about2loseit
New member
If your avatar is your pic, you are already gorgeous! You should take pics!
The Scale Mentality
- Thread starter Steve
- Start date
If your avatar is your pic, you are already gorgeous! You should take pics!
Kristi
New member
My scale mentality
Warning About to take a big brain dump in here. Got some things to get off my chest...
I've read this thread about 4 times this week, and I've come to the conclusion that I am obsessed with the scale. I'm thinking about putting it away and weighing once a week or once every other week. I'll weigh in on Fridays and take my measurements and post them. This scares me though. I don't know what I'm afraid of.
This is what's going through my brain:
"What if I am gaining weight and I don't know it?"
How could I not know? I'll tell you...
When I got married (almost 5 years ago) I weighed 145ish lbs.(I'm 5' 5.5") and after that I didn't get on the scale until a year and a couple months later. I had joined a gym because my clothes were getting snug and I saw pictures from Christmas and FREAKED. When I got to the gym I had a consultation with a trainer. She measured me and asked me a couple of questions and then had me hop on the scale. I was 201. I literally broke down crying. She was very nice and sat down with me in a little room and I sobbed. I couldn't believe that I had gained close to 60 pounds in a year. After that I went and bought a scale and have been obsessed since. It obviously didn't help me because I gained 34 more pounds since the sad gym day. That took a couple of years instead of 1, but I still gained it (I also had a baby...)
Anyway, so that's the fear of forsaking my scale. This time around I'm not going to avoid it completely, but use moderation. I'm thinking the once a week thing won't be so bad. I'm still scared that I'll see that I've gained and resort back to daily weighing. ..ramble...ramble...
In the morning I'm going to weigh in and then put away the scale until next Friday. We'll see how it goes...
Warning About to take a big brain dump in here. Got some things to get off my chest...I've read this thread about 4 times this week, and I've come to the conclusion that I am obsessed with the scale. I'm thinking about putting it away and weighing once a week or once every other week. I'll weigh in on Fridays and take my measurements and post them. This scares me though. I don't know what I'm afraid of.
This is what's going through my brain:
"What if I am gaining weight and I don't know it?"
How could I not know? I'll tell you...
When I got married (almost 5 years ago) I weighed 145ish lbs.(I'm 5' 5.5") and after that I didn't get on the scale until a year and a couple months later. I had joined a gym because my clothes were getting snug and I saw pictures from Christmas and FREAKED. When I got to the gym I had a consultation with a trainer. She measured me and asked me a couple of questions and then had me hop on the scale. I was 201. I literally broke down crying. She was very nice and sat down with me in a little room and I sobbed. I couldn't believe that I had gained close to 60 pounds in a year. After that I went and bought a scale and have been obsessed since. It obviously didn't help me because I gained 34 more pounds since the sad gym day. That took a couple of years instead of 1, but I still gained it (I also had a baby...)
Anyway, so that's the fear of forsaking my scale. This time around I'm not going to avoid it completely, but use moderation. I'm thinking the once a week thing won't be so bad. I'm still scared that I'll see that I've gained and resort back to daily weighing. ..ramble...ramble...
In the morning I'm going to weigh in and then put away the scale until next Friday. We'll see how it goes...
txsqlchick
New member
pastelroses,I'm with you. I think avoiding and fearing the scale is partly what got me here in the first place, i.e. not wanting to see the number and being in a little bit of denial.
I weigh myself every day. Every. Day. I try to roll with the fluctuations and not stress too much about them. I record what I eat and my daily weight, and I also mark my TOM on a spreadsheet so I can trend the water weight gain that always comes once a month.
Weighing daily...at least now...is what keeps me on track. I may weigh myself daily for the rest of my life. There was a period in my life where I did not step on a scale for 2 years. In that period I jumped from 180 to 220. Never again.
I weigh myself every day. Every. Day. I try to roll with the fluctuations and not stress too much about them. I record what I eat and my daily weight, and I also mark my TOM on a spreadsheet so I can trend the water weight gain that always comes once a month.
Weighing daily...at least now...is what keeps me on track. I may weigh myself daily for the rest of my life. There was a period in my life where I did not step on a scale for 2 years. In that period I jumped from 180 to 220. Never again.
One week...
One year....
Big freaking difference, which you know. Within that year where you gained a lot of weight, you had a different mindset. It wasn't the lack of weighing that caused you to gain weight. It was your lifestyle, values, priorities, etc.
