Hmmm this is interesting.... - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

RJ 1980 · 08-23-2011, 09:56 AM

I calorie count, but up until this month I never wrote anything down, just kept a tally in my head. I also was not a daily weigher, I tried to keep it to once a week, but usually I would cave and it was closer to 2-3 times a week. Anyway, I started writing everything down this month, and weighing and recording my weight most days, to see if I could find any pattern to my weight loss.

I struggle with binging, and still binge (or at least overeat) a few times a week on average. What I found by looking at my log was that almost EVERYTIME I had a decent loss on the scale, I binged later that day or night. Like yesterday, I finally saw a weight in the 150's (159.5), and last night I had an epic binge. This has happened about six times this month, and it's always after a good morning weight.

Should I stop weighing so often and just try to keep it at once a week? Do you think subconsciencely I see the loss and then figure I 'deserve' the binge, or that's it's 'ok' to binge since I'm still losing? I'm trying to figure out the emotional aspect of my binging here and would love any input.

QuilterInVA · 08-23-2011, 10:07 AM

That's exactly why it's best to only weigh once a week if you can't handle the scale results.

mamakat · 08-23-2011, 10:12 AM

I think you hit the nail on the head. I think you're thinking "it's ok". And like Quilter said, if you can't handle even the good things then maybe scaling back (pun intended

) would be best. OR you could make it a challenge to beat the binging. You see you've lost, you feel the binge coming on and recognize it for what it is. Then tell yourself "it's NOT ok."

Binging is a hard habit to break... I wish you all the best!

carter · 08-23-2011, 10:13 AM

If it's not working for you, then you shouldn't do it.

Myself, when I see a daily low, I feel inspired to work hard because I want to "keep" it - I don't want to see a bounce the next day.

If that's not the way you respond, though, then maybe daily weighing isn't for you.

However, if you are binging or even overeating a few times a week, there is probably a bigger problem than can be solved just by staying off the scale. Are there changes you can make to your plan that will make it easier for you to stick to it? Are there changes you can make to your environment to make the food you are overeating not as easily available? What's triggering the binging/overeating besides the daily weighing? Can you address that?

Wannabehealthy · 08-23-2011, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJ 1980

I calorie count, but up until this month I never wrote anything down, just kept a tally in my head. I also was not a daily weigher, I tried to keep it to once a week, but usually I would cave and it was closer to 2-3 times a week. Anyway, I started writing everything down this month, and weighing and recording my weight most days, to see if I could find any pattern to my weight loss.

I struggle with binging, and still binge (or at least overeat) a few times a week on average. What I found by looking at my log was that almost EVERYTIME I had a decent loss on the scale, I binged later that day or night. Like yesterday, I finally saw a weight in the 150's (159.5), and last night I had an epic binge. This has happened about six times this month, and it's always after a good morning weight.

Should I stop weighing so often and just try to keep it at once a week? Do you think subconsciencely I see the loss and then figure I 'deserve' the binge, or that's it's 'ok' to binge since I'm still losing? I'm trying to figure out the emotional aspect of my binging here and would love any input.

Yes, I agree that you should quit weighing for a while. It works differently for me. If I see a loss on the scale, I try harder the next few days because I want to see another loss.

Carol

berryblondeboys · 08-23-2011, 11:13 AM

Try it out with not weighing and see what happens. Keep writing things down though... keep a finger on what's happening.

What happens with me (realized this while on vacation last month) is that I without seeing my daily progress or lack of it, I start to feel complacent. Like, well, what can one cookie hurt and I allow myself a bit more without constant vigilance. BUT... that's my pattern... you might be completely opposite with your head going, "Man, that one cookie could do a lot of damage. Better not indulge."

Try it out for a couple weeks and then see... fine tuning our plan is always good. it's how we figure out what works best for us. Good luck!

Rana · 08-23-2011, 11:18 AM

You know, I used to do that in the past.... I would weigh in lower and then that was a reason to over eat, because the scale went down.

I realized that I couldn't "celebrate" (or was it sabotage?!??!?!) my weight loss that was way, I needed to find a more productive way of looking at the scale go down....

I'm much closer to Berryblondeboys now in that if I see the scale go down I want to keep it....

But I've been having second thoughts about weighing myself every day and I think I'm going to put the scale away, stick to my food plan and trust that it works.... I'm letting the number on the scale affect me too much.

