Completely disgusted!

motivatedsister

I started out using a Fitbit maybe 2.5 months ago, and then started tracking food here at MFP about a month ago. I hate the scale so I never got on in the beginning of this journey, and decided to focus on measurements instead. So for my starting weight I just put the weight I was the last time I got on a scale thinking I couldn't be that far off give or take a lb. I've been losing inches, can notice a difference in the fit of my clothes, been working out consistently, and eating better (this still needs work, but definitely eating less and eating better than I was)....sounds pretty good right? On the right track!

I know that as I go getting used to workout routines will cause me to not burn as much and losing weight will change my TDEE and all that jazz...so figured I better at least update my weight every now and again so that my Fitbit measures my calorie burn accurately and get a good food calorie recommendation. Got on the scale...and yea completely disgusted with the number! Needless to say I underestimated my weight and am shocked at what I truly weigh. With that one number it's like it wiped out any good feelings I had about the progress I'm making. Now it just seems like maybe I'm not working as hard as I thought I was. Whatever I'm doing is not enough! Maybe I'm imagining that I've gotten slimmer than I was 2 months ago or that my clothes fit better....maybe I just want that to be true! In this very moment looking in the mirror I feel bigger than ever.

Ok.....and end rant!

Reality check....

1. I know I'm being a bit irrational given the fact I don't know what I really weighed 2.5 months ago, but I think I would rather believe that I haven't lost a pound than actually consider that I ever weighed a lb over what I weigh today!
2. Numbers don't lie, I have lost inches so it can't be in my head...so something I'm doing must be working right.
3. Today confirmed what I already knew.....me and the scale aren't friends! Getting on it is a complete mind you know what for me.

queenliz99

Hi and welcome to MFP!! Stop doubting yourself, that is not doing you any favors. Tomorrow is a new day!!

read this

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10257474/starting-out-restarting-basics-inside/p1

you can do this!!

debrahill714

I have the same problem as yourself, I can lose 3lbs but lose a dress size if I work out regularly. The confidence that radiates is just as sexy as we all feel a size 10 would look. Just keep doing what your doing

shadowfax_c11

More than likely your starting weight was way off. You said you hardly every get on a scale. Your memory could have been off. So you really don't know what you weighed when you started. You have noticed changes for the good in your measurements and the fit of your clothes and how you feel right? So then you are making great progress even if you don't have accurate data from a scale. You should feel good about that.

To me the scale is a reality check. It is an inanimate object. It is not trying to make me feel bad it is just telling me the truth at that moment. If I don't like the number I can change that. Getting on the scale motivates me to stick to my calorie goals even when I really want to eat an entire carton of ice cream.

The_Invisible_Boy

Losing inches is all that matters. You're burning fat!! When someone else looks at you they don't see a number, they see size. Don't worry about the scale. It's an evil little tool!! You're doing awesome!!

LinC3003

I have a love/hate relationship with my scale. At the beginning of this year, I knew I had gained weight, but I purposely avoided the dreaded scale because I didn't want to really know how much. When I finally decided to get back on track and try to lose the weight, I pulled out my scale and stepped on it expecting to see a number a bit higher than what I had remembered weighing at some point last year. Well.....needless to say I was not happy when I saw that I was at a way higher weight than I had remembered from last year. Yikes! However depressing that may have been, it just made me more determined to lose some weight. I am now down 33 pound from the beginning of April 2015. I did take off 2 months in the summer with vacation/traveling and all, and when I started back up in September I had only put back on a few pounds over the summer. So.....back on track and going strong.
Congrats to you for losing inches. I also track my measurements....and fitting back into smaller jeans in my closet is so rewarding. I went from wearing size 18's which were honestly getting way too tight to having my 16's starting to get loose now. Should be in a 14 in a matter of weeks. Yay! Smallest size I have in the back of my closet....12's. Don't know how long it will take to fit into them....but that's my goal!
Keep up the good work!

sfinsc

Ugh, sorry. It sounds really tough to have gone through that. I've had scale shock before, and it is NOT fun, I know. However, I think it's really promising that you've lost inches. For a long time, I hit a plateau even though I felt my clothes getting looser. It was so incredibly frustrating! Just hang in there, weigh infrequently (once a week or once every other week), and it WILL get better.

Lizzy622

Leave the past behind you. Yes you guessed your beginning weight incorrectly but now you know. You know where you are and have a plan to get better.

missh1967

shadowfax_c11 wrote: »

To me the scale is a reality check. It is an inanimate object. It is not trying to make me feel bad it is just telling me the truth at that moment. If I don't like the number I can change that. Getting on the scale motivates me to stick to my calorie goals even when I really want to eat an entire carton of ice cream.

The_Invisible_Boy wrote: »

Losing inches is all that matters. You're burning fat!! When someone else looks at you they don't see a number, they see size. Don't worry about the scale. It's an evil little tool!! You're doing awesome!!

Love these!

motivatedsister

Thanks for all the encouraging words! Even when I was tiny I didn't have the best relationship with the scale....the number was always so much higher than what I thought a person that was a size 3 (at my smallest ever) should weigh. So I do know that I shouldn't put too much emphasis on it. I'm going to stick with setting goals based on getting down to a certain size, and then maybe once I get to a size I'm comfortable with then determine whether or not I need to lose any more lbs? And just so my fitbit/MFP calorie burn is accurate will maybe weigh once a month from here on out.

entwife

I love your post @motivatedsister, very honest and self-examining. I don't think you are being irrational, its hard to face up to these things that shock us. That's why I admire your post so much, you are facing it square on and learning from it. Go you!!