Use your tape measure, every week instead. I find it more acurately reflects whats truly going on. Pick a pair of jeans, one size to small you have in your closet, try them on, take a pic of how far up you can get them, then do it again, next week, and again, until they're on. Then pick the next smaller. It works for me, and at this point, I hate my scale, since no matter what I wear or what time of day I weigh, it says the same thing. Kid you not, I went in wearing Matt's combat boots, full military issued artic gear and weighed myself, it said the same thing it said when I weighed myself 10 minutes earlier, stark naked. Those things are bogus. At least mine is.
I recommend putting that scale away for awhile. Take it to a friend's house, lock it up, whatever. I get on mine about once a week, period, but if you are addicted to it and afraid of sabatoging your efforts because of it, remove it. If it isn't there, you will have to get used to not weighing in several times a day. As suggested, substitute a tape measure. When you feel ready and more in control, then try bringing the scale back, but only after making a deal with yourself to only step on it once every week, month, whatever.
I don't have a scale in the house. I weigh at the Y when I go there or at the grocery store, which has a big scale near the exit. Even so, I feel I weigh too often, and it is discouraging to weigh every day when things go up and down so much in the course of a week. I don't lose in a week sometimes, let alone every day. So I think it's best to avoid the scale if you can--give it to someone to hold onto it for you if you can't stay off it.
You know what? I don't think it's so bad to check the scale as often as you want.
They used to say you should limit it to once a week, but that was because they didn't want you getting upset about minor fluctuations. But now they're saying it can be a good thing to check in daily or even several times a day. That way, you can get to know those fluctuations. For example, you'll probably weigh a couple pounds more at night than you do in the morning; salty foods will make you retain water, and the scale may go up, but then it'll go down when you lower the salt, etc.
I do think that checking it twice each hour is obsessive-compulsive, but if it's not every hour that you do it, no need to worry.
The point isn't how often you look at the scale, it's what you eat and how you make use of the food (burning off the calories with movement).
Miss Honey I can totally relate to the scale thing. I've always had a problem with the scale. I started to realize though that the scale would determine my mood, my diet, and my attitude. I was only happy with the numbers maybe 5% of the time. I know deep down that giving that much power to the scale was not healthy for me. If the scale didn't say that I was down, when I was sure that I was, I'd be so dissappointed I'd blow the whole day. I can do the right things to be healthy with out the scale giving me 'approval'. I haven't weighed for weeks now. I'm still trying to get the monkey off my back, Lol. But when I feel more confident in my plan and my efforts, and I see some other changes, looser clothes, etc. , I'll weigh in again. I have to say, it is kind of a relief not having the scale judge me every day!
Checking the scale all the time isn't a bad thing IF it doesn't drive you crazy, and make you want to quit. If it is having that effect, it is best for those particular people to not weigh so often. It is a personal thing.
I recommend, if you are driving yourself crazy with the scale and getting too frustrated, that you give the scale to someone for safe keeping. If you have a husband/boyfriend/daughter/friend who you see often, have them only give you the scale once every two weeks.
As far as nonscale motivation-get a clear jar/container/bank, and put a quarter, dime, or nickel in for every workout, and for every day that you eat on plan. If you can, put one in for every difficult temptation you made it through (going to your friend's house, and not having the cake she put out on the table). So, you have the potential for 2-3 quarters each day. Watch them grow, and when the container is full, cash them in at the bank and buy yourself something frivolous. (I am always surprised at how much that small container of change actually adds up to!)
Basically you have to find little creative ways to keep yourself motivated along the way.
I was a scale addict too. I would blow it no matter what the stupid thing said. If it was up, I figured I was a looser and I might as well eat - if it was down I figured I was doing fine and I could treat myself!! (DUH!!) I am one who had to put it up and then only get it out once a week to weigh. I have been able to keep focused much easier without that being there for me to step on every 15 minutes. Put it up somewhere hard to get to, and make a day that you will ONLY get it down to weigh ONCE a week. After a couple of weeks you don't think about it anymore.
Like a couple of the others said, if it's not driving you crazy then I wouldn't worry about it. But I'm gathering from your post that it is.
Those fluctuations are perfectly normal but they can drive you crazy. And it's hard to convince your brain that's ALL you're looking at; normal fluctuations. One half of your brain says it's ok, it's normal, it's probably just a couple pounds of water. Then the other half of your brain is saying OMG! I just gained 3 pounds in 4 hours! I'm getting fat!
So yep, I had to put the scale away. It wasn't easy at first, but I simply picked it up off the kitchen floor (which is where I kept it) and put it in the hall closet and promised myself I was only going to weigh once a day. I literally had to "wean" myself down. I knew I couldn't quit cold turkey, I had to step down gradually. So instead of several times a day, I forced myself to pull it out only ONCE a day. In the morning, undressed, after I'd gone to the bathroom and before I drank any water or ate breakfast.
Then I said "ok, now, let's go down to three times a week instead of every day."
So I went from every day to three times a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Then I finally got myself down to once a week. It was a huge weight off my shoulders, let me tell you. Now I only weigh about once or twice a month and that's mostly just to make sure I'm keeping my weight where I want it to be. If I start creeping up on the scale, I know it's time to back off some calories again for a while.
I keep my addiction in check. I weigh once a day only. I know as soon as I have a cup of coffee that the scale will somehow register a 2 pound gain! I'd love to be able to go only once a week, but I'm afraid that somehow I'd lose control that way. I'm a total control freak!
As for me, I would keep the scale but limit it to one weighing first thing in the morning at the same time every day, before eating or drinking. Any weight on the scale after that are to me entirely irrelevant because the weight is including what I've eaten and drank, and if its at a different time of day I'm just not comparing apples to apples.
I think the scale is extremely important as a reality check. If its not going down after following a plan, you NEED to look at your plan and figure out why its stalled so you can then tweak your plan and keep losing. You would tweak by either adding more exercise or decreasing calories OR adding more calories, depending on what you view as the problem.
Many people become overweight by sticking their head in the sand and pretending that they're not gaining any weight; avoiding the scale only helped in perpetuating this fiction.
I've learned from many posts on 3FC that weight does fluctuate, and I've noticed I may not lose for 2 weeks but then lose 2 pounds in 3 days. So I dont stress the fluctuations (unless I never see a fluctuation back down) and I give it a few weeks of not losing before I start wondering if tweaking is in order.
I haven't owned a scale in years. I weigh whenever I happen to be around one. At the tennis club maybe, at the gym or the doctors. The exact numbers don't interest me. I know from my clothes, from the way I feel, from the way I look if I'm gaining or losing.
It sounds cliched but being fit really is what matters in the end. I say toss the scale and get back to the living of life.
I'm addicted
