"Stop thinking your weight equals your progress".

Fitness blogger, Kelsey Wells who blogs over at My Sweat Life, has shared an Instagram post, reminding her followers to "stop getting hung up on the number on the stupid scale". My Sweat Life has 300,000 followers on Instagram and Kelsey is eager to convince people that fluctuating weight shouldn't automatically affect a person's self-esteem. To back up her statements, Kelsey shared three images: one of her body post-partum, one when she reached her 'goal weight' and one of when she put some of the weight back on. Kelsey said that if she was measuring her progress by weight alone, she would have failed miserably but thankfully she doesn't and takes a number of other factors into consideration. These include strength, ability, endurance, and most importantly HAPPINESS. Kelsey goes on to say that she has more muscle, less body fat, is comfortable in her own skin and feels much healthier since she decided to #screwthescale.

SCREW THE SCALE || I figured it was time for a friendly, yet firm reminder.? YOU GUYS. PLEASEEEEEE STOP GETTING HUNG UP ON THE NUMBER ON THE STUPUD SCALE! PLEASE STOP THINKING YOUR WEIGHT EQUALS YOUR PROGRESS AND FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING PLEASE STOP LETTING YOR WEIGHT HAVE ANY AFFECT WHATSOEVER ON YOUR SELF ESTEEM, like I used to. To any of you who are where I once was, please listen to me. I am 5' 7" and weigh 140 lbs. When I first started #bbg I was 8 weeks post partum and 145 lbs. I weighed 130 before getting pregnant, so based on nothing besides my own warped perception, I decided my "goal weight" should be 122 and to fit into my skinniest jeans. Well after a few months of BBG and breastfeeding, I HIT IT and I fit into those size 0 jeans. Well guess what? I HAVE GAINED 18 POUNDS SINCE THEN. EIGHT FREAKING TEEN. Also, I have gone up two pant sizes and as a matter of fact I ripped those skinny jeans wide open just the other week trying to pull them up over my knees.? My point?? According to my old self and flawed standards, I would be failing miserably. THANK GOODNESS I finally learned to start measuring my progress by things that matter -- strength, ability, endurance, health, and HAPPINESS. Take progress photos and videos. Record how many push-ups you can do, ect. And if you can, your BFP -- there is only a 5 lb difference between my starting and current weight, but my body composition has changed COMPLETELY. I have never had more muscle and less body fat than I do now. I have never been healthier than I am now. I have never been more comfortable in my own skin than I am now. And if I didn't say #screwthescale long ago, I would have gave up on my journey. So to the little teeny tiny voice in the back of my head that still said "?wtf is this- not 140!???" last week when I stepped on the scale, I say SCREW. YOU. And I think you should probably say the same to your scale too. #byefelicia ???⚖ . . #bbgprogress #transformationtuesday #fit #fitness #workout #fitmom #fitchick #fitfam #fitnesstransformation #beforeandafter #sweat #mysweatlife #girlswithmuscle #girlgains #strongnotskinny

A photo posted by K E L S E Y W E L L S (@mysweatlife) on Jul 26, 2016 at 8:55am PDT

Her Instagram post in full, which you'll find here, reads:

"SCREW THE SCALE || I figured it was time for a friendly, yet firm reminder. YOU GUYS. PLEASEEEEEE STOP GETTING HUNG UP ON THE NUMBER ON THE STUPID SCALE! PLEASE STOP THINKING YOUR WEIGHT EQUALS YOUR PROGRESS AND FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING PLEASE STOP LETTING YOR WEIGHT HAVE ANY AFFECT WHATSOEVER ON YOUR SELF ESTEEM, like I used to. To any of you who are where I once was, please listen to me. I am 5' 7" and weigh 140 lbs. When I first started #bbg I was 8 weeks post partum and 145 lbs. I weighed 130 before getting pregnant, so based on nothing besides my own warped perception, I decided my "goal weight" should be 122 and to fit into my skinniest jeans. Well after a few months of BBG and breastfeeding, I HIT IT and I fit into those size 0 jeans. Well guess what? I HAVE GAINED 18 POUNDS SINCE THEN. EIGHT FREAKING TEEN. Also, I have gone up two pant sizes and as a matter of fact I ripped those skinny jeans wide open just the other week trying to pull them up over my knees. Well guess what? I HAVE GAINED 18 POUNDS SINCE THEN. EIGHT FREAKING TEEN. Also, I have gone up two pant sizes and as a matter of fact I ripped those skinny jeans wide open just the other week trying to pull them up over my knees.? My point?? According to my old self and flawed standards, I would be failing miserably. THANK GOODNESS I finally learned to start measuring my progress by things that matter -- strength, ability, endurance, health, and HAPPINESS. Take progress photos and videos. Record how many push-ups you can do, ect. And if you can, your BFP -- there is only a 5 lb difference between my starting and current weight, but my body composition has changed COMPLETELY. I have never had more muscle and less body fat than I do now. I have never been healthier than I am now. I have never been more comfortable in my own skin than I am now. And if I didn't say Take progress photos and videos. Record how many push-ups you can do, ect. And if you can, your BFP -- there is only a 5 lb difference between my starting and current weight, but my body composition has changed COMPLETELY. I have never had more muscle and less body fat than I do now. I have never been healthier than I am now. I have never been more comfortable in my own skin than I am now. And if I didn't say I have never been more comfortable in my own skin than I am now. And if I didn't say #screwthescalelong ago, I would have gave up on my journey. So to the little teeny tiny voice in the back of my head that still said "?wtf is this- not 140!???" last week when I stepped on the scale, I say SCREW. YOU. And I think you should probably say the same to your scale too. #byefelicia"