REST/ACTIVE REST

rest
do nothing and recover; enjoy your rest day

active rest
play a sport for the fun of it
run around and play with your kids
hit the waves
get in the water and do something

this is from http://www.crossfitscars.com/:

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