You're a new you. It's a fresh start. Weighing every single day isn't going to monitor your fat. It just isn't. Since every single day you have the chance to start fresh and head in the direction you desire... try and ditch all the irrational, illogical habitual thoughts. Just check them at the door. Consciously say enough is enough. Monitor your thoughts and catch the 'stupid ones.'
You know very well that you aren't going to gain a ton of fat (especially if you are not practicing healthy lifestyle habits!) in a week's time. You just aren't.
And you know damn well that the fluctuations on the scale you see day by day have little to do with fat fluctuation and have pretty much everything to do with water, glycogen, poop, etc.
Our bodies aren't static organism with weights that revolve around fat mass. And fat mass is what you are concerned about. We are organisms that have weights that flux with multiple bodily systems. This is more apparent in the acute time periods (day to day) than anything else.
And the fat fluctuation is more obvious in the chronic time periods, ie, weekly at the least... preferably bi-weekly.
So spend some time and ask yourself why? Why do I feel the need to weigh myself every single day? Does it make sense? If not, why? How would I be better served if I tweaked my focus a bit? Is it silly to not only notate but also become emotionally attached to the variable water and glycogen levels I have in my body from day to day?
Best to you.
One year....
Big freaking difference, which you know. Within that year where you gained a lot of weight, you had a different mindset. It wasn't the lack of weighing that caused you to gain weight. It was your lifestyle, values, priorities, etc.
You're a new you. It's a fresh start. Weighing every single day isn't going to monitor your fat. It just isn't. Since every single day you have the chance to start fresh and head in the direction you desire... try and ditch all the irrational, illogical habitual thoughts. Just check them at the door. Consciously say enough is enough. Monitor your thoughts and catch the 'stupid ones.'
You know very well that you aren't going to gain a ton of fat (especially if you are not practicing healthy lifestyle habits!) in a week's time. You just aren't.
And you know damn well that the fluctuations on the scale you see day by day have little to do with fat fluctuation and have pretty much everything to do with water, glycogen, poop, etc.
Our bodies aren't static organism with weights that revolve around fat mass. And fat mass is what you are concerned about. We are organisms that have weights that flux with multiple bodily systems. This is more apparent in the acute time periods (day to day) than anything else.
And the fat fluctuation is more obvious in the chronic time periods, ie, weekly at the least... preferably bi-weekly.
So spend some time and ask yourself why? Why do I feel the need to weigh myself every single day? Does it make sense? If not, why? How would I be better served if I tweaked my focus a bit? Is it silly to not only notate but also become emotionally attached to the variable water and glycogen levels I have in my body from day to day?
Best to you.
txsqlchick
New member
I don't see how me checking my weight daily is a bad thing. I really don't. You may not see the need for it, and I respect your opinion.
However, I maintain that what I'm doing works for me. I am also taking measurements and I did lose a bit of circumference this week. I realize that the daily weight changes can be due to water, digestive issues, etc. I do know that. However, since I'm still kind of starting out (began on July 5th of this year), weighing myself daily gives me the opportunity to "trend" the fluctuations and compare them to my monthly cycle, what I'm eating, etc. It gives me insight into how my body works.
I maintain that that is a good thing, and I do not stress over fluctuations. I truthfully record my weight every day and my chart does bump up and down, but the overall trend is DOWN and that is what I care about.
That's all I have to say about how frequently I weigh myself. Ultimately this is MY journey, nobody else's, and I will continue to do what works for me. I don't feel that I have to justify my methods any further.
Ummm TX... sorry to burst your bubble but I wasn't talking to you. My apologies for not quoting pastel but I figured the first two lines..."one week" and "one year" were a dead giveaway as to what I was replying to. <read pastel's post again>
I don't care what you do. If you are successful, great. Pastel was discussing how weighing often wasn't helping her and possibly hurting her so I offered up my advice.
Simple as that.
Sorry for the confusion.
I don't care what you do. If you are successful, great. Pastel was discussing how weighing often wasn't helping her and possibly hurting her so I offered up my advice.
Simple as that.
Sorry for the confusion.
txsqlchick
New member
My bubble isn't burst. It was not obvious to me who you were talking to, and strong opinions tend to provoke strong reactions.
Sorry, I assumed you had read and comprehended Pastel's post and thus, would not get confused about who I was responding too.
