Scale Phobia

olympos92

The scales has been always a source of emotional distress and trauma for me.

I really have this anxiety that when I step on the scale I'm not gonna lose enough weight or something. And it's so silly because I know I'm doing all I can to lose weight and I know there will be only good results on the scale but I can't stop it. I fear I'm gonna be dissappointed with the results. I think sometimes I don't believe in myself enough.

It's so silly sometimes I don't let my toes to touch on the scale fully so maybe I will be more happy with the results. Like it doesn't make any sense, I know but I can't help it.

Does anyone feels like this or felt like this before? Please tell me I'm not alone lol.

Diatonic12

No, I sure don't and let me tell you why. We need to face reality every single day or none of this will stick. Face it. Man or woman UP. Get on that scale each and every day. Lean in and look at your reality or all of this can fade away right before your very eyes. Being afraid to face our daily reality is what brings most of us here in the first place.

Do it. Don't overthink it. Get on the scale and throw your hands in the air. Be a champion and rise to your daily reality. You're in this thing to win this thing. Now, do it.

AndreaTamira

Not to the extent you are describing, sorry. I do get a bit anxious just before stepping on the scale, but in the end I'd prefer to know my weight.

Thing is, tough, everybody has "silly" fears. Dont beat yourself up over your scale phobia. - It seems like you are weighing yourself anyway and that is great

Do you have any idea why this is stressing you that much?

elisa123gal

I understand. There are times when I weigh myself..and long stretches when I do not. When I weigh as I lose.. I can easily get discouraged and let it mess with my head. I wish I was like my hubby who weighs himself daily and even in the middle of the night. He loves to see the fluctuations and he wants to "face the music."

Since I'm a big chicken; What I do is try on tight clothes; I have the shorts that used to fit easily when I was my smallest right before the pandemic. I try those on every day. At first I couldn't get them buttoned or zipped. Now I can...but still couldn't wear them out. So.. I know I'm doing great.

Where the scale is invaluable is when you get to your goal. Pounds can creep on as you still fit into your clothes..and before you know it.. you have 10 to 20 to lose.

So maybe you could measure your progress through tight clothing...and weigh when you reach goal.

goal06082021

Do you actually need to know how much you weigh? Is it a number you, specifically, need to be aware of at all times?

If stepping on the scale makes you feel bad, then don't do it. Shame is not a motivator, it's a saboteur. It's totally valid to find other ways to track your progress besides the number on the scale. How do your clothes fit? How do you feel day-to-day? If you're exercising, is it getting easier to (e.g.) walk up the stairs, take out the trash, put away groceries?

Plenty of people - like Diatonic and elisa's husband - love the scale, and that's also valid. But it's not the be-all, end-all.

corinasue1143

Not at all. I weigh first thing in the morning, while I’m really still asleep. Enter it in my weight averaging app (I use weightgrapher) and couldn’t tell you an hour later what the number was. Once a month or so, when I am wide awake, check weightgrapher to see where I am.
But used to— that was a different story! I feel your pain!

olympos92

Diatonic12 wrote: »

No, I sure don't and let me tell you why. We need to face reality every single day or none of this will stick. Face it. Man or woman UP. Get on that scale each and every day. Lean in and look at your reality or all of this can fade away right before your very eyes. Being afraid to face our daily reality is what brings most of us here in the first place.

Do it. Don't overthink it. Get on the scale and throw your hands in the air. Be a champion and rise to your daily reality. You're in this thing to win this thing. Now, do it.

Yeah I really understand what you are saying, and I hopefully will be in that mindset in the near future. Thank you for saying what is needed to be said. I appreciate your reply, it made me look at this with another clear point of view.

AndreaTamira wrote: »

Not to the extent you are describing, sorry. I do get a bit anxious just before stepping on the scale, but in the end I'd prefer to know my weight.

Thing is, tough, everybody has "silly" fears. Dont beat yourself up over your scale phobia. - It seems like you are weighing yourself anyway and that is great

Do you have any idea why this is stressing you that much?

I think the reason is I have higher expectations and want more fast results so in the end when I'm on the scale if I didn't lose 'enough' kg I'll be more dissappointed. Like I'm racing an imaginary race about losing weight. When I write like this it sounds funny to feel like that, but this is something I have to overcome with time I guess.

elisa123gal wrote: »

I understand. There are times when I weigh myself..and long stretches when I do not. When I weigh as I lose.. I can easily get discouraged and let it mess with my head. I wish I was like my hubby who weighs himself daily and even in the middle of the night. He loves to see the fluctuations and he wants to "face the music."

