Anxiety about the scale

Fit4Re

My post for today

So I got on the scale and it's a pound lighter and I don't trust it. I don't trust getting my hopes up high nor do I want to experience this excitement because I am afraid of the let down. I am afraid that the scale will move up and all this hardwork would have been for nothing. All the excitement and atta girls would have been for nothing. This weight loss journey is sooo mental. I'm trusting the process and keeping my faith. This is so hard! 😕

Lietchi

A weight trending app can be a good tool, to see your average weight trend alongside the daily fluctuations. For example: Happyscale or Libra.

I have to admit that I've never been anxious about the scale: it feels like a science experiment to me, seeing the impact of high sodium meals, exercise, etc. Although I obviously still enjoy seeing a new low
It helps to trust the process. I was unsure in the beginning, but once I saw my weight trend go down, I knew that if I followed my plan, any uptick would be temporary.

LisaGetsMoving

I had to make a pact with myself about the scale, and it was that the number on it would not decide my self worth, or how (great or terrible) my day would be, nor would I let it derail any progress I was having in other areas. I took measurements of my neck, waist and thigh too, so I had some other ways to tell if I was shrinking slowly. Because if you're doing it right, it's a very slow process, and there will be slight upticks on the scale occasionally. But mostly it will be very small losses, that slowly over time add up. Trust the process: that is the mantra I repeat when it seems like it isn't happening.

You are afraid it's not really happening, or that you didn't work for it, or that success is a mirage that can't be trusted. Yes, it's a mental journey, and you'll need to look yourself in the eye and know that you deserve it. Know that you are capable. Know that it's real. Until that time, continue to log all the foods and exercises, and look at that number on the scale as just a data point. It has no meaning except what you give it. You, however, have meaning whether you step on the scale or not.

quiksylver296

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations

rosebarnalice

it is absolutely a mental journey!

I try to maintain the discipline of weighing every day, but only logging my weight once a week (Wednesdays--which, for some reason, seem to always be my lightest days.)

My thought process of weighing every day but only recording once a week is that weighing every day helps me KNOW my body-- after disassociating from it for so long-- and understanding and appreciating that daily ups and downs of 2 and 3 pounds are completely NORMAL for my body.

But some days, I just can't face the number. If I'm having a particularly stressful week, even though I know intellectually that a 2-3 lb swing from day to day is "normal" for me, some days, I know being two lbs up will feel disappointing and put me in a bad mood the whole day. So I just don't do it.

But if I go more than a week without weighing, that's a red flag for me-- a red flag about not wanting to be honest with myself :-)

goal06082021

If you stay honest with yourself, log your food accurately, and stay under-budget, you will burn fat. It is physically impossible for your body to do otherwise. If it needs more energy to keep you alive than you provide to it with food, it will have to dip into its emergency stockpile.

If the scale creeps up a pound after a week of honest logging, unless you honestly ate an extra 3,500 calories on top of what you needed for the week, it's water. The body can't create fat out of nothing, but it is made of 60% water. A pint of water--just one little pint! That's a standard mason jar!--a pint of water weighs one pound. If you went for a long walk yesterday, or tried out a new exercise regimen, or even just ate a little more salt than usual, your body might hold on to that little pint of water to repair your muscles or maintain equilibrium. Then once your muscles are repaired and you're properly hydrated again, you'll pee it out and be a pound lighter, as if by magic. Bodies are dumb and weird.

Trust the process. As long as you eat fewer calories than your body needs to keep you going, you literally can't not lose weight. I, too, have been in "cautiously optimistic/waiting for the other shoe to drop" mode for much of my journey this go-round (back on the wagon since 11/13/2020) - to the point where I made my husband test the batteries in both of the scales we have, because I was sure something was wrong with them. But no, I really am losing. I took measurements over the weekend and I've lost about an inch all around in the past 10 weeks - not dramatic, not life-changing, nobody can see it, but the tape measure is objective reality.

88olds

Yes, trust the process. The scale is just a feedback machine. It provides data.

But this- it takes a fairly long time frame to get reliable data from it. Try to think in terms of weeks and months. A friend says- we eventually get the weigh in we deserve. But not necessarily when we expect it.

And this- don’t lose sight of what the data is about. The data provides feedback about your process. If you don’t like the feedback, adjust your plan. In fact the need for adjustments never ends. Even at goal weight. Just how it is.

ninerbuff

The scale is a tool and DOESN'T define your overall progress. There are many times that clients of mine look better, their clothes are much looser and they get complimented but the scale doesn't move much.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10196160/scale-stress-syndrome/p1

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition