Absolutely Devestated

BoxerBrawler

Scales are BS, they were invented to weigh dead meat! I can honestly say that I lost all of my weight when all I focused on was reducing my calories, skipping the junk and exercising. I went almost a whole year without weighing myself and just went by how I looked, felt and how my clothes fit. When I finally weighed myself at a gym I was shocked because I actually weighed less than I thought. My suggestion is to get rid of the scale for now. Focus all of your effort on eating healthy, exercise and being positive about how you look and feel. Celebrate the small changes and keep moving forward!

Yanicka1

quitting will just result into that number getting higher. Lose one pound at a time....you can do it

WalkingAlong

Oh wow, that must have felt like a punch in the gut. I got a new scale recently that weighs me TWO pounds higher and I was disappointed!

Do make sure the new scale isn't the malfunctioning one, just to be sure.

Try to find a bright side. The more you weigh, the higher your TDEE and the more you can lose each week! And the faster it comes off! (Not that things are any different from last week but sometimes putting a positive mental frame around it helps anyway!)

Amitysk

I had the same thing happen to me. My old scales batteries had started to die and when I replaced them I was 15lb heavier than I thought. So frustrating. Because of that I am barely weighing myself at all anymore and just using measurements to evaluate progress.

lemurcat12

Pheboh wrote: »

I feel absolutely devastated. I'm having such a hard time losing weight as it is with my depression and just general loss of motivation and will power, and now we tack on nearly 25-30 pounds?! I can't even process this. I keep weighing myself over and over hoping it's a mistake... how can I recover from this?

I know that's really hard, even though it's just a mental thing and you haven't changed.

When I started this I knew I was well above my ideal weight, but I'd somehow convinced myself that I was about the same as when I'd been at my heaviest before. I was scared to get on the scale but had tried getting on a weight loss plan in the past without weighing and that doesn't work for me, I need both the feedback and the mental exercise of taking control of it, of not being scared to see the number, but owning it. So I started my plan, mapped out in my head how long it would take, when I'd be at certain weights, so on, and could tell by how clothes were fitting that weight was coming off, and after a couple of weeks jumped on the scale hoping/expecting to see a certain number and saw one 30 pounds heavier. Wow! That did throw me for a few days and at first it just seemed like it would take so much longer. But then I adjusted, decided to try and frame it as a positive (now I can aim for 100 lbs lost, what a goal!), and broke my overall goal up into smaller ones. More significantly, having the specific number made it real and not something I could just (once again) decide I might as well start later, since it was going to take forever anyway. I decided I could take real steps to improve the number and the fact was that I'd feel better 20-30 lbs down, even if it was still far from my goal.

And, on top of all this, I reminded myself of how fast time seems to pass in general and that if I got started I'd be a much different weight in 6 months or a year.

That's all worked well, and it is true. In about 3 months I was where I thought I'd started weight-wise, but I felt 100% better and probably far fitter than my weight would have indicated, and each baby step allowed for a feeling of accomplishment and belief that I could do it.

Don't know if that helps, but that's how it worked for me. (I'm now over 85 lbs down, and thank goodness I went ahead and started when I did.)

Pheboh

Thanks again everyone! I'm so touched by everyone's comments.

coconutbuNZ

Damn i hate what these scales can do to people! As others in here have said - throw scales away and focus on how you FEEL after working out. Do you feel good? Yeah focus on that Also take note of your clothes that may feel a little looser each day. If you must weigh yourself somewhere away from your home once a month, not once a week. If you dont see a substantial weight loss, make a change to your diet, up the intensity of your workouts. I'm not an expert but this has helped me. I know of one woman at my gym who did not lose an ounce of weight after a month of being "good" and exercise - but lost 9cm around the waistline!

999tigger

BrandyStinnett wrote: »

Get a ten pound bag of potatoes, or anything with a set weight. Use those scales to weigh them. You can test it's accuracy this way.

This you need a known weight to test as brandy said.
Dont lose heart though, use it as an opportunity to get people to re evaluate your plan so you know it will work. The top reasons why people post on here about not losing weight is poor execution. If theres anything you arent sure about then drop me a line and ill assist if I can.

Stuff happens, you havent quit and you can still get to target it just might take a bit longer to get to target. You miht not feel like it but laugh at it and then get on with making it right.

WalkingAlong

I would be hesitant to trust the result of a scale test with something like a sack of potatoes or a dumbbell because (1) not everything is the weight it's stated to be but mostly (2) if your scale is off by say 2.5%, a perfect 10lb. bag of potatoes will appear to be 10.25lbs, which many scales round down to 10. But if you're 200lbs., it will be 5 lbs. off for you, which isn't a rounding error.

richardheath

WalkingAlong wrote: »

I would be hesitant to trust the result of a scale test with something like a sack of potatoes or a dumbbell because (1) not everything is the weight it's stated to be but mostly (2) if your scale is off by say 2.5%, a perfect 10lb. bag of potatoes will appear to be 10.25lbs, which many scales round down to 10. But if you're 200lbs., it will be 5 lbs. off for you, which isn't a rounding error.

That's what I was thinking too. To calibrate it correctly, you'd need something closer to the weight you are trying to measure. A stack of 45 lb barbell plates might work, if you have them.

Also, make sure the scale is tared correctly (reading zero when there is nothing on it) and set on a flat surface. Bathroom tiles, for example, can be uneven which can cause the reading to be off. And, once placed, don't keep moving it!