Why You Shouldn't Freak Out About The Scale

KaraCooks

KaraCooks

New member
So here's a perfect example of why you shouldn't freak out about scale changes.

I weigh myself every morning, right out of the shower, before I eat or drink anything. I am not tied to the number, but it gives me a good baseline to know what's going on with my body. Here's what happened to me this weekend.

I work out 6 days a week: alternating 3 days of strength training with 3 days of interval running (training for a 5k). This Saturday was a friend's birthday party and I ate off plan (intentionally - I knew I would eat things that I wouldn't normally, including a piece of birthday cake) and I drank (probably more than I should). Sunday, I didn't work out, but I drank lots of water and loaded up on veggies and protein and avoided carbs and salt, to help recover from the indulgence of Saturday.

Thurs morning: 174.3 lbs
Friday morning: 174.2 lbs
Saturday morning: 174.3 lbs
Sunday morning: 180.2 lbs
Monday morning: 173.4 lbs

Now, if I were tying my entire self worth and progress to the scale, I'd have freaked the f*** out on Sunday morning when I saw a weight gain of nearly 6 lbs. But ... I didn't. I knew that I'd eaten a lot of salt, and generally messed around with my macros on Saturday, which caused me to retain water and bloat. I also knew that no matter how much I'd eaten, I hadn't eaten 21,000 calories on Saturday (3500 calories x 6lbs = 21,000 calories).

And lo and behold, by not freaking out, by not letting myself be psyched out by the scale, and by sticking to my plan and making sure I got plenty of water to balance out Saturday - I was right back on track.

So don't let the scale run your life. It's nothing more than a guideline - and you shouldn't base your self-worth or your overall success or failure on it.

Just FWIW.
 
Fully agreed!

The scale is like a way of telling yourself you are overweight!

In a nutshell, we are put together from so many different factors, we must be open minded to what shows up as some overall number on a machine we stand on.

Fat
muscle
water
fluid retention
internal organs
bone
connective tissue

the list can go on and on. Fact is, some of these things you actually really really want plenty of in your body!!! - And yes, because muscle, good water, internal organs all show up on your SCALE par say, you don't suddenly want to rip your liver out just to loose a few lbs.

Using a scale as a measurement for your success will not give you the map of your body that you need. In other words, it's in-accurate feedback. I am sure that what everybody wants to lose are the following:

fat
toxic waste
fluid retention

Ummm, that's pretty much it, remember, WEIGHT LOSS IS NOT FAT LOSS!

The end.

:cheers2:
 
Thanks for posting this! It has helped a lot. I have gone through a few months like that, or in one week jump a few pounds myself, but two weeks ago I was freaking out at 283 and now I am happily at 276.2

Ive decided to only weigh on one or two days. Seems to keep me somewhat sane ..

thanks again
Natsky:cheers2:
 
A real pleasure,

You may want to look at specific measuring approx once a month. For example, a bio-impedence test (body stat machine.)

something that will give you a breakdown of what's what in your body, providing you with a map of well, you. This can really help. For example if you have lost fat but gained muscle as earlier discussed a scale won't tell you this, but by having a more specific test, you can find out much more.

Hey, if your interested, I have a weight loss book coming out next week, not sure if I am allowed to promo on here???? But, anyways, it's going to be a REALLY good read with lots and lots of info.

Other than that, keep strong and only use a scale as a guide, not a priority.

Pete

:waving:
 
ah yes, the morning digital scale routine...

I actually started keeping a log in a spreadsheet, and I was able to see a definite trend during my cycle (female).

My doc says, to keep yourself in reality, weigh yourself everyday.

But you bring up a really good point Kara about the salt and eating out.

Lately I eat foods that are light in density and low in salt, but when I eat out (about once or twice a month) I really overeat and am shocked the next morning... until I remind myself it is misleading.

I don't even pay attention to a couple lbs of weight gain during "that week" of the month. It all drops back down in the end.
 
wow! that happened to me in jan. i was 288 and then 194. it scared me... as of right now im a little glad we dont have a scale. itll leave me a surprise when we get one and i can see my progress.
 
I'm going through this right now. Last sundey I was at 383, gaining over the week. Wed, I am at 378. I doubt I lost 5 pounds in 3 days :p
 
I was 218.2 Sunday morning (3 days ago) and I'm back down to 209.4 this morning. Yay water weight!

I like referring people to this nice little graphic courtesy of NASA about how our bodies process ~13.5 pounds of mass everyday. So it's not worth getting upset over little fluctuations. :)

figure355.gif
 
I agree thats why it's sometimes a good idea not to weigh yourself everyday. I kinda wish I could weigh myself everyday or two but my home scale doesn't even go up to my current weight so I probably need to buy a new one.
 
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