(Rant) Coworker thinks scales are evil
Replies
-
Scales do not cause eating disorders or psychological disorders, but some people who are prone to those things do have a very unhealthy relationship with scales. Constantly weighing yourself and obsessing over every pound, ignoring the fact that water weight causes routine fluctuations, obsessing over being a very specific number and freaking out if they are 0.1 pounds higher...these are all unhealthy behavior and people prone to these types of things should either not weigh or only weigh weekly or monthly.
I weigh once a week officially, but sometimes weigh at other points during the week out of curiosity...but I don't have any issue with it. Some weigh daily with no problems. Others can't handle that.
If you like scales, use them as a tool to track. If you don't, there is no need to use a scale. I knew I needed to lose weight before I even bought a scale. This is usually obvious based on appearance and how you feel. So to weigh or not to weigh is up to the individual, and both approaches work.
0 -
OneHundredToLose wrote: »Jennloella wrote: »you actually have no idea if she's ever struggled with her weight.
I weigh myself a few times a year at the Dr office, and have been in maintenance for 5 years, through two pregnancies. I have seen people become obsessed with the number on the scale and lose sight of what is healthy. she could have battled a similar disorder, led to an eating disorder, etc.....you don't know her struggles anymore than you claim she doesn't know yours.
Actually we've discussed it pretty extensively. I know why she claims to have issues with the scale, and that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is the asinine suggestion that everyone is as vulnerable as she is, and her scoff that I "couldn't understand".
Do you suspect, as I do, that you "couldn't understand" really means that just that she is unable or reluctant to explain herself properly? I do agree that is a put down of sorts and would annoy me too.
0 -
Sounds like you can't admit anything about your struggle to this coworker.0
-
goldthistime wrote: »OneHundredToLose wrote: »Jennloella wrote: »you actually have no idea if she's ever struggled with her weight.
I weigh myself a few times a year at the Dr office, and have been in maintenance for 5 years, through two pregnancies. I have seen people become obsessed with the number on the scale and lose sight of what is healthy. she could have battled a similar disorder, led to an eating disorder, etc.....you don't know her struggles anymore than you claim she doesn't know yours.
Actually we've discussed it pretty extensively. I know why she claims to have issues with the scale, and that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is the asinine suggestion that everyone is as vulnerable as she is, and her scoff that I "couldn't understand".
Do you suspect, as I do, that you "couldn't understand" really means that just that she is unable or reluctant to explain herself properly? I do agree that is a put down of sorts and would annoy me too.
Yeah, it came off as her being frustrated and not wanting to talk about it anymore. Which I understand, but it still felt unnecessarily crass.0 -
jessiefrancine wrote: »Yeah, I totally hate anything that gives me data points on which to base my future actions. Besides scales, I also hate my car's fuel gauge, my 401k quarterly statements, and the indicator that tells me which floor my elevator is on.
These examples are not really relevant. You can't see how much fuel is in your car without a fuel gauge. You can easily see if you need to lose weight just by looking in a mirror. I don't base my future actions on the number on the scale. I am satisfied or dissatisfied based on what I see in the mirror.
I do weigh, but it was more just to measure progress because I am a numbers geek and like data. It is also used by me as a first line of defense in case weight is creeping up so that I don't undo any of the good I have done. But it is not NECESSARY. A fuel gauge is.0 -
abetterluke wrote: »I do think depending on the person scales can be detrimental to weight loss. My wife as an example will literally weigh herself every day. Sometimes more than once. She does not understand (or refuses to believe) that weight fluctuates by day. So when she's down one day and then up again the next she freaks out and basically gives up.
I on the other hand prefer once a week and can use it as a gauge for my weight loss without freaking out or losing hope...most of the time.
There is nothing wrong with weighing oneself every day as long as it is understood that weight is going to bounce around. I'll often weigh myself twice each day when I run; once before and once after. I need to understand how much water I lost during the run so I know how much to drink to replace it. (In the summer heat, a 6 mile run can mean a 2 to 3 pound water loss on top of the 10 ounces I've had to drink during the run.) That doesn't make me obsessed and it certainly doesn't freak me out.0 -
MoiAussi93 wrote: »jessiefrancine wrote: »Yeah, I totally hate anything that gives me data points on which to base my future actions. Besides scales, I also hate my car's fuel gauge, my 401k quarterly statements, and the indicator that tells me which floor my elevator is on.