Since I'm a big chicken; What I do is try on tight clothes; I have the shorts that used to fit easily when I was my smallest right before the pandemic. I try those on every day. At first I couldn't get them buttoned or zipped. Now I can...but still couldn't wear them out. So.. I know I'm doing great.

Where the scale is invaluable is when you get to your goal. Pounds can creep on as you still fit into your clothes..and before you know it.. you have 10 to 20 to lose.

So maybe you could measure your progress through tight clothing...and weigh when you reach goal.

Thank you! Really.. I thought I was over exaggerating a bit. I feel exactly like you said, I can easily get discouraged too!
That's a great advice by the way. Yeah, trying clothes and feeling them more comfier or losing a size or two helps a lot. Sometimes scales doesn't tell the truth always.

goal06082021 wrote: »

Do you actually need to know how much you weigh? Is it a number you, specifically, need to be aware of at all times?

If stepping on the scale makes you feel bad, then don't do it. Shame is not a motivator, it's a saboteur. It's totally valid to find other ways to track your progress besides the number on the scale. How do your clothes fit? How do you feel day-to-day? If you're exercising, is it getting easier to (e.g.) walk up the stairs, take out the trash, put away groceries?

Plenty of people - like Diatonic and elisa's husband - love the scale, and that's also valid. But it's not the be-all, end-all.

I really liked Shame is not a motivator, it's a saboteur. How true is that! Thank you so much for your reply, it's helping a lot.

corinasue1143 wrote: »

Not at all. I weigh first thing in the morning, while I’m really still asleep. Enter it in my weight averaging app (I use weightgrapher) and couldn’t tell you an hour later what the number was. Once a month or so, when I am wide awake, check weightgrapher to see where I am.
But used to— that was a different story! I feel your pain!

Yeah, my weigh in times are always in the morning before I eat, that really helps. Thank you so much for your reply and understanding! I appreciate it.

Snugbug6

How do you feel about tape measures?
Your waist size us a huge indicator of health and health risks. Or you can take a swimsuit pic once a month?

I put on anything up to 7 pounds in period bloating every month, which disappears a week later. If I was fixated on the number, I'd be a nervous wreck! But the number is just a number. It's a tool, and nothing more. The goal isn't to maintain a number, it's to maintain my health.

olympos92

Snugbug6 wrote: »

How do you feel about tape measures?
Your waist size us a huge indicator of health and health risks. Or you can take a swimsuit pic once a month?

I put on anything up to 7 pounds in period bloating every month, which disappears a week later. If I was fixated on the number, I'd be a nervous wreck! But the number is just a number. It's a tool, and nothing more. The goal isn't to maintain a number, it's to maintain my health.

Oh, I didn’t even think about keeping measurements for progress. Yes, that’s definitely something I can do from time to time to feel more confident with my progress rather than stressing about numbers on the scale, because I know my body changes more then what scale shows.

I knoow I’m same about that too. Period bloating is a b****. 😅

Thank you so much for the reply, appreciate it.

brianpperkins131

Single data points don't matter .. not a weight, not a waist/hip/thigh measurement. Trendlines matter. Where things go over a week, month, longer is where the focus needs to be no matter how jagged that line is at the daily level.

olympos92

brianpperkins131 wrote: »

Single data points don't matter .. not a weight, not a waist/hip/thigh measurement. Trendlines matter. Where things go over a week, month, longer is where the focus needs to be no matter how jagged that line is at the daily level.

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to accomplish this time. I'm trying to prepare mentally myself for this to be more consistent with my weight loss journey. Thank you for your reply, means a lot!


And thank you so much for every person here that took their times and responded me. I learned something new from all of you and you all made me look at this subject from different perspectives. Appreciate it!

DezYaoified

olympos92 wrote: »

The scales has been always a source of emotional distress and trauma for me.

I really have this anxiety that when I step on the scale I'm not gonna lose enough weight or something. And it's so silly because I know I'm doing all I can to lose weight and I know there will be only good results on the scale but I can't stop it. I fear I'm gonna be dissappointed with the results. I think sometimes I don't believe in myself enough.

It's so silly sometimes I don't let my toes to touch on the scale fully so maybe I will be more happy with the results. Like it doesn't make any sense, I know but I can't help it.

Does anyone feels like this or felt like this before? Please tell me I'm not alone lol.

I was feeling really down about the scale and skipping weigh in because I didn’t want to be disappointed. As if not seeing the number on the scale made it not exist. Not healthy at all. I would recommend a weekly pic in the same outfit, maybe even monthly.

The scale does not always show the best progress.