Throwing away my scales for a better life

MrsRachaelFisk1

Good morning, community friends!

Today I decided to hibernate my scales for a while.

I have a training plan, I've learned everything there is to learn about my body and how I can keep it healthy... Now I need to focus on my brain.

I am tired of waking up and wandering over to the bathroom scales and wincing at an apparent gain, only to go to my PT and get my measurements that say that my body has stayed the same or even lost some fat!

If I saw a high number, I couldn't look at myself as anything other than that number.

Now it's time to look at myself as the strong, healthy person I have become physically and mentally.

It's going to be tough... but I am ready!

dsboohead

Great awakening! There are so many people who focus their entire well being on a number, graphs and trends according to their "number" !
Good for you for working it another more sane way which benefits you!!!

IHaveMyActTogether

Also, congrats! I've gone down sizes being at the same weight. Since being on this website, I started caring again about my weight. After two weeks of frustration, I also decided it would be a few months before I weigh myself again.

mom23mangos

Good for you! I only weigh myself every 3-6 months and then only on a day when I wake up and I look great...no water retention or anything. Then I know if the number is high it's OK, because I look fine.

CatherineLaurel

I am strength training and consistently avg 1200 daily so I have decided not to buy a scale for my new home. I feel my body changing I don’t need to get obsessed and frustrated with the scale again. I’m going to weigh myself in December. Gives me something to work toward. Around that time, I should be at my goal weight but even if the scale doesn’t say what I want, I’ll have had 4 months I sculpting muscle either way!

Mom2ATM

I too have packed my scale and tape measure away for a while! I tend to give up when I don't see a lost or see a gain. Haven't touched either in a week so far. Keep with it, I know it'll pay off to stick with this app!

gafia14

I found weighing myself more once a month became counterproductive. I was still connecting food to feelings so If I’d lost I’d celebrate with extra treats, if I’d not lost I’d cheer myself up with extra treats. 😁

mhlew

To each their own but I weigh myself everyday and I log what time I weigh myself. If I see a gain I make notes in my note pad of why I gained (ie- had beers last night) it helps me understand weight fluctuations and weight loss patterns. It has been a great tool for me.

elisa123gal

It is tricky.. because I can gain a lot of weight and still fit into my clothes. I'd rather know if I'm going up over 5 pounds. However.. I go for periods of time without weighing. I don't agree with the obsession of counting calories and weighing and graphing your life. Food is just an aspect of life. .there is so much more.

MrsRachaelFisk1

CatherineLaurel wrote: »

I am strength training and consistently avg 1200 daily so I have decided not to buy a scale for my new home. I feel my body changing I don’t need to get obsessed and frustrated with the scale again. I’m going to weigh myself in December. Gives me something to work toward. Around that time, I should be at my goal weight but even if the scale doesn’t say what I want, I’ll have had 4 months I sculpting muscle either way!

I love this! But you're gonna need more than 1200 calories a day for strength training... otherwise your body will go into starvation. You wont sculpt muscle unless you feed it!

xxx

MrsRachaelFisk1

gafia14 wrote: »

I found weighing myself more once a month became counterproductive. I was still connecting food to feelings so If I’d lost I’d celebrate with extra treats, if I’d not lost I’d cheer myself up with extra treats. 😁

This happened to me all the time! Although sometimes loss meant treats, and gain also meant treats! Haha!

MrsRachaelFisk1

mhlew wrote: »

To each their own but I weigh myself everyday and I log what time I weigh myself. If I see a gain I make notes in my note pad of why I gained (ie- had beers last night) it helps me understand weight fluctuations and weight loss patterns. It has been a great tool for me.

As much as I think everyone has a right to their own way of working, I started this thread specifically to try and get away from behaviour like that. I consider that to be almost obsessive, and personally I would recommend trying to break away from those habits.

rainbow198

Good for you! At one point when I was losing weight I started lifting heavier weights. I lost 2 dress sizes but only about 4 pounds on the scale. Very frustrating, but I could see good things were happening.

It was then I decided to shift my focus to losing fat/inches and improving my fitness and it worked very well for me.

I'm maintaining now, but I step on the scale once in a while to make sure that I'm still in my maintenance range.

Good luck!

amusedmonkey

MrsRachaelFisk1 wrote: »

mhlew wrote: »

To each their own but I weigh myself everyday and I log what time I weigh myself. If I see a gain I make notes in my note pad of why I gained (ie- had beers last night) it helps me understand weight fluctuations and weight loss patterns. It has been a great tool for me.

