The Scales - Friend or Foe ???
 

I've been pondering my relationship with the scales – is it my friend or is it the 'enemy' ????

I know all the arguments about the fact that the scales don't show the true picture – that measurements are far more important, as well as how we 'feel'. I've read that great article Why the Scales Lie many times.

I know that for many, the scales can become an unhealthy obsession, and can cause a great deal of stress and upset.

I know that if we are going to weigh, then it's best to do it once or week, or even better, once a month – that if we do weigh everyday we should average out the weight fluctuations that occur during the week.

BUT …

I just can't stop myself, I still do it.

I don't mean to weigh myself every day – but I usually do – though it is really only on one particular day of the week that I officially count and the loss/gain/whatever.

I don't usually get upset with what I see – though if I don't show a loss for a couple of weeks I do get a bit panicky and think that maybe, just maybe, it isn't working for me any more! - which is incredibly silly, especially as I know that there is a particular pattern (usually) to my weight loss – a loss for two weeks, then I stay the same for two weeks and so on.

However, I do feel that it keeps me 'on my toes' – a couple of months ago I joined a 'No Scales' challenge – it wasn't as bad as I thought. But, one thing I did notice – I became a bit complacent with my eating – and can only conclude that this was because I didn't have the discipline of the scales to keep me in line!

So, I'm interested to know – is the scales your friend or foe? What's your relationship with the scales? Do you or don't you weigh every day?? Or do you prefer the tape measure and the mirror to reflect the progress you are making??

I use both the scale and the tape measure. That is how I found out that I lose inches OR weight-not both at the same time. It is also how I found out that I normally fluctuate 1 or 2 pounds on a daily basis and that I consistently gain 3 pounds right before TOM. I think the scale is like anything else-it all depends on how you use it. If you obsess over it or get upset at normal fluctuations, then that is one thing-if you use it as a tool and realize that certain fluctuations are normal, you can find out a lot about your own body.

I am currently using the scale to figure out my CCLM. That is a tricky one as I have to decide if any weight gain is normal fluctuation or if I am adding too many carbs.

I am with Paleoanth on this one. She stated it very well. I weigh every morning upon rising. I do not freak out about fluctuations. But to not weigh regularly is to set up "denial" for me. That is part of why I gained as much weight as I did before.... chose not to know by avoiding the scale.

My Name is Mischa and I use to be a scale-aholic!

but....I am slowly learning to give up the scale. Why..because since month I did not lose any scale weight but my body is shaping up. Not so much that I lose inches galore..but I am getting smaller

Here is a picture from my gym log..from March to End of June..with 2 pounds difference

Does this say all??

http://forum.lowcarber.org/attachme...tachmentid=7729

Hey, Demi...
 

I too weigh every morning but I tell myself it's to get familiar with my patterns of weight fluctuation. I usually only "officially" record my weight on Saturdays and I also measure that day. I try not to let my morning weigh in's get to me. I tell myself it only "counts" on Saturday mornings. But I too fall victim to the scale even though I try to not let myself. If Wed, Thurs, Fri passes with no result I get a bit down. Then I know my Saturday weigh in will show no good result. But I'm really glad I also measure. Here is why:

I got really down last week because the scale said I lost nothing. I started actually feeling FATTER. The temptation of cheating grew dramatically because deep down I was thinking "well, it's not working anyway, may as well have some fun." But then I measured and I was almost FIVE inches down from the week before-- with NO weight loss! My outlook changed dramatically! I suddenly felt slimmer. I noticed my pants had been baggier the few days before but I had previously sluffed it off as something I must have just "imagined." My temptations became 100% easier to ignore.

That experience really taught me a lesson! What an eye opener! I let some hunk of metal and springs totally get me down to the point of almost eating something I would regret. Even worse this stupid thing was not even telling me the truth! It lied to me and I believed it to the point that I could swear I actually was fatter and I was almost willing to throw this WOE out the window for a couple of days. I felt like such crap.

I'll still weigh every morning but I'll take it with a grain of salt. I still need it to keep me in check because I find if I don't weigh I imagine myself losing a lot more weight that I really am and get really depressed when I eventually step on it and find out my imagined 5 lbs was really a half pound! I also find if I don't weigh I actually start to become more lenient with my eating and gain without noticing it right away. But the tape measure is what I will take seriously. The scale can be a (sometimes slightly inaccurate) tool but the tape measure never lies.

mischa - Why do After pictures always have a tan? Is it just because of the added cofidance to get out in the sun, or lighting differences? That's always bugged me about TV commercials, but your's has one too :)

Haha - I noticed that too - plus with the weight loss, she has more confidence and is staning much straighter - nice!

As for the scale - yes, I'm an addict - I seem to live for the next moment I can hop on that scale and miraculously see an improvement. At times there is so little movement I fear I need to get my eyes checked. Or, perhaps I should go to digital! That would make life easier!

Leave it to my friend Demi to come up with this thread. BTW, I think it is great. As for myself, I will weight maybe once per week sometimes I will go two weeks before weighing. I get into my closet and go to the section that has the smaller sizes, now don't even try to tell me y'all don't have a section like that, LOL LOL. Anyhoo, trying on smaller clothes and seeing #1 if I can get into them, and #2 those I got into last month, how much looser they are.
I think the scale is fine if it does the effect is not too emotional, and by that I mean if the scale is up are we going to freak out. I'm okay with my scale, I know where it is if I want to climb on it.

Thanks Demi, I love the thread and all the input.

joan

Hey
 

I just started a very similar thread over on the Atkins forum! I agree that the scale is my friend since Atkins. It really helps me figure out my food choices and quantities for the day, so that i stay within acceptable limits. I usually weigh in about 2-3 x per week. :wiggle:

Ok here's what i do. I weigh every morning until i see my weight rise at all then i put the scale away for a week. as long as i am the same or losing i keep weighing. Also i only record my lowest weight. i never ever put in an increase. Whenever i hit a low that's what i weigh now even if the next day i gain 3 pounds. An example would be that i gained 4 pounds a few weeks ago for no reason and it just wouldn't come off...so i put the scale away for a week and a half. when i weighed again 2 of the 4 were gone..then i weighed again a week later and the other 2 were gone, so i decided to start weighing daily again. Now i lost another pound beyond what i was before i gained so i will weigh again until i see it go up. Maybe i'm weird but i really like this system.

Jon

ps if you click onmy before and after pics below you will see absolutely no tan :lol:

I have a very ambivalent relationship with the scale, and I tend to put too much "weight" on what it says in the morning. I weigh daily because it does make me think more about my food choices during the day, especially at the end of the day when my discipline sometimes starts to break down a little bit.

Emily

I weigh every day, and it doesn't seem to cause me motivation problems, even when I hover around a certain weight for weeks at a time. It might be partly because I never had scales for most of my adulthood, so I don't have "scales baggage". It might also be because *without* scales I put on a lot of weight in the past, so I enjoy feeling more of a sense of control than I had for all those years. I see what's going on, and I rate my concern about it according to lots of things; how much it varies, TOM, how much salt I had the day before, whether I have changed my exercise lately etc.

I kind of like the completeness of having a record of how much I weighed most days. It is so in-my-face- obvious that I have lost weight, but it's also in-my-face obvious that I have lost size, so I rejoice in both those things and don't get bogged down in the former. It's kind of a curiosity for me.

Gez