Fitness Blogger Shares Powerful Photo to Teach THIS Important Message!

Are you weight-conscious? 8 out of every 10 Americans are. And while that can be good, there's a fine line between weight-consciousness and weight obsession. You know what I'm talking about – on the other side of that line lies the calorie counting as well as the constant scale and mirror checking. Being weight-obsessed can take all the fun out of life and make you forget about the things that make you happy asidefrom your appearance. Fitness blogger Kelsey Wells knows all about weight obsession. She's struggled with it herself. But then, she came to a realization: weight doesn't matter. I'll let Kelsey explain it:

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

Users on Instagram have liked Kelsey's post more than 34.7k times. Many people have been inspired by Kelsey's message, including Ashton Kutcher, who shared it on his Facebook page.