Please don’t weigh me

Please don’t weigh me.

 

She asked me to hop on the scale

I said no thank you.

 

She said:

We’d like to get a baseline for your health since you’re a new patient.

I said:

I don’t subscribe to the belief that weight determines health

There are more powerful metrics that paint a picture of my vitality.

 

Another day…

 

She asked me to hop on the scale

I said no thank you.

 

She said:

We’re a surgical practice, and we need your weight to determine anesthesia dosages.

I said:

Of course, if I need to have the surgery, I’ll get on the scale.

But right now we’re just having a conversation about the possibility of surgery, not actually prepping for it.

 

Another day….

 

She asked my daughter to hop on the scale

I said: No thank you. We don’t weigh ourselves.

 

I know that your mission is to support healing.

But your scale and you weighing my daughter is not healing,

it’s harmful.

It buys into the diet-culture’s message that thin is better,

that there is a specific number that we’re aiming for.

Your scale interrupts my daughter’s ability to trust her body.

Your measurements have her measuring her self-worth against a number.

 

I am fighting for my ability to listen to my own body-cues.

I am desperately trying to defend my daughter from the

impact of a culture that values a particular size over substance.

I am advocating for women to have a relationship with their body

that is based on internal cues not external numbers.

 

Given my history of dieting and scale addiction, if you weigh me now, you will be doing harm to my mental health

instead of supporting my overall health.

 

So please don’t weigh me.

 

~ Nina Manolson

Want to read more of my poetic essays? They’re here.

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Nina Manolson, MA, NBC-HWC, board certified Health Coach, Psychology of Eating Coach and Certified Body-Trust Provider, believes that every woman deserves to feel good in her own body.

She helps women create a healthy and positive relationship with their food and body so they can love their body and life! She’s the founder of NinaManolson.com and The Nourished Woman Nation.

She helps busy women feel good in their own body.. She specializes in working with women over 40 who have tried other diets and approaches but are still struggling with their body and food.

She’s the creator of the BODY-LOVE MAP and the recipient of the prestigious Health Leadership Award from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

To get your F.R.E.E. ebook: HOW TO BE A WOMAN AT EASE IN YOUR BODY  click here.