[beachgal]

I've been doing some ruminating today about health, fitness, and good decisions.

Is stepping on the scale a good thing or bad thing?

The evil nutritionist thought I should never step on a scale again. That I should only be measure through her machine in the office and let her monitor my health.

We all seem to feel a little guilty about stepping on the scale, enough that we, embaressed, call ourselves "Scale Hos".

My therapist says that obsessing about scales would entail jumping on before each meal, jumping on during the meal, jumping on after, and freaking out about what it says each time.

I weigh myself each morning. I weigh at the same time, after I brush my teeth and go to the bathroom, before I get dressed for the day. I weigh three times and average it, then write it down on a slip I keep on the wall above the scale. Every couple weeks I enter it into an Excel document and take a look at how I am doing.

When I make a change in my diet or exercise, I look at the slips or my Excel document (named "Weigh to Goal") to see how it is affecting my weight.

Sure, I measure myself, and I do assess how I look and feel in my clothes. But the scale is my tool...one of the best ones in my aresenal, and I treasure it.

Is this obsessive? I don't think so, but I worry. I figure that since I can leave the scale for days at a time on vacations and not worry about what I'm weighing, I'm okay. But when does this cross the line?

Found this interesting quote at the Lean Plate Club (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...04Aug16_2.html )...you may have to sign in to view the whole article:

Monitor your weight. Stepping on the bathroom scale is important for weight maintenance, since "individuals have no practical way . . . to know if they have a calorie deficit or excess in a day," the committee noted. Think of it like monitoring your bank account or 401(k): It helps to know the bottom line from time to time.

So, what do you think? Is weighing yourself daily a measure of dedication to your health or an unhealthy habit?

[Barb0522]

I admit I weigh daily and I'm proud of it. I find that it encourages me to keep OP when I have lost weight. When I am plateau'd or have gained, I don't let it discourage me. I just take that as a reminder to watch what I am eating and make sure I am drinking my water. I also take it as a reminder to make sure I have been exercising enough. I would hate to be separated from my scale!

[RNMOM]

Sorry, but I feel motivated to be on the scale. Ignoring the scales is kinda like living in denial (Denial is NOT a river in Egypt!)

I feel motivated to not cheat (past two weeks exception).

I guess if maybe there was a serious eating disorder then I can understand why you wouldn't want them on the scale or if you fall totally to pieces by a slight weight gain that causes you to lose control or give up.

For me, I need the scale. Sometimes I love him sometimes I hate him. But I gotta have him.

[nelie]

I'll admit I'm a scale ho. Actually, I have a scale of my own that I don't use. I use the scale at the gym and it is one of the highlights of my gym visit. So I generally weigh myself 5 or 6 times a week.

[beachgal]

I'm glad I'm not alone, ladies! RNMom, you are practically a maintainer, and if you use the scale, I think that's a great recommendation! YGG!

I'd love to hear from others...what do you think?

[Lyria]

Sorry to jump in on here, but i thought it an interesting thread!

Hmmm...I don't weigh myself daily. The most frequently i'll do it is maybe twice a week, but its usually weekly. I am learning to trust that my eating habits are not going to cause massive damage to the scale reading overnight and i figure that with weighing once a week any changes are likely to be more definite. I like seeing the big picture changes of weighing weekly or less. I remember going for about 5 weeks without stepping foot on a scale and having had the thrill of going down a whole 6kgs.

Actually, i probably weigh more often now I am maintaining then when i was losing lol. I measure with more frequency than i weigh, and I definitly go by clothes fit more than general weight. Most people guess my weight to be around 52kgs when it's actually around 57kgs. I look lighter due to muscle and so really the scales dont do me any favors lol.

Livi

[AdiaFaith]

To be totally honest, I hate the scale. Partially because I had a military stint for a year where I lived by the scale and it in a sense became my failure. Also because I hate to live my life any other way but mine....(e.g. life by a number, life by a pill, etc)

I measure my sucess by my clothes. And yeah, it's tough around TOM, but I know that if I did step on the scale, weight would show there at that time too.

Another problem I have is denial. Much like RNmom said actually. It's been about 8 months since I've stepped on a scale. I'm a size 14 and I'd be happy as a twelve. My goal is to try my hardest to get there.....but at the same time teach myself to be happy with myself now. I want to improve myself, but I don't want to hate myself for being a size 14. Do you know what I mean?