These examples are not really relevant. You can't see how much fuel is in your car without a fuel gauge. You can easily see if you need to lose weight just by looking in a mirror. I don't base my future actions on the number on the scale. I am satisfied or dissatisfied based on what I see in the mirror.
I do weigh, but it was more just to measure progress because I am a numbers geek and like data. It is also used by me as a first line of defense in case weight is creeping up so that I don't undo any of the good I have done. But it is not NECESSARY. A fuel gauge is.
Actually it is relevant.... I know that if I filled my 12 gallon tank yesterday, and that I get roughly 20 miles per gallon that I will need gas by the time I have driven about 240 miles - whether I look at the gas gauge or not. Same for 401k - I dont need to know the exact balance to know about how much i have contributed and that what I invested it in gets roughly a few percent a year - I can guess pretty close based on my knowledge of what I put into it. Same for the elevator - I can listen to the dings as it moves between floors, or timing (5 seconds=1 floor) or the sound as you pass the bulkheads.
All of those are similar to eyeballing your body in the mirror, they may give you a rough idea if you are up or down, but they are very imprecise. That is where gauges and scales and statements etc come into play. You know if your clothes are tighter so you probably gained weight, but there is a huge difference between gaining 5 pounds and 20, and the "tightness" of your clothes is not going to give you much clue how close you are to either. Especially if you wear yoga pants. Those things never feel tight , whether i gain 5 or 30+ pounds, darn things still "fit" just fine.
0 -
LOL! Most people don't track their mileage from the time they filled their tank that closely. You would have to write down or remember EXACTLY what the mileage was when you filled it and be constantly doing the math in your head. Not to mention getting different gas mileage in traffic vs wide open highway driving and under various other terrains and conditions.MoiAussi93 wrote: »jessiefrancine wrote: »Yeah, I totally hate anything that gives me data points on which to base my future actions. Besides scales, I also hate my car's fuel gauge, my 401k quarterly statements, and the indicator that tells me which floor my elevator is on.
These examples are not really relevant. You can't see how much fuel is in your car without a fuel gauge. You can easily see if you need to lose weight just by looking in a mirror. I don't base my future actions on the number on the scale. I am satisfied or dissatisfied based on what I see in the mirror.
I do weigh, but it was more just to measure progress because I am a numbers geek and like data. It is also used by me as a first line of defense in case weight is creeping up so that I don't undo any of the good I have done. But it is not NECESSARY. A fuel gauge is.
Actually it is relevant.... I know that if I filled my 12 gallon tank yesterday, and that I get roughly 20 miles per gallon that I will need gas by the time I have driven about 240 miles - whether I look at the gas gauge or not. Same for 401k - I dont need to know the exact balance to know about how much i have contributed and that what I invested it in gets roughly a few percent a year - I can guess pretty close based on my knowledge of what I put into it. Same for the elevator - I can listen to the dings as it moves between floors, or timing (5 seconds=1 floor) or the sound as you pass the bulkheads.
All of those are similar to eyeballing your body in the mirror, they may give you a rough idea if you are up or down, but they are very imprecise. That is where gauges and scales and statements etc come into play. You know if your clothes are tighter so you probably gained weight, but there is a huge difference between gaining 5 pounds and 20, and the "tightness" of your clothes is not going to give you much clue how close you are to either. Especially if you wear yoga pants. Those things never feel tight , whether i gain 5 or 30+ pounds, darn things still "fit" just fine.
Besides, you don't need to know exactly what you weigh if you are happy with your weight. If you aren't, lose more. If you think you're too thin, gain some. The number is really irrelevant and it is really ridiculous to arbitrarily pick a number and say you want to be exactly that. Especially since the number can look very different if you gain or lose muscle.
