Anybody else never weight themselves?

bikermike5094

I decided to quit weighing myself a few months ago because I tend to fixate on numbers. I tend to get upset/angry/depressed if I dont see any weight loss or movement on the scale.. and heaven forbid if the number goes up! Thats a recipe for serious diet sabatoge and self destruction. When I dont weigh myself, then it doesnt become about hitting a goal or number. My diet and excercise then just becomes a daily habit and not a means to an end. I think if i had a goal or number i was aiming for, then when i got there, I'd "reward" myself with something i shouldnt...over and over again. Then I'd be right back to where I started and the cycle begins again. Is that why so many people put all their weight right back on after losing?

So by not weighing myself, I see my journey as a lifestyle change and not a contest, I'm more apt to stay on track with my diet and workouts.. and do it daily. I figure if I didnt care what weight I was at 300+, why should I care at 260, or 220, or 190.. my body is going to settle at a weight its happy with thats fit and healty and thats good enough for me. Is that a wierd way to look at this?

kateauch

Not at all! I get the same way. I have all my belongings in storage right now and haven't weighed myself in over 2 weeks- it feels so liberating!

I'm definitely going to limit weighing to 1/2 a month and base my success on how I feel and look, not what a number says.

mlogantra76

I lost 120 lbs twelve years ago and did weigh myself then. Kept it off for 10 and half years. This go around, I had 30 lbs to lose. I started January 2nd and made a deal with myself that as long I could tell that I was making progress by how my clothes fit, I would not step on the scale. I didn't want to know exactly how much I had regained and like you, I remember being upset when I didn't lose, or I gained, or I didn't lose as much as I thought I would. So far, its working and I think I have 10-15 lbs to go! I would encourage you to definitely go by how your clothes fit and buy the next size down(unless you have it). Also, a lot of people measure themselves and keep track that way. When I reach goal, I'm going back to the scale though:) I think it will help me not gain it back.

5ftnFun

I don't think it's weird at all, and there are lots of books out there that promote this idea. However, it's a strategy that may not work for everyone. If it's working for you, keep doing it. Different strategies for different people.

chubby_checkers

I pretty much never weigh myself because I don't think to do it very often. One of the goals that is always on the goal list is to weight-in once a week as a check-in. Maybe one day I'll actually do it.

BrotherBill913

i stopped weighing myself 6 months ago. I go by my belt loops. I did get weighed at the Dr's office a week ago and was down which I suspected since I've lost 6 belt loops!!

5ftnFun

i stopped weighing myself 6 months ago. I go by my belt loops. I did get weighed at the Dr's office a week ago and was down which I suspected since I've lost 6 belt loops!!

6? Wow, that's great, love it. It gets said a lot on these forums, but it bears repeating for the new folks who may be reading: there are many ways to measure our progress than just the scale. NSV!

Syriene

So by not weighing myself, I see my journey as a lifestyle change and not a contest, I'm more apt to stay on track with my diet and workouts.. and do it daily. I figure if I didnt care what weight I was at 300+, why should I care at 260, or 220, or 190.. my body is going to settle at a weight its happy with thats fit and healty and thats good enough for me. Is that a wierd way to look at this?

Nah, I see this as a pretty healthy way to look at it. You've found what works for you. Keep up the good work.

akern1987

I'm on board with you on this one. This past week, i had a revelation, and that was that I dont actually care about the number on the scale. I want to feel better, and sure I want to look better, and for the past 6 days i have been sticking to my calories, and exercising everyday, and I feel great!
There isnt really a difference in weight, but as long as i keep going, keep feeling good and keep pushing myself, i dont care about that stupid, mean, (often times) inaccurate scale in my bathroom!

Power to you!
cheers!
:drinker:

bikermike5094

I saw someone posted once that the scale is the devil... I'm starting to believe that, it lies, manipulates, encourages you, then tears you down etc..... begone with you!!!!

Luckee_me

I feel exactly the same. I went 9 months when I started before I weighed myself and now limit it to once a month. I would be on the scale 10 times a day and would have a mood shift every time. I have my husband hide the scale in his office and give it to me on the 15. Works for me. But I understand how some people like to see their progress everyday.

5ftnFun

I saw someone posted once that the scale is the devil... I'm starting to believe that, it lies, manipulates, encourages you, then tears you down etc..... begone with you!!!!

LMAO, I envisioned you throwing the Bible at it. :laugh:

JDBLY11

I have to weigh myself or I get unmotivated. Seeing results every few days keeps me going.

mackemom

I quit weighing myself. Put my scale away. My scale was making me feel bad about myself!

littlecrystal

I don't weigh myself anymore because I find myself totally overwhelmed if the scale is moving down and I am approaching the all-important-number - I get so anxious "what if I don't succeed" that it always leads to bingeing.
So my scale is now hidden. The clothes tell the tale.

harley1968

I don't think that is a strange way to look at it, and besides your clothes will tell you that you have lost weight. Also like you I would get very upset with the scales if they didnt' tell me what I wanted it to be, so best to stay away from them

I think your right if you don't weigh yourself then it is a change of lifestyle and not a daily grind

ProudMotherof4ProudWife2007

I weigh myself once to twice a month if that. So much happier and not stressing over the scale and losing Inches

belgerian

I use too but became obsessive about the scale now I just eat decent excercise and I will notice my face getting fat if things are out of wack.

