the truth about NSV(No Scale Victory)

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registers
registers Posts: 782 Member
in Motivation and Support
I keep on seeing people upset because their weight isn't going down, or it's possibly going up. All this focus on pounds. It's just messes with your mind. Let me ask you this... lets say you set a goal weight to lose 30lbs... Takes you a few months but you finally achieved it. You look in the mirror and it looks like you lost nothing... HOw would you feel? What if on the other hand, The scale says you only lost 15lbs but you look fantastic... The mirror/pictures are what tell real results, don't focus too much on the scale. Weight fluctuates daily, As much as 5lbs a day.

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  • susancelli928
    susancelli928 Posts: 190
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    I have tried to stop on the scale.. One day I am up and the next day I am down... Its nerve wracking.
  • christina_michelle
    christina_michelle Posts: 225
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    I keep on seeing people upset because their weight isn't going down, or it's possibly going up. All this focus on pounds. It's just messes with your mind. Let me ask you this... lets say you set a goal weight to lose 30lbs... Takes you a few months but you finally achieved it. You look in the mirror and it looks like you lost nothing... HOw would you feel? What if on the other hand, The scale says you only lost 15lbs but you look fantastic... The mirror/pictures are what tell real results, don't focus too much on the scale. Weight fluctuates daily, As much as 5lbs a day.

    thats why measurements are most important and pictures just to see how you look from then and now!
  • rharris86dc
    rharris86dc Posts: 635 Member
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    I agree. Feeling better about myself means so much more than seeing a smaller number on the scale.
  • MissAnjy
    MissAnjy Posts: 2,480 Member
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    I keep on seeing people upset because their weight isn't going down, or it's possibly going up. All this focus on pounds. It's just messes with your mind. Let me ask you this... lets say you set a goal weight to lose 30lbs... Takes you a few months but you finally achieved it. You look in the mirror and it looks like you lost nothing... HOw would you feel? What if on the other hand, The scale says you only lost 15lbs but you look fantastic... The mirror/pictures are what tell real results, don't focus too much on the scale. Weight fluctuates daily, As much as 5lbs a day.

    We all (or most) put so much emphasis on the scale and the number on it. It's a hard habit to break, but you're absolutely right. It's better to go by how you feel and how you look.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    I keep on seeing people upset because their weight isn't going down, or it's possibly going up. All this focus on pounds. It's just messes with your mind. Let me ask you this... lets say you set a goal weight to lose 30lbs... Takes you a few months but you finally achieved it. You look in the mirror and it looks like you lost nothing... HOw would you feel? What if on the other hand, The scale says you only lost 15lbs but you look fantastic... The mirror/pictures are what tell real results, don't focus too much on the scale. Weight fluctuates daily, As much as 5lbs a day.

    I honestly think some people would rather look fat and have the scale tell them a good number than look lean and have the scale tell them a number that they think is high. It's mind-boggling.
  • Charice
    Charice Posts: 188 Member
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    Thanks for the reminder!! You are so right about the way you look and feel is what really matters. In addition, I think obsessing over the scale sets you up for a big problem later. Once you have reached your "goal weight" are you going to suddenly stop because you "made it"? This i not a journey where the end is what counts, it is a journey toward a better life where there is no final destination, it's the journey that counts!! I needed to remember that today. Enjoy the journey!
  • monoxidechick
    monoxidechick Posts: 339
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    I think that it is also a great tool to help me stay motivated and on moving forward. It is an easy way to see and prove that success is really happening. I step on it a few times during the week and have my one true weigh in day. I dont ever get upset or disappointed in the scale, it usually reflects what I already know. I know that fitting into clothes that didnt fit before is my main motivator and success story. I am not so concerned about the size so much, but knowing that I couldnt fit into something a month or two ago, and now I need a belt, that is true success for looking and feeling better.
    I know that I should be measuring more and keeping track of that, but it hasnt been happening. My clothes, pics, how I feel are my true measures of success, but the scale does play a part in keeping me motivated and seeing the end result. Thanks for posting this topic though.
  • pinklion721
    pinklion721 Posts: 226 Member
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    I used to only go by the scale until april 1 when I took my first set of measurements. By april 30 I had only lost a few lbs but 20 inches were gone! I went three weeks without the scale moving. Today I tried on my pre-baby clothes and they are loose but im still 5 lbs away from my prepregnant weight. I have learned through. MFP. that losing inches and toning is more rewarding then watching the numbers on the scale!!
  • lloydmel
    lloydmel Posts: 259 Member
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    Wish Doctors thought the same... If I don't lose a certain amount of weight, I'm still considered overweight .... it kind of stinks too because I do feel much better about myself than what the scale says... I have more muscle than many people with my stature, it just stinks...
  • callipygianchronicle
    callipygianchronicle Posts: 811 Member
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    Anyone who needs more visual proof of this, needs to view this woman's story:

    http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3926473&SPShared=TRUE

    Along with her most recent follow up:

    http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4205099

    The scale gives information, but it is FAR from the best way to measure your progress. A great body composition, not a lighter weight, is more valuable to me. It's why my final goal is a clothing size, not a weight.
  • amelia_atlantic
    amelia_atlantic Posts: 926 Member
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    What I love about active/healthy lifestyle the most is that it's ALWAYS a challenge. From running faster to lifting more to fitting into a smaller size jean to trying a new sport. If you focus just on the number on a scale, you may eventually lose the drive.

    "Being fit" is so much different from "being skinny".
  • Cccaroline
    Cccaroline Posts: 196 Member
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    .
  • Cccaroline
    Cccaroline Posts: 196 Member
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    Thanks for the reminder!! You are so right about the way you look and feel is what really matters. In addition, I think obsessing over the scale sets you up for a big problem later. Once you have reached your "goal weight" are you going to suddenly stop because you "made it"? This i not a journey where the end is what counts, it is a journey toward a better life where there is no final destination, it's the journey that counts!! I needed to remember that today. Enjoy the journey!

    Quite right Charice. I do weigh myself regularly, but only take any notice of my weekly weight, but that's only because I'm too impatient to see the weight loss in the mirror!
    Having lost a stone now, I can see the weight loss in the mirror, and that is so much better than the scales.....
  • tashjs21
    tashjs21 Posts: 4,584 Member
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    Anyone who needs more visual proof of this, needs to view this woman's story:

    http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3926473&SPShared=TRUE

    Along with her most recent follow up:

    http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4205099

    The scale gives information, but it is FAR from the best way to measure your progress. A great body composition, not a lighter weight, is more valuable to me. It's why my final goal is a clothing size, not a weight.


    :noway: How can you argue with that visual proof!

    I wish I would have realized this before. I was between 142-147 when I got pregnant (it fluctuated from day to day but stayed pretty consistant in those numbers) Anyhow, I thought I was still "fat" at that time because I hadn't reached some # on the scale that I thought was skinny. I look back at pictures of that time and WISH I was that size now. I was going trough some old clothes and even though they were Mediums or Larges (depending on the brand) They were so small! How could I have thought that I was fat?? And to top it off...I was in better shape than most of the 'skinny' people I knew.


    I agree, take pictures, take measurements, go by how you feel...FORGET that scale! :drinker:
  • FrostyFour
    FrostyFour Posts: 262
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    You know, last week I gained 6 pounds... but my hips suddenly slimmed down and my hanging gut pulled up so it's not hanging anymore.

    So.

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