Tossed My Scale

Early in 2019, I decided to step off the scale for a full year. When I brought it up in the But Not All At Once Instagram community, the feedback was overwhelming - questions, worries, fears, curiosity. In the 14 months since, I haven't cheated once; that's 14 months longer than I'd ever gone before. As a woman raised with eyes and ears in this country, I absorbed many a message about how much I "should" weigh and what health and wellness meant. For me, it came down to the three digits on a scale. After the world's most awkward growth spurt, I hit 5'9" in 9th grade; even at my lightest, my scale's numbers were never as small as my pocket-sized peers'. My weight rose and fell during my pregnancies and after the birth of our four children, but I could have told you exactly where I stood at any moment in time. The scale's output was intrinsically linked to my mood, even when I was growing a baby.So No-Weigh ‘19 was an experiment by and for myself, but I got a lot of questions - occasionally about why, but mostly about HOW. "Did your doctors push back? Did you have a panic attack? Did you gain 60 pounds? Will you buy a new scale? Are you using your measurements instead? How do you feel?"So here's the rundown in an episode a bit more personal than, say, Sussexit. I hope it's meaningful and helpful to you, whatever your thoughts on scales, measuring tapes, weight or the waif-chic beauty ideals that shaped many of our childhoods!As always, you can find me at @butnotallatonce on Instagram, and I can't wait to talk to you there. xoxoThanks for being here, y'all! I'd love to hear from you at @ButNotAllAtOnce on social media or via ButNotAllAtOnce.com.