The Scale Mentality

I agree that it's possible to get obsessed with the number on the scale, but I still weigh myself every single day because if I don't then thats how I end up gaining lots of weight even when I think I'm doing good
 
Not weighing doesn't cause you to gain weight. There's no calories in no weighing. You're suggesting that weighing is what keeps you on track, nutritionally?

If so, do you get upset in 5 lb fluctuations?
 
I've actually got into a habit of checking my weight each morning. Initially, I was getting upset about some of the flux but I finally look at it differently. It will go up and down alot. If I notice the same range over several days, then I know I need to look at what I'm doing. It's not my only way of checking myself, but it is one way.
 
Weighing In

When I first read this weighing in post, I vowed to ditch my scale. Well I didn't totally do that, but I don't weigh myself every day like I used to. Slow and steady wins the race. I have managed, since October 2009, to take off 40 pounds. When I was weighing myself every day, I was getting very discouraged. Now, I go by how my clothes fit and they are getting smaller in size when I shop. Something is definitely happening. I also had to up my calories by about 300 from November 09, and I simply wasn't eating enough to support my 6 days a week of working out. It's all working and I am looking pretty darn good and feeling even better. I'm half way there and I'm sure to go all the way. Won't you join me?
 
I'm new here and I just read your entry and I must say it's refreshing to read something like this. While I do have a target weight that I want to hit, I'm actually more concerned with how my body looks. People keep asking me how much weight I want to lose, but I don't really answer with a weight, I actually answer with a waist size. I'm currently sitting at a 44/46 jean size. Ultimately I would just like to get to a 36/38. I pretty much want to be able to buy pants at a regular store. I know it's going to take time, but I'd rather just go by pant size than what the scale says because when I would weigh myself everyday it was just depressing. lol Thanks for a great post.
 
I couldn't agree more !

In fact, I don't even own a scale. So how do I know how much weight I've lost ? Well, the last time I popped into my Dr's office (no appointment neccessary) to have my blood pressure checked, I had lost 72 lbs, in about 9 months :)

Now that I've already lost the majority of all of that nasty slime, we call fat, I really don't care if the scale shows me 1 lb less.

Heck, tomorrow morning, I'm getting a Bowflex, and plan to start working out (slow at first) and then hard-core, 1 hour a day, 3 days on, 1 day off. And big time cardio on the off day (later, maybe some cardio on the Bowflex workout days, also).

Thing is, now I want to gain weight in muscle mass.

So, if I weighed myself again in a month, and saw that I lost more weight still, I'd almost be a little bummed. But then again, all that would say, was that I had a little more fat to lose, than I originally thought.

Long story short.... I don't need no stinking scale :) I know how much better I look, and feel :)

And especially how good it feels to have cute girls smiling at me ;) I think I'm going to start shaving on my days off ! Ha ! Can't even remember the last time I cared ;) LOL

Peace,
Fish
 
Steve said:
I know I've discussed this at length with some of you and some of you are fine doing what you do. This isn't directed at you and it's not meant to open a discussion of what's right and what's wrong. The fact in the matter is The Scale Mentality isn't right for some. It does more harm than good.

This is a reply I made to someone earlier today that I thought some of you might find some usefulness in.

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First man, you've got to ditch the scale mentality. This process and lifestyle doesn't have to be frustrating. It can actually be a fun ride! But again, you've got to let go of that mentality where 2 lbs up = catastrophe.

Become more physique-minded opposed to scale-minded. You aren't doing this to look like a scale, are you?

No.

You're doing this to look good naked.... and the scale.... EVEN THE NUMBER ON THAT SCALE.... has nothing to do with what you look like naked.

Of course you're doing this to be healthy and fit too.... but that also has nothing to do with the scale.

There's a hierarchy of importance when it comes to metrics used to measure success.

1. One, I'd say, is the reflection in the mirror. If you're happy with what you see there, who gives a flying f- about anything else?

2. Is measurements. Get yourself a soft tape measure and start tracking. Again, you should be worried about your physique, not some arbitrary number on the scale. Measure your neck, arms, chest, navel, waist, butt/hips, and thighs every 2 weeks or so.