I am proud of you ladies who can step on the scale everyday. To me, that's quite a feat. As far as I'm concerned, Doctors don't know, not even if they've been there. You know best. Do what's best for you.

[sweet tooth]

Count me in as a person who weighs daily...well actually multi-daily. Like Laurie, I weigh myself at the same time each morning..weight 3 times and average the weight. This allows me to monitor my weight loss quite closely. If I lose, it's a hurray. If I stay the same, or gain, like Laurie it is a reminder that I need to be more careful with my food intake for a day or two. This has worked to keep me motivated and disciplined.

Unfortunately, I also weigh myself at night. I have done this for such a long time that I know how much more than my morning weight I should be to be losing/plateauing/gaining. For me, this is an indication of my successes during the day and also a motivation not to engage in my favorite pasttime - evening snacking.

I take my morning weight on Fridays as my official weekly weigh-in weight and enter it on a spread sheet. The spread sheet that I have shows your weight loss/gain, graphs your weight, indicates your present BMI, your total loss,your average loss, your total loss and predicts when you will reach your goal weight.

It was given to me by another 3fc member, but if anyone would like a copy, pm me with your email address and I will send it to you.

[HistoryChick]

Hi,

My name is Jess and I'm a scale ho....ha ha ha...Seriously I am...I used to think the scales were my enemy....but they aren't...they just bring you to reality! I am not afraid to say that I weigh myself every morning....The scales have become my friend!

[chick_on_the_beach]

I weigh myself every day but I also take my measurements and use my dress size as a guideline. I know that I can easily slip on a few pounds and when I have a set of scales in the bathroom I tend to monitor my weight/size a little more carefully. Then I can detect when I am putting on a few pounds and need to adjust my eating and/or exercise. The times in my life when I have put on quite a bit of weight are when I don't have easy access to bathroom scales. Perhaps thats a coincidence but for me I feel that I can monitor my weight easier by just jumping on the scales each morning. I guess it is no different to checking the fuel guage in your car. Do what works best for you but don't obsess about your weight. Remember there will be fluctuations in your weight at certain times of the month and muscle weighs more than fat so you may appear to not lose much weight but drop inches and look (and feel) really great!

[Heidi]

I always intend to keep my scale hopping to once a week, but most mornings I give in and step on before my shower. It's just too tempting.

The flip side of it is that I am (in theory) not allowed to have my day dictated by that scale. No giving up because it went up when I didn't deserve it. No extreme fasting or rushing back to Phase I. Just an unofficial peek which I can deny if I don't like the answer that day. Only Mondays are official.

[justjodi]

Originally Posted by beachgal

My therapist says that obsessing about scales would entail jumping on before each meal, jumping on during the meal, jumping on after, and freaking out about what it says each time.

well then ok i am borderline obsessed with the scale number. i weigh myself often i know what i should weigh in the morning and i know what i should be at in the evening. and i HAVE to check. i did not own a scale for 5 years and i ended up balooning up to 271 lbs, i won't let that happen again so i closely monitor my weight. does it bum me out sometimes?? you are darn right it does but it also gives me motivation to DO something about it. laurie i think your nutritionist's suggestion that you go by her/his?? numbers alone is simply wrong. as humans we need reassurance that we are on the right track or way off the beaten path and i think weighing daily, weekly, monthly, whatever, gives us that. i also keep a chart of my weekly weight to track my progress. just my opinion.

[sarahyu]

Count me in as one too. I weigh myself in the morning after I go to the bathroom and before I get dressed. And again in the evening after I brush my teeth before I go to bed. It's interesting to see the flucuations during the day and night. I'm usually about 2-3 pounds lighter in the morning. I don't obsess about it much.

I'm concerned that if I don't at least keep an eye on it, I'll slowly allow myself the occasional treat too many times and my daily allotment of nuts might sneak up to 2 or 3 times a day. Things like that. As long as I stay within a range and don't go over then I'm ok with my weight, even if I'm at a platue because I'm not gaining!

[wendyjo]

Me too. I usually weigh in every morning. I have never ever measured.

[weezle]

No big shock to anyone that I'm a Scale Ho. I wake up in the morning, pull up 3FC site, sit and read a few, start to type a reply, suddenly have to use the restroom due to the computer chair (brb.....), weigh myself, record it on my chart above the scale, and come back to finish my post.

How else would I know that I've been 140 for the last 2 weeks?

PS. Still 140.