Quote:
Originally Posted by Wannabeskinny
Why? So you can reassure yourself that you've done something bad? So that you can see exactly what the damage is and know how to feel bad accordingly? I'm just playing devil's advocate here but what can the scale tell you when you've "cheated" that you don't already know? It's almost like a public shaming... I've done wrong... let's display it and in doing so humiliating myself.
I understand the need to be self-accountable, just not the need to rub it in and make one self bad over a number that will most likely do that.
For me, weighing immediately after a cheat does not make me feel punished or bad. In fact, it does the opposite.
It tells me, that I can't gain 5 lbs from a chocolate bar, or even from a 4 lb bag of chocolate.
While I logically know that the laws of physics and thermodynamics make it impossible to gain more from a food than a food weighs, my emotional brain can forget.
Getting on the scale immediately, gives me a "worse than worst case" assessment of the possible consequences, and 99% of the time, it is much, much worse in my fearful imagination than it turns out to be on the scale.
Without post-mistake weighing, I tend to catastrophise even small mistakes, and think " I've blown it, I might as well eat whatever I want today, and I'll start fresh tomorrow (or Monday, if the mistake was near or in the weekend).
The scale provides an immediate "start fresh," point.
Even if I make mutiple post-mistake weigh-ins a day, I feel and act more rationally and responsibly, and make fewer and smaller mistakes than I do without the scale's feedback.
Using the scale this way also reminds me that the actual number isn't as important as staying in control, and there's no shame in using any tool that helps with that control. Today, I needed that reminder.
In the last year, I've gotten lazy about weighing after I've eaten off-plan. I decided that it was too weird and obsessive. I told myself that I don't really need the feedback anymore, because I've learned to avoid bingeing.
My results (or rather, lack of them) this past year have been lousy, and my "I can do this," attitude is waning. This thread has reminded me that I need to go back to "obsessive" weighing.
The scale's immediate feedback doesn't make me feel bad, it reassures me that no mistake is ever as bad as I think it is, and reminds me that I am always able to take control.