Eyeballing works perfectly for that. Again, nothing wrong with weighing. I do it every week. But it is no where near as vital as a gas gauge. Please be serious.0 -
MoiAussi93 wrote: »
LOL! Most people don't track their mileage from the time they filled their tank that closely. You would have to write down or remember EXACTLY what the mileage was when you filled it and be constantly doing the math in your head. Not to mention getting different gas mileage in traffic vs wide open highway driving and under various other terrains and conditions.MoiAussi93 wrote: »jessiefrancine wrote: »Yeah, I totally hate anything that gives me data points on which to base my future actions. Besides scales, I also hate my car's fuel gauge, my 401k quarterly statements, and the indicator that tells me which floor my elevator is on.
These examples are not really relevant. You can't see how much fuel is in your car without a fuel gauge. You can easily see if you need to lose weight just by looking in a mirror. I don't base my future actions on the number on the scale. I am satisfied or dissatisfied based on what I see in the mirror.
I do weigh, but it was more just to measure progress because I am a numbers geek and like data. It is also used by me as a first line of defense in case weight is creeping up so that I don't undo any of the good I have done. But it is not NECESSARY. A fuel gauge is.
Actually it is relevant.... I know that if I filled my 12 gallon tank yesterday, and that I get roughly 20 miles per gallon that I will need gas by the time I have driven about 240 miles - whether I look at the gas gauge or not. Same for 401k - I dont need to know the exact balance to know about how much i have contributed and that what I invested it in gets roughly a few percent a year - I can guess pretty close based on my knowledge of what I put into it. Same for the elevator - I can listen to the dings as it moves between floors, or timing (5 seconds=1 floor) or the sound as you pass the bulkheads.
All of those are similar to eyeballing your body in the mirror, they may give you a rough idea if you are up or down, but they are very imprecise. That is where gauges and scales and statements etc come into play. You know if your clothes are tighter so you probably gained weight, but there is a huge difference between gaining 5 pounds and 20, and the "tightness" of your clothes is not going to give you much clue how close you are to either. Especially if you wear yoga pants. Those things never feel tight , whether i gain 5 or 30+ pounds, darn things still "fit" just fine.
Besides, you don't need to know exactly what you weigh if you are happy with your weight. If you aren't, lose more. If you think you're too thin, gain some. The number is really irrelevant and it is really ridiculous to arbitrarily pick a number and say you want to be exactly that. Especially since the number can look very different if you gain or lose muscle.
Eyeballing works perfectly for that. Again, nothing wrong with weighing. I do it every week. But it is no where near as vital as a gas gauge. Please be serious.
I was serious. I drove a car forever with a broken gas gauge, so its just habit for me now. I dont write anything down and I always have a decent idea where I stand without looking at the gauge.
And I love numbers and guages. I weigh daily. I dont understand the argument against using a scale. Was just making a point that her example actually was relevant. And eyeballing "weight" in mirror is not accurate at all. "gain some" should mean absolutely nothing to someone without a scale. "Gain some" what? Pounds... pounds are only relevant to a scale. "Fill out more by eating more" or something would be more appropriate. And again, someone can stay the exact same weight and recomp muscle to fat or vice versa and look totally different, so "gain some" or "lose some" is not an appropriate way to state that if you are not talking about pounds on a scale. "Change my body shape by exercise" - I dont know. I just know saying the word "gain" or "lose" when talking about pounds means a scale is useful to measure that. Inches means a tape measure if useful to measure that.
Not everyone is the same kind of weird
0 -
MoiAussi93 wrote: »
LOL! Most people don't track their mileage from the time they filled their tank that closely. You would have to write down or remember EXACTLY what the mileage was when you filled it and be constantly doing the math in your head. Not to mention getting different gas mileage in traffic vs wide open highway driving and under various other terrains and conditions.MoiAussi93 wrote: »jessiefrancine wrote: »Yeah, I totally hate anything that gives me data points on which to base my future actions. Besides scales, I also hate my car's fuel gauge, my 401k quarterly statements, and the indicator that tells me which floor my elevator is on.