3. Start taking monthly pictures for comparison purposes, realizing you aren't always going to see a change.

4. Use a scale to weigh yourself just as a general gauge.... It's incredibly defeating and frustrating if you put this metric high on the list though b/c it's not measuring what you're looking for. It doesn't measure improvements in physique and it sure as hell doesn't measure fat loss. You're interested in a good physique and losing fat, right? So wouldn't you agree it's INSANE to put so much faith in a metric that doesn't even measure progress in what you desire?

I know there are good number of people who weigh daily around here. They say it keeps them focused. With the above in mind.... I don't quite get it, but it's not my job to 'get it' nor should they care if I 'get it' or not. And even those who say it doesn't affect them mentally or negatively, many of them are still part of that group that make a big deal when the scale upticks a few pounds.

Logically it's not something to worry about. But the scale seems to make people think illogically.

If you blew it way up in proportion, it'd be like someone saying, "Even though I am studying physics, I'm not going to do any work outside of class related to physics. Instead, I'm going to spend all my time learning economics. I'm even going to take tests regarding economics to test my proficiency."

Then, when they take their final exam in physics and fail, they scream and clammer about being a failure. What sense does that make?

Message: Pay attention to the right things.

A scale-focus also tends to establish an all-or-nothing mentality. What do I mean by that? This focus establishes the tendency in people to evaluate personal qualities and success in extreme black-or-white categories. An example would be a straight A student getting one B and saying, “I’m a failure.” People step on the scale. Even if their measurements and pictures are all looking fantastic, an uptick in the scale sends their heart and hopes to the deep, dark shallows of that pit known as a stomach. All-or-nothing thinking forms the basis for perfectionism. It causes you to fear any mistake or imperfection no matter how illogical and it sends your world into a spiral.

A scale-focus also tends to establish a mental-filter. I just spoke of this in someone else's journal. Mental-filtering is when you pick out a negative detail in any situation and dwell on it exclusively, thus perceiving that the whole situation is negative. You step on the scale, see a number that's higher than you expected, and your mental filter only focuses on this aspect, thus leading to the conclusion that your fat loss is a failure b/c your weight up-ticked. No logic there. When you get in this mode, you wear a pair of eyeglasses that filter out anything positive. All that you allow to enter your conscious mind is negative. Because you are not aware of this filtering process, you conclude that everything is negative.

I could go on and on about more mental-distortions this scale-focus establishes and none of them work to your advantage.

I know you directed a statement or question to me. Truth be told, I have no clue why you gain a few lbs. Nobody is going to be able to answer that. But if I were your trainer and you asked me, I'd completely ignore you and have you focus on the stuff that translates to fat loss; ya know, exercise and healthy/controlled eating. That's what matters to me, not an uptick on the scale of 3 lbs that could simply be bowel matter.

If you are 100% certain that you're calories are correct (hint: nobody is), then the weight will come off. Instead of looking at the acute fluctuations though, focus in on the chronic, longer-term trends. Month-to-month preferably. This tends to paint a much brighter, truer picture of what's REALLY happening.

If the trend is heading in the wrong direction, that's the clue for a problem. Not the acute fluctuations.
Click to expand...

Good advice Steve. I only weight myself month to month or even once a year. Weight is important but so are the measurements. And don't overdo it either. I always tell people concerning scales that moderation is key.
 
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This is all good advice, I'd leave it down to the individual persons goals and what works for them.
For me personally I weigh myself maybe once a year, I rather go by how I look, feel, what levels of fitness my body can achieve, what I can fit into e.c.t
 
Off course its true but i think every body has his own choice to meet the targets. it depends on him that in how many days he took it.
 
Ok this is a real eye-opener.

Funny thing is, deep down I think I knew all of this but it's just difficult to let go of the 'scale mentality' when you get right down to it.

Thanks for this thread, Steve. I'm going out to buy a tape measure today and I've just taken some progress photos to file away.
 
In truth though, if you find things aren't heading in the right direction, not just weight... but everything... we'll relook at everything and see where things can be tweaked.
 
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