Throw away your scale!!!!

Aviva92

ravlomama123 wrote: »

Okay people. Let me explain.
I'm not saying to go eat cake, watch tv all day and let yourself go.
What I'm saying is that meny people weigh themselves and the number determines what kind of day they are going to have.
If you are working out and eating clean, you shouldn't be gaining fat.
My point is that meny people have a obsession with what the scale says and they weigh themselves throughout the day and they freak out that they went up .7 pounds.
Don't worry people, You don't have to take my advice.

Wouldn't those same people freak out that they gained half an inch when they measure themselves every day? This doesn't explain why measuring is any better.

Why can't you gain fat when you're eating clean if you're eating too much? Not everyone even eats clean to begin with. Most people don't, so you can't say that as the default assumption.

You should have just said, don't freak out if you fluctuate throughout the day instead of giving blanket advice to everyone about throwing out the scale, especially since your advice was based on some 13 year old who did this. I'd like to think that most people have more common sense than that.

Need2Exerc1se

Driagnor wrote: »

I personally like to weigh myself every morning, and then enter it into a spreadsheet. I don't pay attention to day-to-day fluctuations, but rather look at the overall trend.

I find that it helps to keep me accountable, and if it does go up, I examine yesterday's behaviour to see if there was anything I could have done differently

I think the idea of spreadsheet to see trends is a good one, but your second paragraph seems contrary to the first. If it is an overall trend that is important, why examine things on a day to day basis?

yopeeps025

ravlomama123 wrote: »

Please explain

Well first my question is what do you call clean eating? Be careful how you answer this on MFP. You make it seem like if you workout and do whatever this clean eating is that you won't gain fat. So you will always be under maintenance with those two concepts right?

Need2Exerc1se

TimothyFish wrote: »

I tried that all last summer. I bicycled every day. I lost inches around my middle. I thought I was doing good. But when I stepped on the scale, I discovered that I hadn't lost anything. For me, the scale keeps me honest.

If you lost inches around your middle, how can you say you lost nothing? Did you gain those inches somewhere else?

Personally, I'd rather lose inches and weight. Both would better, but if I had to choose, inches would win all day long.

oncem0re

I agree with others, you need the scale. For us, you see what you want to see in the mirror - you don't feel the 5-10lbs gain you been gaining all your life because it was not a problem at the time, but then one day you wake up and your jeans aren't fitting and wonder why but again, you just move on and get you a larger size 'till it's never ending buying bigger clothes. I do think you need it to remind you where you at and where you want to be. My 2 cents!

ravlomama123

Okay okay people, I heard this advice from a certified nutritionist. I've read the comments and I see your guys point. This advice wouldn't work for everyone.

Need2Exerc1se

ravlomama123 wrote: »

Okay okay people, I heard this advice from a certified nutritionist. I've read the comments and I see your guys point. This advice wouldn't work for everyone.

I honestly don't understand why you got so many negative responses. Relying on measurement instead of the scale is a pretty common piece of advice on this site.

ravlomama123

I honestly don't understand why you got so many negative responses. Relying on measurement instead of the scale is a pretty common piece of advice on this site.[/quote]

I have no clue. Seriously! But whatever. Everyone has their own opinion.

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Phoenix_Down

ravlomama123 wrote: »

Okay people. Let me explain.
I'm not saying to go eat cake, watch tv all day and let yourself go.
What I'm saying is that meny people weigh themselves and the number determines what kind of day they are going to have.
If you are working out and eating clean, you shouldn't be gaining fat.
My point is that meny people have a obsession with what the scale says and they weigh themselves throughout the day and they freak out that they went up .7 pounds.
Don't worry people, You don't have to take my advice.

So, if I eat over maintenance eating whatever food you think is "clean" I won't gain fat? What happens then?

