I’m sitting here
writing this post
with numb feet.
Because I tried to tell myself that I still wear the same size of shoes that I have for the past decade.
And I ordered a super cute pair of black workout shoes (that I found on a killer sale!).
But after an hour of wearing them,
The sad truth
Is that I am just not the same size
that I was 10 years ago.
… which really bothers me
because I was never one with dainty feet to begin with.
(can you say size 10??! In 10th grade??! Yup… that’s me, miss amazon ape over here!)

But to make matters worse,
I ran across these beauties a few months ago
(In the clearance isle, of course!)

And looked at the size.
Which was not a 10…
it said the dreaded “11”
Which I know is just one size up…
but there is something about the size “11” section
that loses all cuteness
and any sense of style or fashion
… It’s as if the companies said, “whoa, if you are a size 11 you have a whole slew of issues to deal with, so we’ll make the shoe selection easy: flat slip on in brown or black. Take your pick.”

… So when I saw these red babies, I sat
and deliberated
I mean, although my feet have been killing in my ‘normal’ size shoes,
I hadn’t yet openly admitted that I was actually the beyond ginormous king-kong footed person my shoes where telling me I was.
But when the price is $6 (yes, that is $6.00!), I couldn’t resist.
I took them home and didn’t wear them for a while (have you ever done that, buy something, but give it some time, just in case you want to take them back??! strange quirk, I know!)
But finally broke them out.
And guess what, my feet rejoiced! I actually wore them the whole day (Without numbness!)
and not one person walked up to me and asked,
“Say, what size are those shoes??!”
In fact, it was just the opposite…
I started a lecture series to a group of youth, and the person introducing me said (she had never met me before, mind you), “Let’s get started, because we have a really fun speaker today!… she’s wearing red shoes, and anyone who wears red shoes is going to be a fun speaker!”
You can believe I strutted those shoes like a peacock showing their feathers!
I felt so great about it in fact, that I ran out and bought:

… yes, those are incredibly high heels (6 inches to be exact)
which, when paired with my 5’11” body length, amounts to what could be godzilla walking down the street.
But they are Blue! and size…
11
(and yes, on another clearance sale!)

And ya know what?
Not one time has anyone asked what size they were.

So, why do you care about this at all??

Well, I find it ironic
that in the ‘diet crazed’ world in which we live…
we live and die by the numbers we see here:

When, in reality, not one person is going to walk up to you on the street
and casually say, “Hey, how are you doing? How much do you weigh?”

I have had so many clients put themselves into a tail spin
because they stepped on the scale,
possibly after they drank one extra glass of water…
and saw a .5 pound increase (I’m not kidding about that number, either!).
Yes,
Many-a-bag of oreos have been consumed in the aftermath of the dreaded
WEIGH IN day.

Does the scale help in weight loss?
Yes…
and no

What really helps in weight loss
Is knowing yourself.
If you know that the numbers on that scale send you into a bad place.
Throw your scale away. (I’m not kidding about that, either!)
(if it doesn’t send you to the double dipped chocolates, then by all means, keep it in place!)
There are SO MANY more indicators of health and and in-shape body –
Why do we put the ‘scale’ numbers on some sort of shrine??!
Wouldn’t you much rather take note by the way your clothes fit?
Case in point:
If you start a weight lifting program,
You are going to build muscle (a good thing!)…
which weighs more than fat.
… in other words, you could have the exact same weight on the scale, but if you are building more muscle and losing more fat, the body size is going to shrink (even if the numbers don’t!)
… I use models in class of a 5 pound glob of fat (pretty big) and a 5 pound slab of muscle (much smaller).
So if you are on a body-changing plan (notice I didn’t way weight loss plan!)…
pick up the weights
and (if it sends you to a bad place) throw away the scale 🙂

… then go buy some new shoes!
… from the clearance isle…
… in the right size!