Can You Be Happy If the Scale Isn't Moving?
 

When you are trying and working very hard to lose weight, and the scale doesn't reflect your efforts, can you still be happy? Or does the scale put you in a bad mood and taint the rest of your life?

I am curious to see the answers to this.

I'm afraid I'm one of those that if I'm putting in 100% with my eating and exercise and the scale isn't moving downwards it does affect my mood.
After losing over 80lbs I know I'm in it for the long haul and never going back to where I was, but I still get panicky that I won't ever be able to lose anymore and it's out of my control. As happy as I am to be where I am now, I can almost taste goal and I want to get there more than anything in the world.
This past couple of weeks has been hard for me with a holiday and socialising, and I'm having to realise that this is my life now and I'm just going to have to learn to deal with things the best way I can.

My weight stays between 161 and 162 no matter how hard I try. But the reason I changed my eating habits was because of health issues. In this I have gained many benefits. So when I see the scale hasn't moved, I tell myself this is a lifestyle change for my health.

Sharon

To be honest, I have been back to food logging, exercising, getting the right amount of sleep, and having no sugar at all since January. (After about six months where I still didn't eat sugar, but didn't log my food or really work out.) And I have lost no appreciable weight doing so, although I can tell that my body composition has changed--I have lost some actual fat.

While I would like to lose more weight, I am quite happy with the body I have at present. I do want to be stronger and faster and leaner, though.

Sometimes when I see that the number on the scale hasn't changed, it does put me into a bad mood for a day or so, though. That is why I am not daily weighing right now. I am weighing just once per month.

The numbers do affect my mood. Sometimes when I feel like I've been working really hard and the scale doesn't reflect that, it's easy to get discouraged like "why bother?" It's why I can't weigh in daily, even though I'd like to try for a month just to see what my body's responses are to different diet and exercises changes in terms of weight. Sometimes, after I've exercised really hard, I'm actually heavier according to the scale, and I could almost cry. However, when the scale number is in my favour, I'm super excited and it's a major confidence boost and I'm in a good mood the rest of the day.

I don't let the scale control my emotional state. I give myself 5 minutes to move on.

Six years ago I was diagnosed with a potentially fatal autoimmune disease (as it turns out I have a much slower form of autoimmune disease than originaly thought, thankfully), and had to go on disability for the immune issues and other health problems. I've always been an optimistic person, but now I consciously choose to focus on the positives in my life, because I can't let fear and other negative emotions become a Sword of Damocles hanging over my head.

I don't weigh myself more than once a month for exactly this reason. I CAN'T let the number on the scale affect my actions, and I know it would discourage me to not see a loss when I know I'm doing all I can.

WOW! Again I thought I was the only one. If the scale gives me a "bad" number it sets my mood for the rest of the day. I find it harder to even workout. I get the "oh well it doesn't even matter what I do. The scale isn't going to show".

I have been weighing everyday. Sometimes 10 times a day if the scale doesn't say what I want it to in the am. Starting today I won't be getting on the scale for a month. I am going to try VERY hard.

Thanks for this thread...

I can't deny that there is some impact when the scale doesn't move day after day after day. However, I spend quite a lot of time looking for the positive - something I did well, measurements, clothes fit, good workouts, etc so I can think about those - if not instead of, at least in addition to -- the scale itself. The scale cannot be my only metric or I'll go nuts.

the numbers are just numbers.. sometimes i feel.. upset but then you see the way your clothes fit... or the inches youve lost and thats the best!

Until recently, it could really get me down. I've lost the vast majority of the weight I intend to lose, and yes, it's been consistently slowing down and stalling out for a week or two at a time for a while now. And then spring finally hit, and I've spent the last week out in the garden, working my tail off, for hours and hours each day. My weight has been bouncing all around over a 1-2 pound spread, even though I've been very strictly on-plan with my eating, and were I to weigh myself tomorrow, which I won't, my weight would be up, since I twisted my ankle, and my right foot and leg is swollen (it's hideous! I look at it and think, whoa, my leg used to look like that ALL THE TIME, and now I want my hard-earned shapely ankle back, please) and yeah, no question, I am retaining some water there.

...And right now, I just don't care. I'm doing everything right, I've just been hammering my muscles, and hey, they're responding! I am so strong! I can do so much, and it makes me very happy. I can work very hard, doing heavy work, all day long, and it feels fantastic. Instead of going into a spiral of anger and self-loathing, because the scale just. won't. move., I'm kind of shrugging it off. It'll move again eventually. I'm running a serious calorie deficit, getting plenty of exercise, and I can do that now, because I've put in all the work of getting to where I am. What the heck, I'll get a little extra wear out of my current clothing before I drop into the next size, and my body is shrinking, even if the scale is unaware of it.