Deipneus

I don't think it's weird and I weigh myself every day. What's important is only that it works for you. There is a huge range of difference among human beings. Just how great is something I've learned in my year-and-a-half on MFP.

malston40

I was obsessed too and I would weigh myself 4 times a day. With all that I still wasn't losing any weight. So I asked my husband to hide the scale. I measured my success by my clothes and by doing this I was successful. A year later I have kept it off without the scale. I stay aware of how much I am eating, so I stay on track.

toutmonpossible

...When I dont weigh myself, then it doesnt become about hitting a goal or number. My diet and excercise then just becomes a daily habit and not a means to an end. I think if i had a goal or number i was aiming for, then when i got there, I'd "reward" myself with something i shouldnt...over and over again. Then I'd be right back to where I started and the cycle begins again. Is that why so many people put all their weight right back on after losing?

People regain weight because they haven't in fact internalized daily healthy habits of eating and exercise. If you were seriously overweight, why would you have any confidence in your body's ability to "naturally" settle at a healthy number? Your body was doing what came naturally, based on thousands of years of evolution, that is, to store fat efficiently. We have to eat differently now to outwit our genes.

There are people who can go without weighing themselves. They usually are thin, stick to a familiar diet, rarely eat in excess, and are active. Most of the people I know who are fat or obese were once thin. But they chose to ignore their weight, and they did that by not weighing themselves.

footiechick82

I do... but very rarely. Last time I told myself I would do it once a month, I failed - miserably! lol.

I do it once every 2-3 months just to check and that's mostly to check my body fat % not my actual weight.

WeakCalves

I don't weight myself anymore. The difference in weight depending on time of the day is very distracting and I end up focusing on the wrong things.

iulia_maddie

I stopped weighing myself in March. It was getting to the point where the number I saw on the scale in the morning affected my mood for the day. Now I know approximately how much I weigh.

I found other ways to measure progress, and my goals are different now anyways.

Deipneus

People regain weight because they haven't in fact internalized daily healthy habits of eating and exercise. If you were seriously overweight, why would you have any confidence in your body's ability to "naturally" settle at a healthy number? Your body was doing what came naturally, based on thousands of years of evolution, that is, to store fat efficiently. We have to eat differently now to outwit our genes.

There are people who can go without weighing themselves. They usually are thin, stick to a familiar diet, rarely eat in excess, and are active. Most of the people I know who are fat or obese were once thin. But they chose to ignore their weight, and they did that by not weighing themselves.

I weigh myself every day and average my weight weekly to sort out the highs and lows. I don't necessarily agree that those who don't are bound by evolutionary forces to regain weight. It might be true, but my intuition is that the psychological makeup of some people is so different from mine that they can go without weighing and not regain weight.

I hypothesize that our minds play a larger role in weight loss than is generally acknowledged. It may be that resulting weight gain is because our minds still see us as fat and work subconsciously to reestablish what it views as normalcy. If I'm right, over time, as I begin to see myself as slim and not fat my body will back off. I've made progress but I'm not there yet. I'm still a bit surprised when I see a picture of myself. It doesn't match my mental picture of what I think I look like. For some reason, mirrors don't make exactly the same impression. I've been on maintenance for a little over a year.

My hypothesis is based on my decades-old experience stopping smoking. I quit cold turkey and thought the desire would leave me in a few weeks. I had a seriously ingrained habit and consumed multiple packs of cigarettes. It literally took years for the desire to go away completely.

marie_2454

My scale hasn't worked correctly in probably at least 2 months, and I finally just threw it away a few weeks ago. I'm not planning on buying a new one for at least another month or so.

juniperleaves

I'm on the fence.

I WANT to not weigh myself, but at the same time I want to know. I'm still breaking the habit/obsession, I suppose. I wish I could just get rid of the scale entirely, but it's a shared one so I can't do much about it except try to ignore that it's there every morning.

Luckily, I have started taking measurements weekly and I've been making much better progress (and last time I stepped on the scale it was up, so obviously that scale doesn't know what it's talking about!).

Life would be better if scales didn't exist, haha. Though I suppose sometimes seeing such a high number is what kickstarts a lot of people into wanting to be healthier.

So yeah, still on the fence. But mostly leaning towards no scale.

links_slayer

Mirror and Tape Measure >>>> Scale

lauriead215

A friend of mine has been overweight most of her life, last year she did a lifestyle change and is in better shape than ever before. She recently ran a 10k (her first) and instead of being proud of herself she was bummed that the scale did not reflect that accomplishment.

For me, personally, I am just focusing on going down in sizes and not what a scale says. I understand the need for numbers, but for now I am not worrying about them.

jwdieter

Weight is data. What you do with it is up to you. If you get depressed and stop following a plan due to gaining knowledge, it's possible that avoiding knowledge is the right choice.

iNkedFiTmama

if its weird than i'm weird too i'm pondering on completely ditching my scale also.