These examples are not really relevant. You can't see how much fuel is in your car without a fuel gauge. You can easily see if you need to lose weight just by looking in a mirror. I don't base my future actions on the number on the scale. I am satisfied or dissatisfied based on what I see in the mirror.
I do weigh, but it was more just to measure progress because I am a numbers geek and like data. It is also used by me as a first line of defense in case weight is creeping up so that I don't undo any of the good I have done. But it is not NECESSARY. A fuel gauge is.
Actually it is relevant.... I know that if I filled my 12 gallon tank yesterday, and that I get roughly 20 miles per gallon that I will need gas by the time I have driven about 240 miles - whether I look at the gas gauge or not. Same for 401k - I dont need to know the exact balance to know about how much i have contributed and that what I invested it in gets roughly a few percent a year - I can guess pretty close based on my knowledge of what I put into it. Same for the elevator - I can listen to the dings as it moves between floors, or timing (5 seconds=1 floor) or the sound as you pass the bulkheads.
All of those are similar to eyeballing your body in the mirror, they may give you a rough idea if you are up or down, but they are very imprecise. That is where gauges and scales and statements etc come into play. You know if your clothes are tighter so you probably gained weight, but there is a huge difference between gaining 5 pounds and 20, and the "tightness" of your clothes is not going to give you much clue how close you are to either. Especially if you wear yoga pants. Those things never feel tight , whether i gain 5 or 30+ pounds, darn things still "fit" just fine.
Besides, you don't need to know exactly what you weigh if you are happy with your weight. If you aren't, lose more. If you think you're too thin, gain some. The number is really irrelevant and it is really ridiculous to arbitrarily pick a number and say you want to be exactly that. Especially since the number can look very different if you gain or lose muscle.
Eyeballing works perfectly for that. Again, nothing wrong with weighing. I do it every week. But it is no where near as vital as a gas gauge. Please be serious.
I was serious. I drove a car forever with a broken gas gauge, so its just habit for me now. I dont write anything down and I always have a decent idea where I stand without looking at the gauge.
And I love numbers and guages. I weigh daily. I dont understand the argument against using a scale. Was just making a point that her example actually was relevant. And eyeballing "weight" in mirror is not accurate at all. "gain some" should mean absolutely nothing to someone without a scale. "Gain some" what? Pounds... pounds are only relevant to a scale. "Fill out more by eating more" or something would be more appropriate. And again, someone can stay the exact same weight and recomp muscle to fat or vice versa and look totally different, so "gain some" or "lose some" is not an appropriate way to state that if you are not talking about pounds on a scale. "Change my body shape by exercise" - I dont know. I just know saying the word "gain" or "lose" when talking about pounds means a scale is useful to measure that. Inches means a tape measure if useful to measure that.
Not everyone is the same kind of weird
Sorry, if I was forced to drive with a broken gas gauge I would fill up much more often than necessary, which is a huge waste of time. Having a rough idea is not good enough when the alternative is being stranded in the middle of nowhere on a dark road with no gas. Perhaps if you drive the exact same route every single day and never deviate or take non-routine trips you know about when you will need to fill up, but I don't want to be forced to do that. I want to be able to take that random trip to go out to dinner or meet a friend for coffee or drive to a movie and not worry that forgetting to add in those miles will get me stranded.
Eyeballing weight in a mirror is perfectly accurate if your goal is to be happy with what you see. The number is irrelevant. If you are obese, there will be no doubt. If you are truly overfat it will show up in love handles or a big belly or pudgy arms or thighs. If you think you weigh about 130 and you are really 140, it doesn't matter if you are happy at that weight. If you think you have 1/5 a tank of gas left and you really have 1/8, you end up stranded. One has no consequences, the other has big consequences. Big difference.
And if you pick 130 as a goal weight because you weighed that when you were 18 and are now 40...the scale might not help you. Even if you weigh 130 you may have much more fat now, so even if your scale says 130 there is no way you look anything like you did at 18. SO in that sense, then scale will "lie" to you and the mirror is much more honest.
Btw, I never argued against using a scale. In fact I twice stated I weigh weekly. However, weighing is not NECESSARY. A gas gauge is for 99.9% of the population. Only in Bizarro MFP World would people claim it is purely an optional accessory.