FatNoMore03 · 08-23-2011, 11:18 AM

I usually put on about 2-3 lbs of weight after eating out (I love chinese buffet lol), it will linger for a couple of days then I will lose it plus some more. Its mostly water weight from the salt so I make sure I drink lots and lots of water (I average about 3L of water a day, 4 during the hot days).

My calorie intake flactuates, I eat when I feel like it but with portion control and if I feel like I over eat on a certain day, I make sure I add a little bit more time with my exercise.

RJ 1980 · 08-23-2011, 11:20 AM

Thanks for the replies! Carter and Slmn- the strange thing is, I feel that exact way when I see the lower number on the scale. It makes me really motivated and excited about staying on plan, which I do all day.... but at night it falls apart. I never even noticed the correlation until I started keeping a log, and it's POSSIBLE it's a coincidence... but I don't think so. I don't get it, but I agree that I should try to stick to once a week weighing. Originally I had tried to do that b/c it made me upset to see a gain/no lose, but I had no idea even seeing a loss affected me too. *sigh*

I wish I was someone who could take the scale with a grain of salt, but I guess that's not going to happen.

lisa4621 · 08-23-2011, 12:11 PM

I think reducing your weigh ins will help. I also calorie count and have had issues with binging in the past, as well as a daily calorie target I try to stick to an average for the week. That way if something does cause me to overeat I will counteract it during the remaining days of the week. Just an idea ...

Latchkey Princess · 08-23-2011, 01:10 PM

Definitely reduce your weigh-ins to once a week (or even less if you can handle it!). I used to do the exact same thing you did, whenever I hit a big milestone on the scale I would all out sabotage myself that same day. I finally was able to figure out why, and it's because the scale scared me (and this is just me, might not apply to you at all). But I've been the fat one for so long, I really don't know who I'll be when I lose the weight (which is silly, rationally I know I'll still be me, but these weigh-ins left me completely irrational!). So my mind decided that whenever I saw those lower numbers I was just gonna get rid of them by binging my butt off and putting those number back up to where I'm used to them being. 212 was a big one for me for a long time, I just couldn't make myself get the numbers lower than that. But as you can see by my ticker, I recently broke through that barrier! Once I figured out why I binged, I was able to consciously stop my self-sabotage efforts in their tracks. It was hard, and I wanted to binge really bad, but I made myself not do it. And now I know I can do that whenever I hit one of those "special" weights on the scale that would have normally made me binge.

Good luck!

Wannabehealthy · 08-24-2011, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RJ 1980

Thanks for the replies! Carter and Slmn- the strange thing is, I feel that exact way when I see the lower number on the scale. It makes me really motivated and excited about staying on plan, which I do all day.... but at night it falls apart. I never even noticed the correlation until I started keeping a log, and it's POSSIBLE it's a coincidence... but I don't think so. I don't get it, but I agree that I should try to stick to once a week weighing. Originally I had tried to do that b/c it made me upset to see a gain/no lose, but I had no idea even seeing a loss affected me too. *sigh*

I wish I was someone who could take the scale with a grain of salt, but I guess that's not going to happen.

So you are one who does good all day but falls apart at night. Try this. When you want to splurge at night think to yourself "If I don't eat this, I might be down another pound in the morning." It might keep you from indulging.

Carol

lin43 · 08-24-2011, 06:54 PM

One of the reasons I decided not to weigh myself this time around is that the scale always negatively affected my outlook: If I lost, I would use it as an excuse to "celebrate" and overeat. If I gained, I would become discouraged and want to give up. That's why this time I'm focusing on just establishing healthy habits, and if I do that, the weight loss will surely follow (it has so far)

JessLess · 08-24-2011, 08:57 PM

Excuse me if this is too personal, but do you think that it's possible that a tiny part of you doesn't want to lose weight for some reason? And that you are sabotaging yourself? Just something to think about.

luckymommy · 08-24-2011, 09:36 PM

Sometimes, just knowing that something is a trigger can be enough to keep you on track. Now that you know that you're "at risk" for binge eating on days when you've lost, you can be extra cautious and more determined not to binge. I weigh in daily and there are times that I do take breaks, but overall, it really helps me stay on track. My question is, if you weigh in once a week, will you binge if you lose weight once you get on the scale? If so, then maybe you should only weigh once a month? I dunno...just some random thoughts.