How does the # on the scale relate to your emotional state?

2»

Replies

  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Surprisingly, this time around the scale is inspiring me. It keeps me on track to weigh every morning, and reminds me of why I am doing what I'm doing. I don't freak out about staying the same weight (because at least I'm not gaining) and I don't freak out about 1.5 lb extra -- because now I know when I've eaten a lot of sodium and it's water weight.

    And now that I know just how much you have to eat to gain a pound, I don't panic about small, temporary water weight gains (I was at first).

    Usually, the scale puts me in a GOOD mood. Because regardless of how far I have to go, that number showing up shows my progress, strength, and is better than I was a month ago.

    This is kind of how I feel, too! Great post!!
  • wesleycneill
    wesleycneill Posts: 64 Member
    Don't look at the scale. Look in the mirror.

    Do you see results? Good. Who cares about the numbers. They will drag you down.

    Weight fluctuates day to day. If you want it, if you work for it, you will achieve it. Numbers are instant gratification, and instant gratification is why most people are fat. Live with out it. Make the choice to be healthy, and change will come.
  • tracieangeletti
    tracieangeletti Posts: 432 Member
    I used to let it crush me. What I have learned is that for the most part it really isn't a good indicator of your progress. The scale can fluctuate for me up to five lbs one day to the next. I still step on it but only use it as a very loose guide as to my progress. The weight loss has really slowed down on the scale, but my body size has changed immensely. I weigh about the same as I did last year at this time but I'm so much leaner and tighter now than I was then. I have been lifting heavy and working hard. If I used the scale as the only indicator of my progress I'd be suicidal by now.
  • vikdexkaykai
    vikdexkaykai Posts: 92 Member
    I too have been struggling with the numbers game... GGGRRR!!! So I decided to take the focus off the number and start trusting/working the process. I have placed a vow to myself not to weigh in for a month and continue working my program. I am going to place more value on how I feel and look vs a number. I think this is a healthy way to break that cycle. Best of luck, hope this helps!

    I like this! I'll join you in this thinking!
  • vikdexkaykai
    vikdexkaykai Posts: 92 Member
    Don't look at the scale. Look in the mirror.

    Do you see results? Good. Who cares about the numbers. They will drag you down.

    Weight fluctuates day to day. If you want it, if you work for it, you will achieve it. Numbers are instant gratification, and instant gratification is why most people are fat. Live with out it. Make the choice to be healthy, and change will come.

    Thank you!
    Very well said!
    I think I will take your advice!
    Much apprciated! :flowerforyou:
  • roughneckswife
    roughneckswife Posts: 341 Member
    I weigh every day ( I know I shoudn't..sue me) It totally messes with me! If it's a good number I'm in a great mood, if it's bad I'm pissy all day!
  • 970Mikaela1
    970Mikaela1 Posts: 2,013 Member
    I haven't weighed myself in months. I go by how my clothes are fitting. When they don't fit like i remember i go back to a calorie deficit till they fit right. I was obsessed with the scale.
  • Kittyvicious1
    Kittyvicious1 Posts: 190 Member
    My scale does not move! It makes me feel crappy. I am losing inches not pounds which is suppose to be good. I jyst wish I could see the scale move. Im a size 12 from a 16 but weigh 185. My goal weight is 135 and been at it going on 4 mths starting at 198. I hate the scale!
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    No. The scale has no power over me. Never has and never will.
  • guessrs
    guessrs Posts: 358 Member
    Yes. The scale number means a lot to me right now. For that reason I only weigh myself once a month, when I'm pretty sure I lost weight. What I enjoy doing much more is measuring my waist, I do that any morning, it always makes me smile going from 40 s to 26 or so. The scale is too emotional for me and determines how I proceed next, it also totally affects my mood. The measuring tape is always fun.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Doesn't affect my emotions at all. It's just one of the numbers that help me track my progress to getting healthier. My strength and endurance are improving greatly. No matter what the scale says, my goals revolve around getting stronger and faster. Walking one more mile than the day before, doing one more push up, etc, these are the things that make me feel absolutely amazing and a number on the scale isn't going to take away from that feeling.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    I know the scale isn't a good measure of my weight or appearance, and I try to be upbeat when I get a bad reading, but yeah it totally effects my emotions.
    The trick is to just keep pushing through when you're feeling crappy about it. Not always easy to do, I know.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    I feel the very same way - I weigh in the morning as part of my morning routine (I know I shouldn't do it daily, but I need to make sure I'm not doing something to put me in the wrong direction). If that number increases more than it should, I am pissed. I get over it eventually, try to go to the gym and crush it, but that little number weighs (ha, pun) on me more than it should. Don't know how to fix it.