There is a reason every car is sold with a gas gauge included. It is considered a must have by the vast majority of the population.0 -
MoiAussi93 wrote: »
LOL! Most people don't track their mileage from the time they filled their tank that closely. You would have to write down or remember EXACTLY what the mileage was when you filled it and be constantly doing the math in your head. Not to mention getting different gas mileage in traffic vs wide open highway driving and under various other terrains and conditions.MoiAussi93 wrote: »jessiefrancine wrote: »Yeah, I totally hate anything that gives me data points on which to base my future actions. Besides scales, I also hate my car's fuel gauge, my 401k quarterly statements, and the indicator that tells me which floor my elevator is on.
These examples are not really relevant. You can't see how much fuel is in your car without a fuel gauge. You can easily see if you need to lose weight just by looking in a mirror. I don't base my future actions on the number on the scale. I am satisfied or dissatisfied based on what I see in the mirror.
I do weigh, but it was more just to measure progress because I am a numbers geek and like data. It is also used by me as a first line of defense in case weight is creeping up so that I don't undo any of the good I have done. But it is not NECESSARY. A fuel gauge is.
Actually it is relevant.... I know that if I filled my 12 gallon tank yesterday, and that I get roughly 20 miles per gallon that I will need gas by the time I have driven about 240 miles - whether I look at the gas gauge or not. Same for 401k - I dont need to know the exact balance to know about how much i have contributed and that what I invested it in gets roughly a few percent a year - I can guess pretty close based on my knowledge of what I put into it. Same for the elevator - I can listen to the dings as it moves between floors, or timing (5 seconds=1 floor) or the sound as you pass the bulkheads.
All of those are similar to eyeballing your body in the mirror, they may give you a rough idea if you are up or down, but they are very imprecise. That is where gauges and scales and statements etc come into play. You know if your clothes are tighter so you probably gained weight, but there is a huge difference between gaining 5 pounds and 20, and the "tightness" of your clothes is not going to give you much clue how close you are to either. Especially if you wear yoga pants. Those things never feel tight , whether i gain 5 or 30+ pounds, darn things still "fit" just fine.
Besides, you don't need to know exactly what you weigh if you are happy with your weight. If you aren't, lose more. If you think you're too thin, gain some. The number is really irrelevant and it is really ridiculous to arbitrarily pick a number and say you want to be exactly that. Especially since the number can look very different if you gain or lose muscle.
Eyeballing works perfectly for that. Again, nothing wrong with weighing. I do it every week. But it is no where near as vital as a gas gauge. Please be serious.
I was serious. I drove a car forever with a broken gas gauge, so its just habit for me now. I dont write anything down and I always have a decent idea where I stand without looking at the gauge.
And I love numbers and guages. I weigh daily. I dont understand the argument against using a scale. Was just making a point that her example actually was relevant. And eyeballing "weight" in mirror is not accurate at all. "gain some" should mean absolutely nothing to someone without a scale. "Gain some" what? Pounds... pounds are only relevant to a scale. "Fill out more by eating more" or something would be more appropriate. And again, someone can stay the exact same weight and recomp muscle to fat or vice versa and look totally different, so "gain some" or "lose some" is not an appropriate way to state that if you are not talking about pounds on a scale. "Change my body shape by exercise" - I dont know. I just know saying the word "gain" or "lose" when talking about pounds means a scale is useful to measure that. Inches means a tape measure if useful to measure that.
Not everyone is the same kind of weird
LOL. I'm your kind of weird. I know exactly how many miles I get on each tank of fuel in my car! I actually track it on a spreadsheet and have for years. I track all of our vehicles the same way. My fuel gauge is really irrelevant because I know how many miles I will get on the tank based on whether I am driving around town, on the highway - or even a combination of the two.
However, I also weigh daily. I like numbers and the numbers on the scale fuel my need for data just as much as the number of miles on a tank of fuel.