I said "one week" and "one year"
She said:
I assumed these would be red flags as to what exactly I was responding to. But then again, assumption is the mother of all fuck ups, right?
So sorry for the misunderstanding.
To boot, to think I would try and change you whom I do not know considering you say weighing daily helps you is sort of silly. Believe it or not, I don't go around proselytizing with regards to my beliefs. Especially considering my beliefs about weight loss vary from person to person.
Hopefully from this point forward you'll keep that in mind if any future dialog takes place between you and I.
I said "one week" and "one year"
She said:
I assumed these would be red flags as to what exactly I was responding to. But then again, assumption is the mother of all fuck ups, right?
So sorry for the misunderstanding.
To boot, to think I would try and change you whom I do not know considering you say weighing daily helps you is sort of silly. Believe it or not, I don't go around proselytizing with regards to my beliefs. Especially considering my beliefs about weight loss vary from person to person.
Hopefully from this point forward you'll keep that in mind if any future dialog takes place between you and I.
Kristi
New member
Thanks a bunch
Steve- That all made so much sense to me. It's what I've known all along, but just couldn't do because of fear. Now that the fear is leaving, it's going to be a lot easier for me. I guess that's because I realize now that I don't need to "throw the baby out with the bath water." I'm not going to quit everything, just one minor thing that doesn't improve my overall health. In fact, it was truly getting in the way. If I would see that I was up a pound my mood was affected even though I would say it wasn't . Also, I would lower my calories that day even though I knew that it may have the opposite effect. It was just dumb. I really do feel a sense of freedom now and I haven't even started yet. Tomorrow will be the first day. I know this may sound stupid to some people that I'm talking about it like a drug, but seriously it was. It either made me feel high or down depending on the outcome. It'll be nice to just focus on my workouts and calories ...and the success that I felt today going shopping and getting a smaller size jeans. Woohoo!! That's tangible success.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the support and concern. You are such a help
Steve- That all made so much sense to me. It's what I've known all along, but just couldn't do because of fear. Now that the fear is leaving, it's going to be a lot easier for me. I guess that's because I realize now that I don't need to "throw the baby out with the bath water." I'm not going to quit everything, just one minor thing that doesn't improve my overall health. In fact, it was truly getting in the way. If I would see that I was up a pound my mood was affected even though I would say it wasn't . Also, I would lower my calories that day even though I knew that it may have the opposite effect. It was just dumb. I really do feel a sense of freedom now and I haven't even started yet. Tomorrow will be the first day. I know this may sound stupid to some people that I'm talking about it like a drug, but seriously it was. It either made me feel high or down depending on the outcome. It'll be nice to just focus on my workouts and calories ...and the success that I felt today going shopping and getting a smaller size jeans. Woohoo!! That's tangible success.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the support and concern. You are such a help
Kristi
New member
Hi there
I'm glad that it's working well for you. For me, it was starting to get in the way and it was taking my focus off of the real issues. I hated the way that it predicted my day. It's also kind of exciting because I love surprises! It'll be like Christmas morning every Friday!
LeaJnice
New member
I weigh myself like 3 times a day. Just because I am curious and my new scale is fun. It tells me how much water I have in my body and fat percentage) It doesnt make me feel bad. sometimes I eat I weight myself..I go to the bathroom I weight myself..sometimes it surprises me how much weight I can lose after a bowel movement LOL I just talk about everything on here don't I. I am going to try on not weighing myself because its getting obsessive but the number doesnt make me sad or effect my day in a negative way..
I happen to agree with you. I have a general goal in mind weight wise, but one of the reasons I won't commit is because I have some experience with how you look versus what you weigh and I know that 135 with how I gain muscle and look leaner may actually be too small for me. Case in point to what is being said here(and to support this) is about 15 years ago when I first moved to Arizona I went to the doctor's office because of some allergies I had. When I did the weigh in they normally do, the nurse had me go to another scale. I weighed in at 158, however she thought it was too much. She thought I should have weighed about 20lbs less then what I did. It is a testament to just how lean muscle can make one appear. At that time, I was very fitness and sports oriented.
I've also found that due to this I generally wear smaller sizes then I notice other people at my same weight weighing, even if our heights are similar. Sometimes even people who weigh less wear the same size. I know some of that is general body shape, but again I think it is a testament to how deceiving the scale can be to how the outside actually looks.
