For many of us ladies women’s fitness does not come easily. In a culture that is saturated with photos and images of women who are 5’10″ and a size 2, it is hard to know what our bodies should look like and how to keep fit in the first place. Our scales can easily become our enemies and we can end up feeling ugly, when we should be celebrating our beauty.

But I propose that you can actually make the scale your friend – as I have, and let it help you stay (or become) fit and healthy.

The first step is to find out what you actually should weigh and to accept it. Take a look online at a reputable site like WebMD.com and find out what the correct weight is for a woman of your height and build. Be honest with yourself and don’t try and fudge the numbers. Remember that there is tremendous pressure on all of us to look like Paris Hilton or Twiggy, but that should not be your goal. What you want is a real body with real curves that is healthy and fit.

Once you have determined a goal weight that is realistic and healthy, then it is time to start making friends with your body and your scale. Weigh yourself every morning at about the same time. I like to do this right after I get out of the shower. I know many people say that you should only weigh yourself once a week, and that can work, but I have personally found that I can keep my body more under control when I weigh myself every day.

The reason that I have moved to weighing myself every day is simple. It gives me instant feedback on what I did the day before. If I eat healthy foods and exercise than I maintain my weight (and can lose weight if I need to). If I eat junky foods and gorge, then I don’t. It really is that simple. The key to this method is that you can’t let that number on the scale dictate your mood. It is there to inform you of how to improve your behavior and nothing else.

Also you need to keep in mind that your weight will naturally fluctuate about 5 pounds so give yourself a target range rather than a hard and fast number. Having a range that I am aiming for helps to keep me from getting too emotionally involved in the number on the scale, and gives me permission to be a little heavier at “that time of the month”.

Women’s fitness is a tough issue for many of us, but if you can learn to admire your curves instead of hating them, and realize that unless you are a model you will never look like one (and be OK with that fact), it will get much, much easier for you – as it has for me. You are beautiful and you deserve to not only be fit and attractive, but healthy too.