How important is the number on the scale to you?

24

Replies

  • h1udd
    h1udd Posts: 623 Member
    Its very important to me ..... and I hate that it is .. I am maintaining, I weigh everyday and I know what causes the fluctuations up AND down ... yet everytime it is up it ruins the moment, suddenly I feel fat, I look in the mirror and I am not as defined, my gut sticks out I see double chins and man boobs ??? ..... its crazy .... this is what months of having an arbitrary number on the scale as a goal has done to me .... kind of hoping if I stay in maintanence long enough it will wear off, because quite frankly I am looking good, I have definition, my shoulders are getting bigger, my boobs are not .. hell I can even do the titty dance .... but that number on the scale ... its directly attached to my mood !
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
    Can’t tell a lie...it matters. And because it matters, I’ve stayed within a 10 lb range my entire adult life. So I think the effort to get there has been worth it.
  • cbstewart88
    cbstewart88 Posts: 453 Member
    If I feel strong, healthy, fit, energetic, happy, motivated and at peace in my own skin - those things trump the scale. If my clothes fit, I look good in photos and feel sexy - those things also trump the scale. But once in a while I just check in with the scale. Want to make sure I'm not delusional - LOL....
  • lauracups
    lauracups Posts: 533 Member
    The number is very important to me. I lost and kept off over 50lbs but at one point it was 67lbs. There is a number that I refuse to get over, so I reset my progress to zero and started over to get the regain off plus an additional 5 to 7. Admittedly I struggle with my self worth being tied to what I weigh, though my brain tells me I'm still a person even if I'm overweight the years of negative affirmations resurface.
  • justjara123
    justjara123 Posts: 63 Member
    edited May 2018
    I track my weight but I have a range that I don’t get bothered by since it fluctuates pretty often. I’m not, at the moment, trying to lose or gain weight though, so it’s just other way of checking in on my general health and fitness. I take measurements and go by how my clothes fit me mostly.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    The number on one particular day is of no importance to me, as long as the overall trend is doing what I want for weight loss or maintenance (whatever I am aiming for at the time) then I am happy. For the first year of my weight loss, it was more important, now I prefer to focus on fitness goals.
  • cryonic_273
    cryonic_273 Posts: 81 Member
    I weight every day first thing in the morning. Individual days dont bother me but the trends are what i watch.
  • dunkind45
    dunkind45 Posts: 110 Member
    Pretty important and I am bracing for the day I see the number below 200. I haven't been under 200 since the middle of high school and I am looking forward to getting back to the old numbers.
  • Lois_1989
    Lois_1989 Posts: 6,410 Member
    It's important at the moment. With 70lbs+ to lose, I'm no where near maintenance so the way clothes fit is far far from my concern. Going down a dress size is a good feeling, but scale measurements are the only way to see if I'm going in the right direction on a weekly basis.
  • tammie614
    tammie614 Posts: 48 Member
    sadly, it's important to me too. i weight myself every morning (due to a habit a friend of mine used to do when she was doing the Dr. Ian Fat Smash Diet...argh). i weight in after i wake up and use the restroom, naked of course LOL. it's important however i know it doesn't tell the whole story and i need to break away from it. while the scale shows a "number" it doesn't reflect how lean i am getting or the size of the clothes i wear *shurg* . the number is important as my goal weight is , sadly, a number. i'm excited to see how my body comp is at that weight though.

    33 more lbs. to go! *fist pump*
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  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Slightly important. I weigh once a week and record my weight. I don't really get upset about the scale.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    For medical reasons I care a lot. I have 2 medical issues that cause me to be very prone to dehydration so it helps to see when I am losing too much fluid
  • slademeister182
    slademeister182 Posts: 10 Member
    I've an idea of what my best weight will be....but because i'm doing weight training and stuff like that I know that the fat im burning is turning lean - so the effect on the numbers is probably a lot less than I would like. However the NSVs are what keeps the world turning....the clothes fitting better, the comments from friends and colleagues, how easier it is to stride up the stairs instead of taking the lift!

    Its a fine balance! The scales do loom over me though.... and as for BMI!!
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I've been thinking about this since I saw this thread yesterday. The logical brain wants to say oh, not important, it's all about how I feel and my clothes fit, but that's how I'd like to feel and maybe a healthy way to be. But it matters to me a lot. It's a clear and defined measure of my efforts and a factor I can look to to anchor everything else.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited May 2018
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    I've been thinking about this since I saw this thread yesterday. The logical brain wants to say oh, not important, it's all about how I feel and my clothes fit, but that's how I'd like to feel and maybe a healthy way to be. But it matters to me a lot. It's a clear and defined measure of my efforts and a factor I can look to to anchor everything else.

