Hiding My Scale!
 

Hi, my name is Annie, and I have a problem.

I'm addicted to weighing myself.

Seriously. It's gotten scary.

First thing in the morning, weigh myself in my pajamas.

Walk the dog, weigh myself post-walk.

Weigh myself before and after shower.

Weigh myself once I'm dressed. Realize that jeans are heavier than capris, change into capris, weigh myself again.

And on and on. Seriously. It's NOT HEALTHY!

So a couple of us newbies have committed to putting our scales away until Monday! (I know, I should try for a whole week. Baby steps, people, baby steps...)

So I put my scale away yesterday and I have been tempted a thousand times to pull it out and see how things are going today. But there's something about having made a promise that I wouldn't, and I haven't!

Anybody else doing this? Anybody else want to join us? We'll re-group on Monday. We can make it... I'm going to replace this addiction with an addiction to lettuce. ;)

Mind over matter, Anniepoo! You can do it. Remember stress causes water retention. Good luck :)

Originally Posted by 12Anniepoo:
Hi, my name is Annie, and I have a problem.

I'm addicted to weighing myself.

Seriously. It's gotten scary.

First thing in the morning, weigh myself in my pajamas.

Walk the dog, weigh myself post-walk.

Weigh myself before and after shower.

Weigh myself once I'm dressed. Realize that jeans are heavier than capris, change into capris, weigh myself again.

And on and on. Seriously. It's NOT HEALTHY!

So a couple of us newbies have committed to putting our scales away until Monday! (I know, I should try for a whole week. Baby steps, people, baby steps...)

So I put my scale away yesterday and I have been tempted a thousand times to pull it out and see how things are going today. But there's something about having made a promise that I wouldn't, and I haven't!

Anybody else doing this? Anybody else want to join us? We'll re-group on Monday. We can make it... I'm going to replace this addiction with an addiction to lettuce. ;)

I totally understand your addiction!!! It's mine as well!! I did weigh this morning, only because WI was today and I wanted to see what my scale said compared to the official one. It is now back in it's hiding spot until Monday! We also have one at work, I made them hide that one too!!

Originally Posted by Kellyc14:
I totally understand your addiction!!! It's mine as well!! I did weigh this morning, only because WI was today and I wanted to see what my scale said compared to the official one. It is now back in it's hiding spot until Monday! We also have one at work, I made them hide that one too!!

Weigh-in days are total freebees for un-hiding your scale. :) And I love that you made them hide the work one too! haha

Originally Posted by mars735:
Another replacement addiction that might give more accurate info: measure yourself. A waist or thigh measurement or both give you good info and reinforcement and doesn't fluctuate in the mysterious ways that the scale often does.

Also you might try looking in the mirror instead of stepping on the scale. As the weight comes off, it can take some time and effort to wrap your mind around the new, smaller you. :)

This is all very wise advice, Mars! Thanks!!!

Hi Annie

Unless you have a general anxiety problem, it seems to me that you don't understand the ups and downs of weight through the day. If you understood it better, surely you would not even want to bother with such frequent weighings. Its totally pointless to weigh yourself more than once a day and the lightest you are likely to be is when you first get up in the morning, and after you've had a pee and with no clothes on.

you should follow with a glass water, then breakfast and then just get on with your day. Your water levels will go up with through the day as food contains water. The food and water will add to your weight throughout the day. If you go for a walk, unless its a very long walk, and you lose lots of fluids, you are unlikely to register a drop through the day.

Even from a day to day basis, you have to try to relax little about the reading on the scale as water retention goes up and down due to various reasons. e.g. menstruation, salty foods, and general dehydration or more rehydration. So its really on the general trend that you should be noticing.

You might find it helpful to plot your daily weighin on a graph.
Some people find it helpful to average out the daily weigh in over the course of a week and consider that the main weight to go by.

I don't do that but i note when there's a new low. If there is only new highs after going lows, then i'd have to adjust what i'm eating.

Or if the new lows are too far apart, i might also consider adjusting my calorie/food intake.

Its seems to me that lack of patience causes worry and anxiety and often failure. So learn to let all that go and just do what you know is the right thing.