I'm at the really good stuff now, and I WILL shed these last sixteen pounds, but I am absolutely determined to enjoy my body as it is right at this very moment, except for that bloody sprained ankle, of course. ;)

It really used to set my mood until I had a mental block move so to speak.

There are so many reasons why it may not move that can't be figured out and if I've worked hard and stayed on track I'll choose to be happy about that. I may have added in more resistance training and who knows how much that may or may not have affected the number on the scale.
I just figure I'll look at it as a reason to try something new . . . new activity, new foods, new routine . . . . if you can stay positive all the better. I know easier said then done, took me years, and I mean literally years to look at it that way.

The numbers definitely affect my mood even if i can tell that even though I'm not losing lbs I'm losing inches it still makes me upset and in a bad mood

Yes most definitely, it's very frustrating.
But on the other side of the coin, am always elated when it says what I want it to.
I do find that it is very rare that there isn't a reason though....ie it has only happened once or twice inexplicably, generally if I have put on a bit or stayed the same, it is because I have been on some way naughty! So I just tell myself to try harder.
For me, though it is a little excessive, i weigh every day...if I didn't I might let myself get away with more.

I was stuck in the 230's for 9 weeks...at first it was my fault but then I started working out really hard and counting every single calorie and it finally just moved today.

Before actually being in the situation I would guess that it would totally affect me negatively and put me in a sour mood...possibly even slip into old habits again but really it just made me work even harder! I really surprised myself! I did get pretty frustrated but I let all the frustration push me harder to break through and get the scale moving again.

I can handle the scale not moving for weeks but I've been jumping back and forth from 258 to 248 since the beginning of the year . . . so yeah, I tell myself it's just a number, but given that it represents my progress it's been downright depressing.

I get depressed if the scale does not move. That is why right now I am only weighing in monthly. I do not want the scale to dictate the rest of my day. And so far, I have seen a loss each month.

I am not opposed to sneaking in a quick waist measurement every couple of weeks though!

No, it doesn't affect my mood in an adverse way, but when it's down, I do feel more confident. I am really sensitive to even minor increases in sodium, we did Sunday dinner at my dads house today, I need 2 gallons of water to balance out the amount of salt he and his wife not only cook with, but sprinkle on the food before serving. I know I'll be up tomorrow, but I also know overall I'm OP, and doing what I'm doing and it'll balance back out a day or so from now. Funnily enough before I even roll out of bed, I feel the difference in my body, literally, I feel how much smaller my belly is, how it takes up alot less room in the bed, how my hips have become more bony, prominent landmarks and alot less hidden in the fat. Those are the best indicators for me.

When I weighed weekly, the scale would get me down for the whole day. Now it takes a couple days of no movement to get me down. After a week or so I'll start to get frustrated. But one day of a pound's gain amuses me more than anything.

Not right now I can't be. It's 100 times better than seeing it go up, but not going down when I'm doing everything in my power to have it go down is frustrating. Now, if I can get down to 170 something, I may be able to be happy just staying put for a while.

It does effect my mood but not for long. I try to let it go and work harder the next week to make it move!

Not really. No.

BUT, I have become the Norman Vincent Peale of self-talk.

When I step on the scale and it's down, I'm happy, but if it's up, I immediately start barraging myself with mini-pep talks.

I tell myself stuff like "it's temporariy, it'll definitely move soon, I MUST be due for a whoosh... etc...." somehow I've trained myself not to respond to the number.

But part of that is that I pretty much always stay OP. In previous weight loss attempts, I didn't really understand how much daily fluctuation there really is-- I'd get frustrated by a few on plan fluctuations, then I'd go marginally off plan and the bounce up would represent the beginning of me not being on plan anymore.

Not any more. Now, I know I've been on plan and then number is just the number-- but I do get frustrated when I bounce up for no reason and then STAY THERE for a while-- after about 4 days, that gets frustrating.

Yes it does but I have noticed I really just lose weight 2 weeks a month then I stay that weight within 2-3 pounds depending on sodium levels and TOM for 2 weeks. I am averaging 4 or 5 pounds a month. I know I am doing what I can live with. I am doing bootcamp 3 times a week and cardio 2-3 other days. My eating is pretty good but real life lifestyle too. So yes it annoys me but I am seeing a pattern with my body.

It occasionally used to, but more and more I just don't care, pregnant or not. What I do with my food and exercise is entirely under my control, but what the scale does is NOT a factor I can control.

I am only going to worry about my end of it, the random number generator will do what it will.

I'm pretty detached from the scale. It's only another tool on this journey, and it isn't the only tool I measure my progress with.

A.