    I do MUCH better since I started weighing weekly. Your weight can fluctuate daily by several pounds. Seeing you've gone up 2 pounds overnight due to water retention is much more soul crushing than seeing the scale move slowly or not at all, weekly.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    When I don't see the scale move, it makes me more determined than ever to work myself harder! And if I can feel that my muscles are stronger, I know that I am still doing something, even if the scale hasn't moved :)

    But sometimes working yourself too hard can also make the weight loss stall. It's a catch 22, and you have to figure out a fragile balance. lol
  • alisonlynn1976
    alisonlynn1976 Posts: 929 Member
    I feel excited when it goes down, but it doesn't affect me much when it stays the same or goes up a little.
  • RosyBest
    RosyBest Posts: 303 Member
    I haven't lost weight in 2 weeks but I have lost a lot of inches. So when the scale lets me down....measurements pick me back up.
  • dazzer1975
    dazzer1975 Posts: 104 Member
    it bothers me in the sense that I want to shift a lot of weight, but a weekly weigh in isn't the whole story.

    My focus is on getting fit and healthy, so ultimately, if I have eaten clean and exercised then I don't really care what the scale says, as that number isn't primarily what I am chasing.
  • valentine4
    valentine4 Posts: 233 Member
    Hi all,

    I read recently that looking at our bank statement at any one particular time during the week does not give us an accurate description of our finances similarly looking at our weight once a week does not let us see clearly how we are doing.
    With that in mind I am going to track here ( I am back after a long absence) keep working out and weigh in once a week.
    I grew up with a mum who always weighed herself myself and my 3 sisters are always at it for that reason I have never had weighing scales in my house. I don't want my 4 kids growing up seeing mum continiously weigh herself, so I am going to weigh in at the gym at the same time each month.
    regards,
    Valentine4
  • sharonfoustmills
    sharonfoustmills Posts: 519 Member
    I do have emotional reactions to the scale and also to food. I have learned to control them though by using cognitive therapy methods (the book The Beck Diet Solution teaches these skills).

    As far as your sister, you've been doing this long enough to know she did not really lose that amount of weight doing NOTHING. She had to at the very least lessen her caloric intake. Be realistic in your view of her and cut yourself a break because every body is different and not two bodies function the same way.

    You have to get that emotional response that leads to eating under control- I really suggest the book because it will help you. If you follow the steps in the book, you will not fail.

    I weighed myself this morning and saw a 1.5 pound increase...... told myself it's just hormones and water and let it go. I know after I finish up my cycle about the end of next week it will look better- in the meanwhile, I'm getting off the internet and hitting the gym.
  • drefaw
    drefaw Posts: 739
    Not at all really ....
  • teeduran
    teeduran Posts: 54 Member
    You have a really good husband. the scale shouldn't matter as much as inches and how our clothes feel.
  • jessicawrites
    jessicawrites Posts: 235 Member
    The number used to matter a lot more emotionally. It still does to an extent, but I've realized that while I of course have influence over it over the long term, I don't have much control over day-to-day fluctuation. The more I work out, the more I am discovering that my outlook these days is based more on whether I've exercised than what the scale happens to say, so I am working toward a more dedicated fitness routine.
  • willdob3
    willdob3 Posts: 640 Member
    The number on the scale does not have anything to do with my emotional state. I do not believe in scale/weight goals. After all, the scale only gives total weight at a given moment. It has very little, if anything, to do with my appearance or my fitness.
  • ldy_lamia
    ldy_lamia Posts: 3
    I'm a scale junkie. I weight myself every morning before I get dressed to go to the gym. I weight myself at the gym before I start working out, then I shower and weight myself in my work clothes. I get home from work around 5:30 and weight myself again. Then I wait until it is time for bed undress and weight in again. It is truly my addiction like nothing else has ever been. When it doesn't move fast enough, I want to cry and drive down to Sheetz to get a soft pretzel to console my broken heart. Logically to lose 14lbs in 35 days is good, I know that but to know I still have 150lbs to lose rips at my emotions. It is frustrating when you know how hard you work and do not feel like the scale is telling you what you want to see. When I do not see the scale move how I want it to I get depressed and discouraged. Sometimes it makes me want to fight harder sometimes it makes me think why do I even bother. So for me the scale is definitely tied to my emotions. I think if I can learn to not depend on it I will have an easier path in my weight loss.

Categories