Day five: Weigh yourself less

This is a scale:

It tells you one thing: how much gravity acts on your body.

When you put it that way, it's a whole lot less intimidating, right?

So why do we let the number on the scale impact our confidence so much? And why do we weigh ourselves so often?

While weighing yourself regularly is helpful in giving you an idea of where you are, weighing yourself too often can be frustrating, because weight is dependent on a lot of things: the amount of water you're retaining, how much you've eaten, even what time of day you weigh yourself. You may even find from day to day, you fluctuate as much as five pounds!

If you're making an effort to lose weight (and you actually need to lose weight), try weighing yourself once a week, always on the same day and time. This way, you'll have a more accurate depiction of your progress.

And regardless of what the scale says, don't allow yourself to be defined by a number. Heck, a scale sometimes isn't even an accurate depiction of your fitness level -- if you're gaining muscle, you may actually lose fat and still gain weight.

A scale tells you nothing about your character, talents, self worth, or how you impact the lives of the people around you. And in the grand scheme of life, all of those things are so much more important.