Unfortunately, the scale has entirely too much power over me. If I'm up or the same, I'm instantly cranky and depressed — sometimes even to the point that I'll go back to sleep after weighing in because I don't feel like getting up anymore if I'm up a pound or two. It's really, really unhealthy, but what can I say?

I am definitely very happy when I get a good number. When there is no change or it goes up, it sort of depends. If I know it's because I haven't been as strictly on plan as I should be, it doesn't upset me too much. I mean, I briefly wish I was one of those people I see post sometimes about how they always lose weight if they go off plan. But I'm not one of them, if I go off plan, my weight goes up. (btw, I used to be one of those people - I definitely remember in my 30s, being on WW or the equivalent, and when I was really OP for a couple of weeks and then went out to a restaurant, I would almost always see a dramatic loss after, like a couple of lbs. But now, at 48, I don't have that happen any more, so I do believe it happens, but I think it's very much a function of age and general metabolism).

But back to the present, I have not had an experience so far where I've been OP for an extended period of time with no scale movement down. I know it will bother me if/when that happens, but I'm hoping my innate stubborness will make me decide to stick to my plan even hard, just so I can show the scale who is the boss around here! We'll see, but that's the mental attitude I'm trying to cultivate.

Also, Eliana mentioned this too, but daily weigh ins do seem to make it easier for me, at least at this point. I see all the ups and downs but they carry a little less weight (pun intended!!) when I know from my own experience and everyone else posting on that thread just how normal this pattern is.

I try to only weigh once a week. I do get frustrated if the scale isn't moving the way I want it to. I have to remind my self that I am eating right and getting exercise, the scale will have to move eventually. Now if the scale shows something I want to see, then I am on cloud nine for the rest of the day, sometimes for a few days.:flow2:

Yup, this is me too, and I've noticed that weighing daily for about ten months now has me very attuned to my body. I am almost never surprised by the weight on the scale-- I "know" when I'm retaining a little water, bloated for TOM, due for a BM etc.... I can predict the pattern leading up to a loss... I've noticed that I'm very cyclical and tend to stay flat for a long time then lose two or three pounds all at once, then stay flat for a while...

It makes the whole thing so much easier to handle for me.

Sometimes I think that this is the number one reason I have always gained my weight loss back (+ more) in past weight loss attempts. Something I have learned is there comes a point when you HAVE to keep doing all the work, and the scale will hopefully stay the same for the rest of your life. I do physical work from basically sun up to sun down, I still eat healthy, and chop and slice and dice pounds of veggies each week. I still plan ahead, shop for and prepare fresh delicious, nutricious whole foods. I still (most always) avoid all junk food and crap. I still plant a big garden, and work my body daily...BUT guess what? The scale stays the same. It has basically stayed the same for 9 months, (+/- a few pounds here and there) and even though I'm working my program to it's fullest, 95% of the time the scale does not move!

My point is, wether you are in maintaince, or a self induced maintaince, (because a real honest to goodness plateau when you are PERFECTLY ON PLAN is pretty rare), you need to get over the scale obsessing mentality. If you want to keep off the weight, you just gotta keep doing what you are doing FOREVER. Once you hit maintaince, the goal is for the scale to stop moving, so it's really time to get into practice at dealing with this sort of thing for the long haul. KWIM?

Honestly? The scale puts me in a bad mood if I am doing everything right and it's not moving... it's a bad attitude to have but I have it.

This month has been nice with taking a scale break. Though honestly? I don't FEEL ANY THINNER and I have a sneaking suspicion that I am platueaing... but then again. I CAN'T BE UPSET because I don't know that for sure ;)

I wanted to share my experience...

Back about a year and a half ago, the scale had bounced up a little bit to 222. I remember working very hard: counting calories, eating right, biking, lifting weights, waiting for it to go down. Every day I saw: 222, 221, 222, 222, 221, 222, 222, 222.... until I thought I would lose my mind and started to hate 2's. One day after skipping some favorite treat the night before and hoping for a loss, I got on the scale and saw: 222. I got off the scale, thought "what's the use?" and went in the kitchen and binged. For days I binged. And guess what? Lucky me, I didn't see 222 again for over a year! Instead, I saw: 233, 234, 235, 236... even 245. Up and down for over a year but couldn't seem to get back down. And after about 9 months of that I thought, "I would LOVE to be stuck at 222 again." And when a year and a half later I finally saw 222, I was so happy and I didn't care if I stayed there for a month, as long as I didn't have to go back up again.

So being "stuck" at 217/216 for a couple of weeks might not be my ideal outcome, but ya know, it is a much better place to be stuck than anywhere else I have been in the last year and a half! I get a little miffed at the scale/my body on occasion but it is fleeting... and I really do enjoy life regardless of what "label" number the scale spits at me each day.