really, how important is a number? (lyn)

Alexander is a junior at a highly competitive school. The students (and parents) are discouraged from focusing on grades.  After all, isn’t a high school education about acquiring knowledge?  Being exposed to new thinking?  Learning to be a critical and creative thinker?  Developing into a responsible, caring adult?  Well, yes, of course it is.  But still, getting mostly A’s vs. mostly B’s could mean the difference between a very good college and an outstanding one.  So while it’s nice to pooh-pooh the grade itself, there is a lot of weight attached to it.

The workplace is different; here, results count more than effort.  Who really cares if the marketing plan is skillfully developed and perfectly executed if the product doesn’t sell?  Or if the show is wonderfully acted and compellingly written if no one chooses to tune in?  It’s about the number.  How many did we sell?  How many eyeballs were tuned to our network?   

So why should it be different in losing weight.

At Weight Watchers, I’m told not to ascribe too much importance to the number reflected on the weigh-in scale.  What are my other successes?  Did I change a behavior in a positive way?  Did I fit into a piece of clothing that previously didn’t fit?  Did I skip dessert for a night or two?  These things, too, should be celebrated.  Yes, I know that.  But in the end, for me, the number is still how I judge my success.

That being said….

Almost nine weeks ago (on December 5 to be exact), I spotted a three as the second number in my weight.  This morning, I fleetingly caught a glimpse of a two, before the scale settled into a higher number.    I’m sure I’m still a few weeks away before a steady middle-two appears instead of a surprise middle-two, but nonetheless, I actually did see it.  And that felt really really good.