I understand that for *some* people, the scale can contribute to obsessive behavior and be detrimental to their mental health. For others, it's just information. People are just different that way. What isn't fair is the OP's co-worker suggesting that since *she* can't use a weight scale, the OP shouldn't either.0 -
My clothes taskj to me too. But they are easy to ignore. The scale slaps me in the face. So I need to weight periodically. When I am trying to shape up, I let my clothes speak to me and I will listen to them. Weird!0
-
She wants to lose inches, not pounds.OneHundredToLose wrote: »Did she actually say she wants to lose "a few pounds?" Because if she doesn't believe in scales that's an odd thing to say.I am a little curious about why she would state she wants to lose a few "pounds". Pounds are a measurement, that a scale is used to measure. WIthout a scale, "pounds" are irrelvant.
Yep, her exact words were: "I want to lose a few pounds too," followed by her telling me how bad scales are. When I asked her how she expected to know if she'd successfully lost the few pounds, she said: "I have a mirror."
What. the. *kitten*.
0 -
MoiAussi93 wrote: »
LOL! Most people don't track their mileage from the time they filled their tank that closely. You would have to write down or remember EXACTLY what the mileage was when you filled it and be constantly doing the math in your head. Not to mention getting different gas mileage in traffic vs wide open highway driving and under various other terrains and conditions.MoiAussi93 wrote: »jessiefrancine wrote: »Yeah, I totally hate anything that gives me data points on which to base my future actions. Besides scales, I also hate my car's fuel gauge, my 401k quarterly statements, and the indicator that tells me which floor my elevator is on.
These examples are not really relevant. You can't see how much fuel is in your car without a fuel gauge. You can easily see if you need to lose weight just by looking in a mirror. I don't base my future actions on the number on the scale. I am satisfied or dissatisfied based on what I see in the mirror.
I do weigh, but it was more just to measure progress because I am a numbers geek and like data. It is also used by me as a first line of defense in case weight is creeping up so that I don't undo any of the good I have done. But it is not NECESSARY. A fuel gauge is.
Actually it is relevant.... I know that if I filled my 12 gallon tank yesterday, and that I get roughly 20 miles per gallon that I will need gas by the time I have driven about 240 miles - whether I look at the gas gauge or not. Same for 401k - I dont need to know the exact balance to know about how much i have contributed and that what I invested it in gets roughly a few percent a year - I can guess pretty close based on my knowledge of what I put into it. Same for the elevator - I can listen to the dings as it moves between floors, or timing (5 seconds=1 floor) or the sound as you pass the bulkheads.
All of those are similar to eyeballing your body in the mirror, they may give you a rough idea if you are up or down, but they are very imprecise. That is where gauges and scales and statements etc come into play. You know if your clothes are tighter so you probably gained weight, but there is a huge difference between gaining 5 pounds and 20, and the "tightness" of your clothes is not going to give you much clue how close you are to either. Especially if you wear yoga pants. Those things never feel tight , whether i gain 5 or 30+ pounds, darn things still "fit" just fine.
Besides, you don't need to know exactly what you weigh if you are happy with your weight. If you aren't, lose more. If you think you're too thin, gain some. The number is really irrelevant and it is really ridiculous to arbitrarily pick a number and say you want to be exactly that. Especially since the number can look very different if you gain or lose muscle.
Eyeballing works perfectly for that. Again, nothing wrong with weighing. I do it every week. But it is no where near as vital as a gas gauge. Please be serious.
I was serious. I drove a car forever with a broken gas gauge, so its just habit for me now. I dont write anything down and I always have a decent idea where I stand without looking at the gauge.
And I love numbers and guages. I weigh daily. I dont understand the argument against using a scale. Was just making a point that her example actually was relevant. And eyeballing "weight" in mirror is not accurate at all. "gain some" should mean absolutely nothing to someone without a scale. "Gain some" what? Pounds... pounds are only relevant to a scale. "Fill out more by eating more" or something would be more appropriate. And again, someone can stay the exact same weight and recomp muscle to fat or vice versa and look totally different, so "gain some" or "lose some" is not an appropriate way to state that if you are not talking about pounds on a scale. "Change my body shape by exercise" - I dont know. I just know saying the word "gain" or "lose" when talking about pounds means a scale is useful to measure that. Inches means a tape measure if useful to measure that.