I get the not having the scale dictate your mood or dishearten you but your misinformation is bubbling to the surface

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CA_Underdog

Aviva92 wrote: »

CA_Underdog wrote: »

Aviva92 wrote: »

Zedeff wrote: »

Uh... muscle and water have volume too. Losing an inch doesn't exclude muscle or water losses.

yep and you can also easily gain an inch due to water and then freak out. measurements fluctuate just as much as the scale does.

Yes! My biceps can gain an inch if I do a workout after a one month break. Alas, that's due to swelling, and not a massive gain in muscle fibers. If you want to know what a scale loss represents, try a scale that measures body fat.
In the above chart from one point in my journey, body fat trends are far more illuminating than total body weight in seeing that I'm doing something correctly. You don't need a very accurate scale to do something like this, merely a consistent one.

I totally agree about weighing at the same time each day, especially when you wake-up, and tape measures are a great alternative to weigh-ins if you're obsessive about scales.

I don't think the body fat percentages on those scales are accurate, even for trends from what I've heard. I wouldn't trust it.

Most research I've seen supports BIA from a consistency perspective. For example, "In general, bioelectrical impedance technology may be acceptable for determining body composition of groups and for monitoring changes in body composition within individuals over time." (Buchholz AC, Bartok C, Schoeller DA.. Oct 2004). Better scales have only +/- 1% variation, used properly. And in my real world case, as usual, the graph of body fat (lbs) was more useful than total weight (lbs), especially knowing I had been eating at a deficit and exercising.

[Single-user accuracy is another ballgame. BIA (+/- 5.1% accuracy) and Skinfold Calipers (+/- 4.3% accuracy) both score fairly poorly. Go DEXA if you need more accuracy!]

jkal1979

ravlomama123 wrote: »

Here is my suggestion. Stop weighing yourself! Seriously. When you look at the scale, you don't know if you lost fat, water or muscle.
Use a tape measure instead. If you loose a inch, you know you lost fat.
If you can't live without a scale, weigh your self a few minutes after you wake up. It's the most accurate.
Your weight naturally goes up and down though out the day.
There is no point to weigh your self every hour.
Once every morning is all you need.
Eat clean, sweat but don't skip the cake every now and then!

I'm still waiting for you to see how this contradicts the title of your thread.

Ready2Rock206

I would have quit long ago without the scale. Despite working out I've lost ZERO inches - not even the smallest bit. On the scale I've lost 48 lbs. I've upped my workout to 6 days a week to hopefully change that - but if I was only going by the tape measure oh mercy I'd be miserable!!

What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for everyone.

jc501

I totally agree. I took the batteries out of my scale this morning.

SteveMFP123

I weigh myself once a week, I think that's fine. Losing weight is a great motivator to continue. I do measurements once a month.

LAWoman72

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

ravlomama123 wrote: »

Okay okay people, I heard this advice from a certified nutritionist. I've read the comments and I see your guys point. This advice wouldn't work for everyone.

I honestly don't understand why you got so many negative responses. Relying on measurement instead of the scale is a pretty common piece of advice on this site.

I think it's just people's experiences. Apparently, this hasn't worked for quite a few of us. That doesn't mean it won't work for anyone (I personally know several people this has worked quite well for). However, when people give input, they're generally going to be giving their own experiences.

The title of the thread is pretty emphatic and is a directive. It's not "This is what worked for me. You might want to try it." That may also account for some of the vehemence in a few responses. We're being told this IS the thing to do, period. It's not. No one method is appropriate for every single person. (For the record, though, I AM glad the OP has experienced success. )

Someone mentioned that weighing can be disheartening if you haven't lost. However, I've had exactly the opposite experience. I am currently down 22 lbs. My pants fit exactly the same. I mean exactly. Zero difference there. If I hadn't been weighing and hadn't seen the scale going down, that would have made me quite frustrated indeed and may have made me thought, "This just isn't working."

My shirts are larger on me, but they are "stretchy" shirts and I'm pretty sure I would have just assumed I had simply stretched them all out to hell and back by now (which I have).

