My ticker usually reflects my lowest acheived weight so far (within the past month). I don't update it with fluctuation gains, because I can gain up to 10 lbs of water weight gain during TOM. I don't consider it "real" weight gain, unless it's not gone within a month (usually it's gone in a week). It may seem "unfair" that I record a loss as soon as I achieve it, but don't record a gain unless it's hung around for more than a month, but it's the system that is most motivating for me.
It's a mental game I play with myself, but I think it's an effective one. I see any loss as "permanent" and any gain as "temporary." I do feel a bit of discomfort (I wouldn't say it's strong enough to qualify as guilt, more a nagging feeling) when my ticker doesn't match my weight. It's just enough pressure to motivate me a little more to get down right back down to my ticker weight.
Except during tom, my ticker is within 5 lbs of my "actual" weight on my scale, but I realize that both numbers aren't "real" in the sense that I have no way of knowing how accurate my bathroom scale is. The "number" isn't nearly as important as the trend.
There's no way to know if someone else's ticker is accurate, and I really think it isn't anyone's business anyway. I have a friend, who in real life admitted that she couldn't admit her real weight, even on an online diet site, so she halved her "starting weight," her "goa weight," so that every pound she loses online, is actually two pounds in reality.
The tickers really have to be for us (because no one can tell who's being honest and who isn't, or who just has forgotten to update. So you have to use your ticker in the way that's best for you, and not for anyone else.
100% honest! I change it when I see a new low, but thankfully any increases don't normally push me into the next pound up. If it did I would change it. There's no benefit to anyone from being dishonest about their ticker.......!
My ticker is my current low, for instance last week I weighed in mostly at 144 (TOM) and my ticker said 143. Today I weighed myself and I was 140.6 so I changed it to that weight.
The good news about only weighing in once a month is I never see any of those fluctuations that would show a higher weight. So mine is accurate at the point of last weigh in, no idea what I weigh on a day-to-day basis.
Mine is honest. I change it every Monday for my official weight. I just want to make myself accountable, so I will change it up if I have to. It is way more fun to change it when it goes down... no kidding, huh?!
There's no benefit to anyone from being dishonest about their ticker.......!
I strongly disagree with this statement. Some people find the "push" from having a ticker reflecting their lowest weight more beneficial, or find putting it up, particularly for temporary fluctuations, to be demoralizing. This was the case with me, and I recorded "new lows", and didn't go up unless my weight was up for a month or more (mostly because, like Kaplods, I can retain water in INCREDIBLE amounts, 10 lbs or so, and I'm not going to change a ticker based on a pattern I know is temporary).
What I find most interesting is the concept of a ticker being "honest" at all. They're just a motivational tool 3FC offers. How people choose to use them is an entirely personal decision. "Honest" is such a morally loaded word, to me...I don't think anyone is being deceptive by not updating a ticker with every weight change, they're just using the tool in a way that they think works best for them.
I don't keep a ticker but do use the sidebar and no I don't weigh 202. I've seen 202 numerous times and I'll see it again. I'm about 10 lbs above that point. It is a personal thing to me because honestly, I think if I put my current number there then I'd stay there and call it good
If someone thinks losing 150 lbs is invalidated by a 10 lb fluctuation that I don't record, then so be it.
Think the word here is in the interpretation of Honesty actually Mandalinn. As you so rightly say, people use the ticker in a way that suits them best - I know I certainly do. However people change them or update them, should be in a way that benefits their particular need. I was responding to the "honesty" aspect, probably following on from the post a few weeks back where we were all accused of lying about our weights and changing factual information and even pictures inaccurately ! I am honest with myself about my weight loss. It is too important for me to mess with, and I change my information with pride. I think people should be encouraged to do whatever gets them through, what is after all, a very difficult and emotional journey.
Fascinating - I wasn't expecting such a strong response, especially on the word "honest" used in the title - in the post, the word "correct" is used, but by then I suppose the impression is already made.
I am perhaps oversensitive to this issue, because similar threads in the past resulted in some very hurt feelings (much like the threads about people misrepresenting/lying about weights and photos did). I just don't want anyone to visit this thread and feel like they are being accused of being dishonest to themselves and the entire 3FC population when they don't update their ticker for a 5 lb TOM bump...because my opinion is that tickers are, like many other things here, tools, which members can use as they see fit.
I'm not saying, BTW, that you said or even implied that, just that similar threads have taken that direction in the past (so I thought I'd put in a little pre-emptive statement to prevent hurt feelings).
I think I'm like most...I move it down, but when it's up for only a day or so I keep it as is until it's down again. And...with the down...I generally wait a day or 2 and make sure that the nubmer is also pretty true to what's going on. Today I was 220.4...and I don't remember what my ticker says until I post this. Will be fun to see how close I am today.
This is the most that I have ever lost in the past 25 years and I want to post it because it is a way of confirming it every time that I post a response. I like what someone down the line said: You can over exercise poor eating habits. I did that for years and I was so proud of the fact that I walked 15 miles a week at a steady weight of 234 lbs. Well, this time I doing the ugly which I never wanted to do. I'm counting calories, I am making better food choices and I do not count the calories I have burned during the day against my food plan. That stands alone as I now believe it always "should have!"