    This is exactly how I feel. I do best with quantifiable measures. How I look in my clothes and how I feel can't be quantified. Measurements don't feel significant to me because they don't represent a clear calorie/loss pattern, I mean I could be losing fat from some obscure spot on my body that I don't measure. My weight trend is the most important and quantifiable thing I see in my own progress. Everything else is a tag-along.
  • donnajeanjones
    donnajeanjones Posts: 9 Member
    I guess it means a whole lot to me. I weigh everyday but only log once a week. I did a biggest loser contest at work and they weigh you with all your clothes on, so I was always 2 pounds heavier when I got to work, so now I log what I weigh after I have fully dressed. So far I am going in the right direction but I have 30 pounds I want to lose and it seems to be taking forever..
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Not very important. I maintain right around 180 which is about 6 Lbs overweight per BMI...but I'm between 12-15% BF at that weight, so whatever.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,070 Member
    The number itself (as in "how far from goal am I, OMG!") doesn't really mean a whole lot.

    That being said, I still weigh daily, and record daily to keep myself honest about my trend. Just because I binged, I'm not allowed to "skip" entering my weight that day as the binges affect the trend now as much as they will later. Sometimes I have to force myself to enter those days because I know it's just a random day, but for me, I think it's important to keep myself honest by entering ALL my days.

    Ultimately I'm far more concerned with how I look in the mirror, how I feel, and how my clothes fit...but those numbers help me stay honest about "am I headed in the right direction or not."
  • Fitnessmom82
    Fitnessmom82 Posts: 376 Member
    lorib642 wrote: »
    I ignored the scale while my weight crept up. I weigh now to make sure I am going in the right direction

    I think that is super important. I gained a lot of weight in a 4 year period. I never weighed myself unless it was at the doctors. Then I would tell myself I was bloated, it's wrong, it's only a few pounds ect... Now weigh daily. I figure if I see myself gaining I can get a handle on it right away!
  • ManBehindTheMask
    ManBehindTheMask Posts: 615 Member
    Don’t care what the number is, only care that it’s moving in the right direction dependant on my goals
  • 1houndgal
    1houndgal Posts: 558 Member
    Smallville127 wrote: »
    I weigh in EVERY DAY without fail maybe about 3xs I am not disheartened too much when I see slight fluctuations...but as long as it isn't first thing in morning oh lawd. So to me it is of utmost importance.

    Various numbers have importance to me. The weight number, the amount of time doing excercise, the calorie intake numbers in my diary for the foods I eat, etc. My personal health and fitness program is a many pronged approach.
  • loe_loe23
    loe_loe23 Posts: 74 Member
    sarahbums wrote: »
    I care more about it than I'd like to admit. The logical part of me knows damn well that fluctuations are normal and I shouldn't let them bother me. But then the stupid emotional part of me takes over and I can't help but freak out and get caught up in the numbers. If the number goes up, it ends up kinda ruining my mood for the day. Which is just stupid.

    This is how I feel. And I'm also supppper dead set on reaching a certain number as well. And if I don't see that number approaching soon I feel super upset.
  • BeccaLoves2lift
    BeccaLoves2lift Posts: 375 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Its not that important to me to see it every day, I just want to record it so my weight trending app can show me what my trend is over time.

    I am going to weigh a lot more after I start eating and drinking for the day so I am not interested in seeing that.

    Exactly this
  • Ajson88
    Ajson88 Posts: 4 Member
    I try and not obsess over the number. I weigh myself every morning but I really only pay attention to Wednesdays and Sundays. As long as those days are within reason I know I'm on track. I have come to learn when I will have more water weight and when I will be at my lowest. When those numbers are off. I begin to obsess over the scale or I get a defeated feeling if I can not get the numbers back on track. As some of you have mention. Our bodies have a trend and I have learned mine. I pay attention to my numbers but feeling good in my clothing and skin is Amazing :smiley::blush:
  • LiminalAscendance
    LiminalAscendance Posts: 489 Member
    I typically weigh myself twice a week (at the gym, early morning, before commencing my workout).

    I don't obsess over the actual number, but I do use it as an indicator to decide when to start bulking/cutting (since determining my bf % isn't a convenient matter).

    Of course, if I don't feel that I visually correspond to what the scale reads, I would overrule the verdict, but it's worked well so far.
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
    too important

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