If you are not eating very good quality foods then it will be harder to lose weight.

Sorry, I should clarify that this was all meant with a bit of humor and hyperbole. :) I DO understand that it's ridiculous, which is why I've put it away. :D

Hi Pattience
I think what Annie and a few others of us are doing is basically in line with your recommendation to stop focusing so much on the numbers. I know (in my logical mind) that the scale fluctuation is normal and appropriate. But I am a data girl. I like inputs and outputs and we all know that the scale doesn't always show the output we want as quickly as we want. And it makes me anxious and often leads to me quitting and binging because I feel overwhelmed and insufficient. My obesity battle is a head game much more than a physical challenge so I am trying to take my head out of the game.
I think that it is especially tempting (and especially dangerous) in the beginning to spend a lot of time worrying about the results and start to second guess whether I am doing the plan correctly or if it will work for me like it does everyone else. It's a big investment financially and the restrictive nature means we start out thinking about IP a lot. Couple that with previous failure and it is easy to see how easy it would be to slip into the danger zone.
I can say that since I agreed to step away from the scale I feel much less anxious. Part if me agreeing to put that scale away is me also agreeing that I am in it to win it, so what the scale says on Monday is less important to me now. Come what may, I am pushing on because I have to. And even if the results aren't as dramatic as I wish for Monday, they will be dramatic in the end as long as I persist

Originally Posted by arich:
Hi Pattience
I think what Annie and a few others of us are doing is basically in line with your recommendation to stop focusing so much on the numbers. I know (in my logical mind) that the scale fluctuation is normal and appropriate. But I am a data girl. I like inputs and outputs and we all know that the scale doesn't always show the output we want as quickly as we want. And it makes me anxious and often leads to me quitting and binging because I feel overwhelmed and insufficient. My obesity battle is a head game much more than a physical challenge so I am trying to take my head out of the game.
I think that it is especially tempting (and especially dangerous) in the beginning to spend a lot of time worrying about the results and start to second guess whether I am doing the plan correctly or if it will work for me like it does everyone else. It's a big investment financially and the restrictive nature means we start out thinking about IP a lot. Couple that with previous failure and it is easy to see how easy it would be to slip into the danger zone.
I can say that since I agreed to step away from the scale I feel much less anxious. Part if me agreeing to put that scale away is me also agreeing that I am in it to win it, so what the scale says on Monday is less important to me now. Come what may, I am pushing on because I have to. And even if the results aren't as dramatic as I wish for Monday, they will be dramatic in the end as long as I persist

Yes. This. Every word of this.

I weight myself every morning after my shower! I then log it in 2 different apps on my phone. I do this EVERYDAY. If I forget and put my clothes on, I take my clothes off and weigh myself. This is normal, right? Lol.
Sorry I can't put the scale away lol!

I was so excited to weigh this morning and it did not disappoint. FIVE pounds down! Thanks Annie for the fun game of delayed gratification.

Originally Posted by arich:
I was so excited to weigh this morning and it did not disappoint. FIVE pounds down! Thanks Annie for the fun game of delayed gratification.

:carrot: awesome!!!!! I'm just waking up, drinking my coffee and reading the boards, I haven't weighed yet.

I am really proud of myself though, the parents are in town, food and alcohol have been flowing freely and I have stayed 100% OP! Major accomplishment for me! This program works!

Hi, Annie...yours is not an unusual addiction as I weigh myself several times a day as well. At one time I hid my scale like you have, but I found it bothered me more to not know what the numbers were.

Originally Posted by arich:
I was so excited to weigh this morning and it did not disappoint. FIVE pounds down! Thanks Annie for the fun game of delayed gratification.

Arich! That's fantastic! :carrot::carrot::carrot:

And thanks, everyone, for making me feel a little better about my little brand of crazy.

I too weighed in (unofficially, on my home scale) this morning, and the scale has not budged. I've been 100% OP, so I'm obviously going to blame this on TOM. Or maybe my new scale is broken. Or maybe my eyesight is broken and it totally said that's I'd lost 10 lbs. Yeah... I'm sure that's it... :)

I'm not too freaked out by it though. My pants are loose. Like, WAY loose. So I know I'm making progress! Nothin' to worry about here!