As much as I think everyone has a right to their own way of working, I started this thread specifically to try and get away from behaviour like that. I consider that to be almost obsessive, and personally I would recommend trying to break away from those habits.

Another daily weigher here. I don't think it's obsessive. It's only obsessive (in the bad sense of the word) if it affects you negatively, which looks like it does for you. You're doing the right thing deciding to get away from that. For me, the number on the scale is not a source of judgement and misery, it's a source of curiosity and involvement. When I start the day with the scale I'm priming myself for a day of being mindful with weight-related behaviours. If the scale reads high, it's an interesting data point for my log. It's all about the mentality and less about the act of weighing itself.

xxzenabxx

One day I hope to reach that stage I weigh around 69kg so I know I still have another 11-12 kg left. My period fluctuations get in the way as well. Maybe I should ditch the scale and use it once a month?

mmnv79

I weigh myself every Monday, using an ordinary electronic scale. But then I go every three months to a non profit organisation where I not only get weight in one of those electronic scales that tells you the percentage of fat, muscle, etc. but measures as well. I know Fitibt and other brands sell those, but I would rather not have one at home, I would rather go there every three months, have a chat with a doctor about my progress and give a donation for the great work they do. That works for me, but each to their own.

deannalfisher

MrsRachaelFisk1 wrote: »

CatherineLaurel wrote: »

I am strength training and consistently avg 1200 daily so I have decided not to buy a scale for my new home. I feel my body changing I don’t need to get obsessed and frustrated with the scale again. I’m going to weigh myself in December. Gives me something to work toward. Around that time, I should be at my goal weight but even if the scale doesn’t say what I want, I’ll have had 4 months I sculpting muscle either way!

I love this! But you're gonna need more than 1200 calories a day for strength training... otherwise your body will go into starvation. You wont sculpt muscle unless you feed it!

xxx

there is no such thing as starvation mode...but you won't build muscle in a deficit

Rocknut53

@MrsRachealFisk1 appears to have left the room???

sytchequeen

nice.

when my old digital scales died I replaced with a set of analogue scales because a) no batteries and b) I am not interested in obsessing over fractions. A rough ball park figure will work for me.

dsboohead

Rocknut53 wrote: »

@MrsRachealFisk1 appears to have left the room???

Either that or she drug out her scale and went into a dark solitude

WilmaValley

Great perspectives on both sides!

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cowleyl

I needed to wean myself from the scales because it was doing my head in. I wasn't very successful, so I did a deal with my feeble brain. I now weigh myself and record the weight on 13th of every month. However, I have sneak peeks occasionally through the month because I'm weak. I do not record these and am just seeking confirmation that I'm on track. By doing it this way, I find there's not as much of an effect on my self-esteem.

c_ward1983

A scale is a good learning tool. Just like calorie counting. It's not the be all and end all, but if you have no idea what foods are empty calories or what causes you to bloat and retain water giving you immediate weight gains, you can't make informed decisions. Once you have a handle on eating healthy and keeping a healthy lifestyle there is no need to touch the scale more than once every couple of weeks.

mhlew

MrsRachaelFisk1 wrote: »

mhlew wrote: »

To each their own but I weigh myself everyday and I log what time I weigh myself. If I see a gain I make notes in my note pad of why I gained (ie- had beers last night) it helps me understand weight fluctuations and weight loss patterns. It has been a great tool for me.

As much as I think everyone has a right to their own way of working, I started this thread specifically to try and get away from behaviour like that. I consider that to be almost obsessive, and personally I would recommend trying to break away from those habits.

You can call it obsessive- I call it passion. I’m passionately obsessed with getting my health in check. Again yo each there own but this helps me tremendously and eliminates any discouragement which has set me back in the past

mhlew

mph323

mhlew wrote: »

OMG, did you tear a page out of one of my old diet tracking notebooks? This is almost exactly what mine looked like, except I had one more column with a running total!

And you have more legible handwriting.

SummerSkier

Good luck OP!!! I have found out the hard way over my years that my jeans AND my riding pants will give me a sort of 20 pound grace period before I end up looking for larger clothes. I like using the scale because it gives me an idea before I get to that point if I am gaining or losing. Would much rather get back on the bus for 5 pounds than 20. I understand completely the mind games it plays with us and our moods but it is a tool just like any other.

maureenkhilde

I also weigh myself every morning. Not being obsessive but to make sure I am staying on track, am I making good food choices. Did something I had in last few days cause an up or down. Like last week when I doubled my amount of daily exercise. Now when I see my dietician every two weeks that is my official so called weigh ins for the month. But I know exactly what is going on all of the time. I record mine on excel spreadsheet these days.