Not everyone is the same kind of weird
I agree with you. The problem with using the mirror is that it can take months and months for your brain to actually recognize changes in your body. People experience that all the time - I see it on MFP often. "How long does it take for my brain to catch up with my body?" "The scale loss was big, but I still feel the like I look the same!" "I can't tell that I've lost weight" "When will other people notice I've lost weight, I've already lost 20lbs".
A better solution to the mirror would be to take photographs at exactly the same distance, angle and lighting.
Another point is that you can look thinner or bigger in a mirror simply based on your posture, clothing choice, etc. Which of course, would also be issues in those photographs you took. It's not sufficient for small weight changes. If you're going for a 30 - 40 lb loss, well sure you'll see a big difference! 5 lbs though? If you're lucky you might *think* you look less bloated.
Perhaps a measuring tape? That's pretty easy to mess up between measurements too. And what if you're not losing from the places your measuring? Maybe it's all coming off your ankles and calves but you only measured bust, waist, and thigh. Hey maybe the way clothes fit? Well.. I don't know about you, but my clothes stretch as I wear them through the day, and the become a little different every time I wash them. It's the nature of clothes. They break down and move. They sit differently on you each time.
A scale is the best tool for losing pounds (specifically) as she stated. It has to be consistently the same scale and located in the same spot. At that point, you can say that only the difference in the number matters.
They should make scales with setting to save users and only show weight change based on the last check in. That would probably be a pretty good way of looking at it if the actual number bugs a person.0 -
I agree with you. The problem with using the mirror is that it can take months and months for your brain to actually recognize changes in your body. People experience that all the time.
This is something I experienced first hand completely by accident in high school. I was always fat throughout middle school and high school. Senior year I dropped a ton of weight but it wasn't intentional. I had no idea I had even lost weight. It was strange. When I looked in the mirror I looked exactly the same in my mind. It wasn't until several people had mentioned my weight loss that I even started to realize what was happening.
To this day if I drop 20-30lbs I still look pretty much the same in my own mind...unless I take pictures.0 -
abetterluke wrote: »I agree with you. The problem with using the mirror is that it can take months and months for your brain to actually recognize changes in your body. People experience that all the time.
This is something I experienced first hand completely by accident in high school. I was always fat throughout middle school and high school. Senior year I dropped a ton of weight but it wasn't intentional. I had no idea I had even lost weight. It was strange. When I looked in the mirror I looked exactly the same in my mind. It wasn't until several people had mentioned my weight loss that I even started to realize what was happening.
To this day if I drop 20-30lbs I still look pretty much the same in my own mind...unless I take pictures.
I have the same problem with the mirror. I have to look at pictures. My mind translates the image in the mirror to what I've always seen. It's not until I look at contrasting pictures that I see a difference. I am also always so surprised when I buy new clothes and can fit into a smaller size. I just don't see it when I look in the mirror.0 -
NikiChicken wrote: »abetterluke wrote: »I agree with you. The problem with using the mirror is that it can take months and months for your brain to actually recognize changes in your body. People experience that all the time.
This is something I experienced first hand completely by accident in high school. I was always fat throughout middle school and high school. Senior year I dropped a ton of weight but it wasn't intentional. I had no idea I had even lost weight. It was strange. When I looked in the mirror I looked exactly the same in my mind. It wasn't until several people had mentioned my weight loss that I even started to realize what was happening.
To this day if I drop 20-30lbs I still look pretty much the same in my own mind...unless I take pictures.
I have the same problem with the mirror. I have to look at pictures. My mind translates the image in the mirror to what I've always seen. It's not until I look at contrasting pictures that I see a difference. I am also always so surprised when I buy new clothes and can fit into a smaller size. I just don't see it when I look in the mirror.
Same. The weird thing was when I lost all that weight in high school (I believe it was somewhere around 40-50 lbs I never even noticed my clothes fitting different. I dropped several pants sizes and honestly had no clue.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 430 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions