SLave to the scale
 

Does anyone here not use a scale? At all? I am beginning to wonder if that is a big thing of how hung up I get on my weight loss. If I saw myself, the same image, but attached a different number to it, I know I'd feel better, which is silliness..

So, how did you break up your abusive relationship with your scale? How did you tell it that this just isn't working out anymore?

Thanks

alteaon, I am a TOTAL slave to the scale. And I'm okay with that. ;)
It was when I STOPPED weighing myself daily that I lost control and gained a lot of weight without really noticing. I know some people say it's not "the thing to do", but I need to weigh myself daily (first thing in the morning) to stay on top of my weight.

BTW, congratulations on your weight loss to date!! :hat:

We don't have a scale. We got rid of it when we remodeled the bathroom a couple of years ago and never replaced it. I have to say that not having a scale probably contributed to both my and my husband's weight gain. :?:

I don't know if I've entirely broken myself of my obsession with "weight." Right now, I am weighing myself only every couple of weeks at the gym. When I set out to lose weight, I started exercising which was terrific for firming up and giving me more energy. But I wasn't noticing any changes on the scale and found that extremely frustrating. About four weeks ago I added weight training, and as of last week have lost about 13 inches but only 3 pounds. So I decided to not worry about my weight for now; as long as I continue to shrink I am making progress. :D Once I reach my goal weight, which I may revise depending on my clothing size, then I plan to purchase a scale so I can monitor myself both in terms of measurements and scale weight. So right now I am looking for other indicators of progress besides scale weight. I am afraid that if I rely on just scale weight, I may become frustrated and give up my healthy eating and exercising and go back to my old ways.

You have made great progress with your weight loss so far - congrats!! :)

I also weigh myself every morning, and I input my weight into Fitday. I try not to get hung up on individual/daily numbers, but rather look at the charting feature in Fitday to see how I'm doing overall.
After about a month, I see a curvy up-and-down line that has a general sloping downward trend.
Just think about all the things that could affect it:
- hydration!
- sodium intake
- where you are on the monthly cycle...

It is nice for me to see the daily change and the overall sinusoidal look of the curve. It's nice, curvy, and goes down overall. It makes me feel in control (and not the other way around, as a slave!)

But I think that since you do seem to have problems with it, ditch it. Is your goal to 'lose weight' or to 'be smaller'? Instead measure inches or the amount of weight you're able to lift. Measure fitness goals and healthy food choices. Hurrah!

I weigh myself every day just to know that I'm on the right track. However, I know that my weight fluctuates slightly throughout the week. As long as my weigh in day shows a loss then I'm fine with it. Like ellis mentioned, I need to weigh myself every day to know that I'm on track.

I weigh in every morning too. The weight that I log in is every Thursday. I like to take an average of the 7 days. If I don't have a scale I slip into my old bad habits.

I weigh in three times a week. Once at home on Saturday mornings (to keep me on program over the weekend) and once on Tuesday mornings at home so I can compare my home weight with the clinic weight. At the weight loss clinic on Tuesday nights I'm weighed in on a digital scale which is much more accurate than my ancient home scale. It's necessary to chart my progress. I write down my Saturday weight at home and enjoy watching the numbers go down. At the clinic, the nurse keeps a chart of my progress. I don't think it's necessary to weigh every day because we do fluctuate, but to weigh in once a week at least keeps us informed of what's going on and enables us to catch a small weight gain before it becomes a bigger one.

Listen, honey...I know the truism of not using the scale is appropriate for non-compulsive overeaters, but for us, all the rules are different. :( I think that for most of us (there are probably exceptions), these "new" diet rules just don't apply:

1. Eat six small meals. (Compulsive overeaters already feel we're out of control with food. Once given license to eat "small" meals frequently, we start eating mega-loads all day long.)

2. Throw away the scale. (The Great Unknown is very, very scary to us. On the flip side of the coin, it gives us this wild, over-the-top freedom. We go nuts because we don't HAVE to weigh the next day. I hate to say it, but in most cases, I would keep the scale.)

3. Eating low-fat is the way to go! (Deprivation of ANY kind is likely to set off the Binge from Beyond.)

4. Don't count calories! (See Number Two, above...)

The diet industry acts as though it is catering to a group of very well-adjusted people who simply lack information regarding calories and carbs. But in this day and age, you'd have to have grown up in a cave not to know that vegetables are better than Ding Dongs, and who on this entire planet is truly well-adjusted???? The "new diet rules" failed and disappointed me. So I don't use them anymore. I try to use what *works*. That's all that matters...what works. This is a hard way to live, I know. Hang in there. We're in this together!