a question about goals...
 

Has anyone else here experienced a situation similar to this? Since I have started out, my goals for weight loss have all been very surface level. I wanted to get to a certain number on the scale... Now, I'm starting to realize that maybe that doesn't serve me very well. What I really want is to look a certain way, regardless of the number on the scale. I want to be able to do things like hiking, mountain biking, skiing, etc., without being limited by my unhealthy body.

BUT, I've become a slave to the scale, sort of. I am obsessed with counting calories and weighing myself to the point of losing sight of the other goals I've set for myself just in an effort to get to the magic number on the scale...

Anyone else experiencing this along their journey? It's a little scary...:(

I did, and then I just put the scale away, and I dont let myself weigh but once a week. I have come to the conclusion that I want to be a size 5, no matter what my weight is when I get there. Im assuming it will be 140 but it could be 145-150-135. Who knows. I always look at my body and see if I see changes, before I weigh. The scale is not our friend, tape measure is nicer.

I know what you mean.. I dont really care what weight i am as long as i LOOK the way i want to look.. Im not expecting to be skinny skinny, i never have been. I was 140 when i was 17 and i LOVED the way i looked. My stomach wasnt flat, but it was just a LITTLE round, like a little pudge but I was wearing a size 9 and medium shirts and lookin good. Man i miss that.. Right now i would be happy to not be a size 20 anymore however...

I weigh at least 2 times a day and that's a step up from when I first started. My fiance had to hide the scale, but I would find it and sneak weigh. I am better now, more or less, but I think for me it is a control thing. I count calories too, I use fit day now. I have learned to let go of the calculations (like I burnt this much, I should have lost 2 pounds this week, why didn't I). As far as the number on the scale, I have felt it become less important now that I am not considered overweight anymore. Now I am more focused on body fat %. I still weigh all the time, but for me it's a matter of, if I weigh in I won't eat that cake or whatever it is, because I won't want to see the number higher in the morning. I would say just try and shift focus a little, but I think if you like weighing and counting calories you should do it, just try not to get obsessive about it,because I know i sure did.

I never used to own a scale so last year when i was dieting after having my son I would go to the mall with my best friend every week and weigh myself on those scales they have outside GNC and such. IT was great for me because i knew she might have lost more than me so i really worked hard to get the weight off and i wasnt obsessing about my weight every day and such. lol But i gained that 20 something lbs back and now i need to loose it again.. lol oh well

When I first started out I didn't have any scales and so I went for about 6 weeks without weighing myself at all...In that time I dropped about 5 kilos or 10 pounds. After that I joined the gym and there were scales there so I weighed myself probably 3-4 times a week.

And then I went home for the summer and weighed myself *constantly* which was really bad as I became obsessed with the number on that machine and ignored how I felt/looked. I think i dropped down to about 50 kilos and thought it was great...till i actually LOOKED in the mirror and saw how ugly i'd become.

Since then I weigh myself maybe a couple times a week...if that and I go by how my clothes fit.

I'm an Australian size 8 (US2/4) and about 59/60 kgs or 130/132 pounds. My weight has recently gone up a little but my clothes have become looser. The old me would have panicked to lose that weight...the new rational me realises that its just the muscle developing from all the running I have been doing lately lol.

Livi

i find that i am obsessed with the scale as well. the number that the scale tells me is arbitrary (i say arbitrary b/c so many things affect the number, like water and time of day) and something i have no control over.

i much more enjoy my exercise goals. it's something i have control over. i know that when i exercise 30 minutes my ticker goes down 30 minutes and when i achieve my goal i've reached it and i can pick the next one.

I fight really hard not to weigh myself but once a week. Its almost harder for me to NOT weigh than it is for me to NOT eat when I am hungry. I posted on here about fighting the urge one night, it really made it easier for me not to weigh myself. Inner struggles suck

i think at this stage i could take it or leave it.

there was a time when i got on the scales many times a day - after showering, completely dried off and hair dried and naked (can't have any water or anything that may influence the scales decision) and it is insane.

now, i like to see that the scale has gone down, but also feel that there are many other things that indicate how far you have come. for me it is another measuring tool. the good thing is that it is tangible in a sense which give a sense of accomplishment.

increased fitness level, smaller clothes, better outlook on life. i think at the end of the day that is what matters.

for me, my main goal is to get into a size 12 aust and then perhaps a 10 depending on how i look at a 12.