Everyone's experience is different. But I really can't change what I'm experiencing in order to not seem like I'm giving a "negative" experience. And I can't change the past, when I stopped weighing at various times and did, in fact, gain.

Now, as for measuring...being bloated, or not, can affect that, of course. So can exactly where you measure, a few millimeters up or down from when you previously measured. And tape measures can stretch out over time. I measured for a while and I had notes: "Waist is the lowest indent before swelling directly below, approximately X inches from the bottom of my bra..." I would still measure quite differently than I was expecting. If I had tatoos or a mole or something as guideposts it would have been fine.

But perhaps not everyone is all thumbs like me.

irejb

Personally, I don't own a scale and just go by the way my clothes fit. I find how I fit in my clothes a good indicator of weight gain.

However, I think a scale is beneficial for some people, especially those who are extremely overweight. There is no right or wrong approach to seeing if you gain/lost weight.

arditarose

At first I thought this meant your FOOD scale. Never.

FatFreeFrolicking

ravlomama123 wrote: »

Okay okay people, I heard this advice from a certified nutritionist. I've read the comments and I see your guys point. This advice wouldn't work for everyone.

Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. A registered dietician is the only person I'd take nutrition advice from.

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girlviernes

I don't really advocate anybody get rid of their scale, but you should understand what impacts the number on it and how that number impacts how you feel. For me, I find it helpful to weigh daily. Before I step on I often reflect on if I think the number will be up or down. Generally I might expect it to be up if I had a lot of sodium the day before, did a lot of exercise, or ate more than usual. I like weighing every day before I tend to lose focus, and this keeps me focused. But, I am not overly invested in seeing it down each and every day.

Some people find themselves getting obsessed with the scale or having the number determine what they will eat and do all day. That is problematic and a sign that you should limit the frequency of weighing. Even then, it is helpful if you have a tendency to have weight problem to not avoid the number altogether because that will just keep you in the dark and will also increase anxiety tied up in the number. So I would say get your weight at least once a month, even if it is on a scale at a friend's house.

I do also measure once a week. Those seem to fluctuate more than scale, to be frank.

ndj1979

OdesAngel wrote: »

New account with 2 posts telling people to throw away their scale and eat clean. Yep. I'm on MFP.

yea, and this thread will never get locked by the mods….

ndj1979

the scale actually provides useful information as it is the best way to pin down what your maintenance, bulking, and cutting calorie intake levels are.

I find that taking measurements and weight once a week on scale is the best way to accurately track progress..

and how would measuring yourself take into account fat and muscle loss?

and what does clean eating have to do with any of this?

WithWhatsLeft

ravlomama123 wrote: »

Okay okay people, I heard this advice from a certified nutritionist. I've read the comments and I see your guys point. This advice wouldn't work for everyone.

For some people, this is great advice. For others, not. We each figure out what works best for us. If you panic at a slight weight fluctuation upwards and give up instead of going by how your pants fit, this is a pretty obvious solution.

The general rule is, find what works for you and do that. If it stops working, change things up.

khloesdad0124

I find it works best for me to weigh once a week in the morning and take my measurements once a month. I eat food I like. I pre-log it and try to stay at my calorie goal. I exercise a bit. I've lost about 1 lb a week doing that. I've lost inches too.
I agree that weighing multiple times every day could be leading to an unhealthy relationship with the scale. If someone is weighing every hour they should probably get some distance from the scale. Some people can weigh daily and some people need to weigh once a month but I don't think the scale needs to be thrown out entirely.
I agree that people can eat cake sometimes. You don't have to "eat clean" though to lose weight. As long as you are not exceeding your calorie goal you can lose weight eating whatever you want. If you eat smaller amounts of very high calorie foods then you can eat more.[/quote]

I do the same things as well. I go ahead and pre plan much of what I eat and I find that helps me keep control of my food intake.

susanrechter

gotta have my scale!