does anyone NOT weigh themselves at all

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  • farmerpam1
    farmerpam1 Posts: 402 Member
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    I only weigh myself about once a month. I go by how loose my clothes are getting.
  • ljmorgi
    ljmorgi Posts: 264 Member
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    I weigh myself almost every day due to unrelated health issues, so I see every stupid little fluctuation of my weight. :( However, I made a spreadsheet that has a trendline so I can see the overall downward trend and not just the day-to-day ups and downs.
  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
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    I have a problem with bingeing...and I think he thinks my scale obsession contributes to it. but honestly, the anxiety of not knowing my weight adds to my bingeing.
  • essjay76
    essjay76 Posts: 465 Member
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    I don't own a scale. Never have. Never will. BUT I do weigh myself at a public scale every so often (maybe once or twice every few months) because it is important to know. I seriously have always been the type that goes by how my clothes feel and how I look in the mirror. It's worked for me and I'm pretty damn happy with myself. The numbers I'm most concerned with have to do with how my body performs (if my times are getting faster, lifting heavier, whatever the goal).

    I never understood people weighing everyday, several times a day, knowing that weight could fluctuate tremendously. It's not the end-all be-all and it shouldn't rule your thinking of yourself. It drives me CRAZY when I hear people freaking out about "gaining 4 pounds overnight, according to the scale"! The scale makes people think irrationally!

    I think your hubby is doing you a big favor. :-)
  • Kevvboy
    Kevvboy Posts: 81 Member
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    I think people with eating disorders may find they do better weighing only occasionally. I weigh about once every two months at my doctor's office. This helps me get a sense of confirmation that what I am doing is working but allows me to be free of the influence of a number that fluctuates too much on a daily scale to be helpful to losing and maintaining weight.
  • Decsaw
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    This is a particularly important topic for me as it is the basis of my PhD thesis as well as my current research. I never weigh myself, I encourage all those around me to not weigh themselves. Weight is a terrible indication of anything at an individual level. it does not tell you how healthy you are, it doesn't even tell you how well you are doing in your "diet or exercise program". Saying "oh I lost 5 lbs since I last weighed myself" provides no good evidence of anything. Weight is a useless number. period.

    I understand that some people are motivated by seeing the downward progression of the scale and that is great, if it is going to motivate you to keep up your healthy lifestyle, I am happy for you, but what about when it doesn't, What happens when you run for miles and work out in the gym and you eat as healthy as you can happily eat, and god forbid the weight stays the same? or goes up, Are you a failure? absolutely not, are you doing something wrong? maybe not, Are you less healthy? Nope. But when people give a dame about a silly meaningless number like weight, when they don't see the downward progression they feel like they failed and that sucks, a lot of people give up when faced with such failure that is going to happen.

    I wish everyone would realize that your scale is lying to you, he is an evil *kitten* spouting misinformation, I would focus more on the things that matter, track how you feel when your being healthy (and not so healthy), track how well you are sleeping, set goals around being active and healthy eating, get motivated by personal accomplishments in these areas and forget about weight, if you can.

    So whether somebody should weigh themselves or not is the basis of your Ph.D thesis? Seriously?

    BMI and Obesity are the basis of my research,
  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
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    I weigh myself almost every day due to unrelated health issues, so I see every stupid little fluctuation of my weight. :( However, I made a spreadsheet that has a trendline so I can see the overall downward trend and not just the day-to-day ups and downs.

    yes...this is my point to some degree. if you see the number everyday--you can become desensitized to it. you realize it will fluctuate. If I weigh only once a month (for example)...I may be in for a real shocker.
  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
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    I think people with eating disorders may find they do better weighing only occasionally. I weigh about once every two months at my doctor's office. This helps me get a sense of confirmation that what I am doing is working but allows me to be free of the influence of a number that fluctuates too much on a daily scale to be helpful to losing and maintaining weight.

    Even though I don't believe that an adult should have her scale hidden without her asking it to be...I am just going to accept it. Maybe it will help me stop obsessing. Right now I feel very anxious about not knowing the number, but I hope in time that anxiety lessens. Thank you for all that have replied.
  • caracrawford1
    caracrawford1 Posts: 657 Member
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    I personally don't think it's his place to decide for you whether you can/should weigh yourself. It's ok to voice his opinion but he isn't your boss, that's just ridiculous. At any rate if you are ok with him treating you like a child my suggestion would be to see if you can make an agreement that he will get your scale out of it's hiding place once a week or at least once a month so you know where you are at in your efforts. If he won't do that I guess you can always go with a scale at a truck stop or a friend's house but he really doesn't have the right to say no. Best of luck to you.

