Should I buy a scale?

discretekim
discretekim Posts: 314 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i think the one at my gym may be inaccurate. Someone said it was broken yesterday and I weighed like 3 pounds more than Sunday even though I feel thinner. But I kind of don't want to own a scale because I don't want to get obsessive. But I need something I can trust to see where I really stand.

Replies

  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    If you can accept the scale as simply a tool to measure your progress, it can be very helpful. A decent digital scale is a benchmark you can use, but it's only one factor.

    If you feel you are going to imbue the reading on the scale with more importance than your current weight, maybe don't get one.

    It all depends where your head is at.
  • Plunderedsoul
    Plunderedsoul Posts: 20 Member
    For me, having my own scale at home really helped (and continues to) in my weightloss. The rule is that you should only, and I mean ONLY weigh yourself at a certain day of the week or every two weeks. It's tempting to cheat, because you want to see how much progress you can make in perhaps three days, but that usually leads to weighing yourself every day in the long run.
    If you're good at setting up rules for yourself and following them, then I definitely think you should purchase a scale!

    If not, continue using the one at the gym. If it's broken, tell the staff and they should replace it!

    Good luck!
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    Plunderedsoul wrote: »
    For me, having my own scale at home really helped (and continues to) in my weightloss. The rule is that you should only, and I mean ONLY weigh yourself at a certain day of the week or every two weeks. It's tempting to cheat, because you want to see how much progress you can make in perhaps three days, but that usually leads to weighing yourself every day in the long run.
    If you're good at setting up rules for yourself and following them, then I definitely think you should purchase a scale!

    If not, continue using the one at the gym. If it's broken, tell the staff and they should replace it!

    Good luck!

    Just curious why that should be the rule. Personally, I weigh daily and record it, but I am not concerned with the momentary reading but the trend over a week or more. Some people weigh weekly and do well with it.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    A food scale definitely. A body weight scale, yes if it isn't going to make you upset if you don't see the weight going down quickly.
  • ShellyBell999
    ShellyBell999 Posts: 1,482 Member
    edited June 2015
    NO!!
    They lie :angry:

    ETA: Trust the tape measure and the way your clothes fit.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    ShellyBell999 wrote: »
    NO!!
    They lie :angry:

    ETA: Trust the tape measure and the way your clothes fit.

    My experience has been the opposite.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    discretekim wrote: »
    i think the one at my gym may be inaccurate. Someone said it was broken yesterday and I weighed like 3 pounds more than Sunday even though I feel thinner. But I kind of don't want to own a scale because I don't want to get obsessive. But I need something I can trust to see where I really stand.

    Having a scale at home will give you the most consistent readings if you weigh yourself at the same time of day under the same conditions, usually naked in the morning after the toilet but before the coffee. Only you know if it will become an obsession.

  • pdank311
    pdank311 Posts: 137 Member
    bpetrosky wrote: »
    Plunderedsoul wrote: »
    For me, having my own scale at home really helped (and continues to) in my weightloss. The rule is that you should only, and I mean ONLY weigh yourself at a certain day of the week or every two weeks. It's tempting to cheat, because you want to see how much progress you can make in perhaps three days, but that usually leads to weighing yourself every day in the long run.
    If you're good at setting up rules for yourself and following them, then I definitely think you should purchase a scale!

    If not, continue using the one at the gym. If it's broken, tell the staff and they should replace it!

    Good luck!

    Just curious why that should be the rule. Personally, I weigh daily and record it, but I am not concerned with the momentary reading but the trend over a week or more. Some people weigh weekly and do well with it.

    Same. Daily usually around 6 am. I like looking at the graphs and fluctuations. Plus seeing it spike up and down took the you're going to ruin it all with a bad day psyche out of the game completely for me.

  • EmmaFitzwilliam
    EmmaFitzwilliam Posts: 482 Member
    I have a body weight scale, and - gasp - weigh myself daily. *sobs* I guess I break the rules. (rolls eyes)

    It's all about you and where your head is at with regard to the scale. Personally, I like to weigh myself daily, and I recognize there will be fluctuations, and days or weeks with limited progress. Life goes on. For me, daily tracking gives me the instant gratification when there is success and keeps me conscious of my food/exercise choices and their consequences.

    If you want your own scale, and to be able to weigh yourself, for example, first thing in the morning and under optimal conditions, on whatever schedule fits your needs, go for it.

    Having your own scale lets you set the conditions and generally provides a measure of surety about the overall accuracy of the results.

    If you want to forego the scale entirely, go for it.

    If you want to use weigh-ins at the gym as your benchmark, go for it.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    According to the National Weight Loss Registry, one of the commonalities among those who lost weight and kept it off is that they weighed themselves regularly, even after reaching goal. Some did daily, some did weekly, some did somewhere in between.

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