Slaying the Scale

eelizabeth12

Help! I'm afraid of an inanimate object with an agenda.

That is, the scale.

I hate this stupid scale. Why? Because I believe it's sole purpose is make me feel inadequate. I suppose you could trace it back to my ballet days when the company secretary measured and weighed us each new season, to that moment when I stepped on the scale and held my breath and watched her slowly edge the weight further and further along, higher and higher. It was anxiety, judgment, and disappointment all boiled down to a number. But the truth is I don't think you have to come from a ballet background to have difficulty facing that stupid scale. It is my understanding, in fact, that the majority hate the scale.

So why then is it the litmus test for gauging our level of health?

Ease? Tradition? Lack of anything better? I don't know. But I am here to admit that I have avoided the scale like the plague for probably a year now. To be honest I have some ballpark idea about my weight but concretely nada. In this past year, I've changed my diet and exercise regime, gone down a pants' size, inspected my new slimmer reflection in dressing room mirrors, and still sidestepped the scale.

Now, however, it has come to my attention that I'm acting like a complete a** clown because it's just a number right? Just like the number inside my pants or dress are just numbers. They hold only the value I place upon them. So why not step on the scale and feed my curiosity?

Because I'm afraid. Plain and simple. I'm afraid that the number will be less than what I've got floating around my head, that I'll feel a rush of adrenaline, that each day I'll dance on the scale as if it were my enemy's grave, but that then the spiral will set in where I become chained to the scale, deriving self-worth and satisfaction from its stupid face. Conversely, I'm afraid that the number will be exactly what I'm thinking or higher, and I'll be disappointed--more than I will probably even admit to myself. I'll either fall into some binge eating spree because clearly whatever I'm doing isn't helping matters (Note: I would be in a very unstable mindset to think this, obviously), or I would feel a sense of competition and go more extreme in my diet and exercise just to see the slightest flicker of movement on its stupid face.

This is how I envision life with a scale, both with Shakespearean endings.

So my question to you guys out there is how do you do it? How do you live with the scale? Maybe it's a silly question, but how do I slay my fear of the scale?

lwestmill

I understand totally. The scale is not a friend. It is an object. I gained 2 pounds today and I feel crappy. Must have been the salt in the stir-fry I made last night. I made it and put the salt in it myself and I knew I shouldn't have. But I have must say one thing about pant sizes. I wear a size 16 and I just realized that I have lost 30 pounds and still fit in a size 16. So, 30 pounds up or down and well I look better but now I realize that when someone tells me, I fit in a size ____ blank, I doesn't mean much either. Pants fit more comfortably but I attribute my gaining weight to wearing pants with the stretch in them. It allows for growth and a person not notice.

Boogage

I don't deal with the scale well. I pretend I do and try to justify what it tells me each day but often subconsciously it affects how I feel about myself each day. I liken my relationship with my scale to being in an abusive relationship actually in that it often drives my feelings of self worth and regardless of what it says I just can't seem to distance myself from it. My advice would be to keep away from the scale and not get sucked in by the occasional compliment. One day I will find the strength to take my own advice and tell it where to go!

lamps1303

Firstly - I think you need to ask yourself whether you really want to weigh yourself and know the number of lbs you are. If you want to know, then just weigh yourself - simple. If you don't want to know (scared to know) don't weigh yourself - monitor progress through alternative means - measurements (waists, hips, naval, arms, thighs, wrist, neck, etc), photo progress (front, side, back view, relaxed and flexed), what you look like in the mirror, how your clothes feel, how YOU FEEL.

People stress far too much about what the scales say, despite there being plenty of other ways to monitor progress.

Part of weight loss is being honest, both in terms of your weight and what you eat. There are always going to be times of sheer elation, where you've lost a couple of pounds or inches off your waist, as well as serious lows, where you may have gained pounds or inches; it comes with the territory...

HthrCobern

I feel like when people start a journey to lose weight they always want to see the number contentiously go down, but that just isn't true. Everyone, especially females, fluctuate and if you weigh yourself on a high day it can completely mess with your mind. I guess I deal with the scale because I give myself slack. I do get upset if I don't agree with the number, but I know that I feel healthier/stronger/energized and that if I continue doing what I'm doing it will eventually go down and I will never see that number again. Plus throughout my teens I was between 250-270, my highest being 300 when I was 21, so anything lower than 240 honestly makes me happy, even though my goal is to be around 150-165.