    I'm just taking a shot in the dark but I don't think you are married.
    Marriage isn't about control or one adult taking charge of another. I'm not married , but in a respectful LTr. The minute he starts feeling as though he can control what I do is the day he can go elsewhere, although he is free to voice his concerns and opinions for me to consider.
  • KimEllis41
    KimEllis41 Posts: 5 Member
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    I try to go by how my clothes fit, I get obsessed with the scale and if it doesn't move when I think it should I become very discouraged. Or I try to only weigh myself on a weekly basis.
    I think what makes you feel better is the best solution for this!
  • scrittrice
    scrittrice Posts: 345 Member
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    I don't own a scale. I weigh myself at the gym, but I prefer to work out outdoors, so in the summer I can go a month or more without weighing myself, and I always eat breakfast before I go to the gym, so it's not super-accurate anyway. I usually have a pretty good idea of how I'm doing. It's not a completely useless number--it's helpful to know whether you're at a generally healthy weight for your height--but I think if the number you see on the scale makes or breaks your day, you should probably stop weighing for a while.
  • iheartinsanity
    iheartinsanity Posts: 205 Member
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    I weigh once every month. Honestly though? I was 138 in 2011. 159 now. 21lbs. difference. I fit a smaller size, and actually rock a two piece bikini back then it looked good in clothes, bad w/o. I feel more confident now, and to me...it's not worth having it around. Forget about the scale.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    The doctor's office will probably allow you to pop by once every week or two to use the scale. My grocery store has a scale.

    But the scale has no effect on the weight lost. I lost forty pounds before I bought one, you can feel it and you know when the clothes get loose and then are too big and must be replaced.

    Unless you have an eating disorder and he's doing it for your own good, he is probably just sick of hearing about you dropping .2 pounds or going up two pounds or whatever. If you stop talking about the diet to your husband, he will probably be less sick of it and you might get your scale back. :)
  • sensitivefool
    sensitivefool Posts: 343 Member
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    Ignore the people negatively commenting on your relationship with your husband. Everyone has their issues. You're lucky he should be so concerned. If you want your scale, have your scale. If you can live without it, maybe you'll see his point. If an argument ensues, just remind him that you are a grown woman, you see his point and will work on it, but it's important to you to see the number. Then just move on. :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I use the scale as a tool for trend analysis. It's just a tool...there's nothing to obsess about IMO and I've really never understood the scale obsession...I've never understood why people jump on the scale multiple times per day...or they eat a meal and then jump on and get all stupefied that they gained weight...of course you did...you just ate something...that something has mass, and thus has weight...what the frack did you expect to happen?

    I'm also aware of and pretty comfortable with natural weight fluctuations...so, I guess there's that too. I don't get all excited because I lost 0.3 Lbs or whatever overnight and I don't get bent out of shape when I'm 1.3 Lbs up from the previous day...I understand those things, so they don't bother me.

    Again, just a tool...valuable in performing trend analysis...worthless for being exact in any way...oh, and BTW...nobody has a "true" weight...that one always gives me a chuckle...nobody weighs exactly XXX Lbs all of the time.
  • corgarian
    corgarian Posts: 366 Member
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    I havent weighed myself in almost 2 months (scale broke and too lazy/broke to get a new one). I took measurements the other night and lost between .3-1.0" in all places.
    I think the scale is the devil in all honesty.
  • GretaGirl8
    GretaGirl8 Posts: 274 Member
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    My scale will probably stay gone for awhile. When I weighed daily I had been maintaining a low bmi (about 16.5). In the last couple of months I have put on weight for reasons not clear to me (meaning my routine/intake didn't appear to change). But everyone says I need to gain. So, I guess I was getting on the scale more and more fretting about the number increasing. I even went to the doctor to have my thyroid and blood levels checked to see if that was the cause of my weight gain. I even had an ultrasound to see if I had poly-cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) because I heard that could cause weight gain. All tests came back clear. It is maddening because I can't seem to control it. I believe my husband was trying to save me from the madness. But I will still probably continue to search for it--old habits die hard.
  • Milverton99
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    I weigh myself twice a day - morning and evening at pretty much the same time and with the same clothes on. I know this could seem excessive, but I think that part of the reason I gained so much weight was that I never, ever weighed myself. I get terrible stomach ache with any waistband that is even just snug fitting and clothes with elasticated waistbands don't really give any indication of weight loss. I've had 2 week stretches of no weight loss, but to be honest, I've got so much more to lose that it just makes me redouble my efforts.

    Your husband's trying to be helpful - that's nice - but if it helps you stay on track by weighing yourself it's better you do it.
  • Rowan813
    Rowan813 Posts: 170 Member
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    I just put my own scale away . I paln to bring it out once every month or two. It is too easy to get caught up in the number even when everything else is going well. I plan to follow my eating plan and see how my clothes fit.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
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    i get weighed only at the doctor's office. Otherwise, I go by how my clothes fit.