The holiday season has a way of nudging us toward reflection. As one year winds down and another approaches, conversations naturally turn to goals, resolutions, and intentions for what we want the next chapter to look like.
For a long time—longer than I’d like to admit—my own New Year’s goals revolved around a single number on the scale. A number I thought I should weigh. A number I remembered from high school or college. A number I believed somehow defined whether I was healthy, disciplined, or “doing fitness right.”
And as a fitness professional, I hear this same goal all the time:
“I just want to lose weight.”
Sometimes, that goal makes sense. Sometimes weight loss is medically necessary, appropriate, and absolutely worth pursuing with support and care. But far more often, the people sitting across from me don’t actually need to lose weight.
They need to build strength.
They need to build muscle.
They need to build confidence, capacity, and trust in their bodies again.
Here’s the hard truth: the scale tells you almost nothing about how capable, strong, or healthy you are.
I see it all the time—someone who is 5’7”, active, capable, and committed to their health, convinced they should weigh 120 or 140 pounds because that’s the number they’ve been clinging to for years. But bodies change. Life changes. Stress, sleep, hormones, work, kids, and aging all play a role. And a healthy, strong adult body often looks very different than it did at 18 or 22.
When we obsess over shrinking ourselves, we miss the bigger picture. We ignore the signals our bodies are sending us. We undervalue strength, resilience, and performance. And we end up stuck in a cycle of frustration instead of progress.
So here’s my gentle challenge to you:
Put the scale away.
Hide it in a closet.
Give yourself permission to stop judging your body solely by its mass.
Instead of asking, “How much weight can I lose?” try asking:
Maybe your goals look like adding weight to your deadlift.
Maybe they look like moving through a workout without fear.
Maybe they look like shaving time off a benchmark workout or simply showing up consistently.
Or maybe they extend beyond the gym altogether.
Sign up for a 5K.
Train for a marathon.
Commit to showing up for an event like our Spring Fling.
Set goals that excite you, challenge you, and give your training purpose.
Train with intention.
Push yourself when it’s appropriate.
Recover hard.
Sleep.
Eat enough to support the work you’re doing.
And most importantly—enjoy your life.
This is it. This is your one body, your one life, and your one chance to build something sustainable and meaningful with it.
Fitness shouldn’t be about punishment or constant restriction. It should be about expanding what you can do, how you feel, and how confidently you move through the world.
That’s why strength training is such a powerful tool. It doesn’t just change how you look—it changes how you show up. It builds muscle, yes, but it also builds resilience, self-trust, and momentum that carries into every other area of life.
And if you’re feeling unsure where to start—or how to shift your goals away from the scale and toward something more sustainable—this is where support matters.
Having a coach in your corner can make all the difference. Whether that’s through group classes or our semi-private training groups, personalized guidance helps ensure your training aligns with your goals—not someone else’s arbitrary standard.
Semi-private training, in particular, allows for individualized programming, focused coaching, and accountability—essentially personal training, at a fraction of the cost. It’s an incredible option if you’re ready to stop guessing and start building strength with intention.
However you choose to move forward, remember this:
Don’t spend another year trying to shrink yourself into a version of health that no longer fits.
Build strength. Build capacity. Build a life that feels good to live.
Your body deserves that kind of respect.
.png)
.png)