So, the whole point is I have a general idea of where I'd like to be--135-145 and for 5'3" some people might think that's still a bit too heavy, but knowing I felt spectacular at 155 and happy in my size 10, I really don't want to be too much smaller then that. Once I get to about 150, I'm just going to look in the mirror and at pictures and decide how I feel then. I may stop there or I may go for another 10 lbs and more strength training. At that point, I'll use the scale as a general reference to keep me in line to make sure it's not creeping up. And on that note, I think it is a great tool for those of, like others have said, who like to go into denial mode and never step on a scale. Once where we would like to be I do think it is a good tool to keep one disciplined and maintaining and gives one the opportunity to nip in the butt before 10 lbs becomes 40 lbs and the journey starts all over again. I really wish I had done that when I first got married, instead I kept pretending like there was no problem and it was 'probably' only 10 lbs, but those 10 lbs keep adding up to another and another. I plan to use the scale now to keep it real with myself once I get where I'm going. Keeps me honest.
Sorry if this is a bit disjointed. I'm about to run out the door to take care of some errands and am like this
Steve- That all made so much sense to me. It's what I've known all along, but just couldn't do because of fear. Now that the fear is leaving, it's going to be a lot easier for me. I guess that's because I realize now that I don't need to "throw the baby out with the bath water." I'm not going to quit everything, just one minor thing that doesn't improve my overall health. In fact, it was truly getting in the way. If I would see that I was up a pound my mood was affected even though I would say it wasn't . Also, I would lower my calories that day even though I knew that it may have the opposite effect. It was just dumb. I really do feel a sense of freedom now and I haven't even started yet. Tomorrow will be the first day. I know this may sound stupid to some people that I'm talking about it like a drug, but seriously it was. It either made me feel high or down depending on the outcome. It'll be nice to just focus on my workouts and calories ...and the success that I felt today going shopping and getting a smaller size jeans. Woohoo!! That's tangible success.
Anyway, thanks a lot for the support and concern. You are such a help
It sounds like you've adopted a much healthier mindset... I think that's great. I'd figure out ways to reinforce what you're feeling right now. Leave reminders for yourself to consciously put yourself in a place similar to where you are not. Maybe a note taped to your scale. Or something hanging on your fridge. I think mental cues are very powerful if properly aligned with your emotions. For me, they've been able to trigger instantaneous changes in state, which is incredibly powerful.
Best to you.
If it doesn't affect you emotionally and it doesn't lead to compensatory behavior, I have no real issue with it. In my experience though, which you can take for what it's worth... for most people it does.
![[Focus]1](https://www.fitness.com/forum/data/avatars/m/1207/1207022.jpg?1452890744){kind=avatar}
[Focus]1
New member
A series of minor quantitative changes leads to a major qualitative change. Good girl.
There's no reason any human being even needs to weigh herself. You could go your whole life without ever doing so and succeed beyond all expectations at anything you chose to do. To believe otherwise is crazy. And more importantly, most often maladaptive (counterproductive).
And don't any of youse argue with me, or I shall pwninate you like in the before.
[Focus]1
New member
Yup. Same here. Except V Diet, pretty much.
Very excited about getting my body fat measured again at the end of Sept, here (right before my half-thon). Which will be my "summer" (Late June to Late Sept) progress report. Odds are I will weigh the same as or MORE than I did at the start of the summer (and yet you don't see me crying about it [excessively
] or giving up!) but have dropped my body fat from 25.5% to to roughly 17 or 18%. And that will be a pretty decent result I wouldn't have achieved were I crazy enough to give up based on, or even care, what the scale has to say. douknowjello
New member
When I get down to my goal weight range I'm throwin my scale in the back of a closet somewhere By then if my clothes get tight I'll know something is wrong. The stuff I wear right now, stretchy pants and t-shirts...you can gain quite a bit before you realize "hey wait a minute". But for right now sadly I'm frequent weigher when I'm seeing results.
By then if my clothes get tight I'll know something is wrong. The stuff I wear right now, stretchy pants and t-shirts...you can gain quite a bit before you realize "hey wait a minute". But for right now sadly I'm frequent weigher when I'm seeing results.I am extremely scale focused and I wish I could get over it! I started at 218lbs and I now weigh 185 I've been stuck in the 180's for 3 months and yet people keep saying "you're melting away" you're getting skinny" lol I'm like, are you kidding?I don't know if weight shifts or what...why does it sometimes "look" like we're losing more than we are?