Just to give you an idea of how weird the scale can be, night before last I got up in the middle of the night and for some unknown reason decided to weigh myself - 138! I've been sticking to 135 like glue since I've been in maintenance, so I was kind of shocked. Got up at the normal time and stepped on the scale - 135. So apparently I gained and then lost 3 pounds overnight.

The scale will drive you crazy if you let it. Try to think of it as just a data point for that particular moment. As long as the trend is down, you're golden.

Oh my goodness I use to do this all the time. But then I realize it was slightly crazy lol!
I have made a vow that I will only weight twice a week max, which I may stop all together and just do one.
From recent experience I found weighing myself all the time, I got to know my body, and how it fluctuated from day to day, and through out the day. This was a HUGE negative for me. Because around week 30 I started having slip ups and then I would excessively weigh myself, seeing if it affected me....sometimes it did sometimes it didn't....those times it didn't I felt my will power slip away, and I would cheat a little because my mind set went into 'its not kicking me out of ketosis' mode. It is a slippery slope from going from I WILL NEVER EAT OFF PLAN to oooooh it won't hurt!
So I find multiple weigh ins more harmful for me personally.
Good Luck :)

Originally Posted by 12Anniepoo:
And thanks, everyone, for making me feel a little better about my little brand of crazy.

I too weighed in (unofficially, on my home scale) this morning, and the scale has not budged. I've been 100% OP, so I'm obviously going to blame this on TOM. Or maybe my new scale is broken. Or maybe my eyesight is broken and it totally said that's I'd lost 10 lbs. Yeah... I'm sure that's it... :)

I'm not too freaked out by it though. My pants are loose. Like, WAY loose. So I know I'm making progress! Nothin' to worry about here!

I think it is great you are dealing with your little brand of neurosis(something many of us have shared) with some humor. Enjoyed your post, and stick with it, the scale WILL move!

I weighed again this morning and was up a pound- defying all logic. The scale went back in the cupboard!

So I weighed this morning, my unofficial weigh in. I am down 1 lb since Friday. My coach is on vaca this week, so my next weigh in isn't until Next Friday. So my scale is hidden until next Monday! lol

It's that TOM though, so i'll happily take my 1 lb! :)

Originally Posted by 12Anniepoo:
Hi, my name is Annie, and I have a problem.

I'm addicted to weighing myself.

I am the same way. So I had my husband hide my scale before I started IP. I don't want to know where it is! My only time on the scale will be my official weekly weigh in! I think if I did it daily my disappointment might win!

Originally Posted by Kellyc14:
So I weighed this morning, my unofficial weigh in. I am down 1 lb since Friday. My coach is on vaca this week, so my next weigh in isn't until Next Friday. So my scale is hidden until next Monday! lol

It's that TOM though, so i'll happily take my 1 lb! :)

WOOO HOOOO!! 1 lb loss a TOM - That is awesomeness! :jig::jig::jig: I usually gain 2-3 lbs temporarily.

I only weigh myself a couple of times a week - not necessarily on a specific day, generally Sunday & Wed AM (the Wed AM one is for the Canadian IP Chicks thread - some of us are on a challenge - and it keeps me accountable). I do the whole hog once every 10 - 14 days, writing down weight, H2O levels, body fat %, and bone density from my scale just to see how things are trending. :goodscale :encore:

Liana

I have been traveling for 1.5 weeks with no scales....it was good and awful. I agree that the strict nature of IP makes me think of the scale a lot. I am an over-achiever type girl (or shall we say, "people pleaser"?...which means that my quick losses early on the plan (which are to be expected) led me to feel REALLY GOOD when I weighed a few times a week. Now that my weight loss has slowed to a more predictable level, I need to remind myself that I will not have that same satisfaction with every weigh in.

I do have my official weigh-in tomorrow so I will weigh before (because I HATE surprises)...but then I think I will abstain for a few days. Especially b/c it is my TOM, and I expect the water retention won't ease up for awhile).

Hang in there everyone!!!!!!