I am divorcing my scale!

It's official! I am getting divorced again but this time from the bathroom scale!

It really is not a healthy relationship for me. The more I try to spend time with it, the more unhappy I become. So we have broken up.

I have come to the realization that the number on the scale does not show me what my successes truly are. Here is what I think my successes really are:

-I am tracking my food and making good, consistent choices. I am well aware that when I have something non-healthy that it was a CHOICE that I made.
-I am losing inches....almost 10" so far!
-I am active and trying new things! I joined a runing group....ME!......running! In fact, I did my first 5K yesterday and am signed up for 2 more.
-My children told me "You look good, Mom"....and I believed them.
- I am happier than I have been in a long time and I know that makes me a more pleasant person to be around.

So, Mr. Scale.....I say goodbye. Maybe one day our paths will cross again, but for now, I think it is best we break up.

Replies

  • snowfox1
    snowfox1 Posts: 128 Member
    i too am thinking of divorcing my scale, no movement on it for weeks (it actually said i have gained a little) but i dont feel like i have, hmmm. im eating right and exercising so am now going to try and only weigh once a week at the most!
  • RepsnSets
    RepsnSets Posts: 805 Member
    It's doing my head in and I only weigh myself once every two weeks. Although Im losing in inches what the scales says makes me feel like a lard *kitten*. Mentally its a struggle.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    I divorced mine years ago. I could be having a perfectly good day and then I weigh myself and it shows some random unprovoked 5 lb gain. My mood immediately plummets. All these questions flying around in my head - did I work out enough, was it those 2 cookies I ate last night, is it hormones, is my scale broke?!??!?!? blahhhhhh no way. I weigh myself and take my measurements approximately every couple of months now. I go by how I look in the mirror and how my clothes feel. Pants are tight - I need to lose weight. Pants are lose - hey I lost weight. No need to torture myself with a specific number in my head that may or may not even be a good fit for my body!
  • laney4818
    laney4818 Posts: 73 Member
    You go girl!! I'm with you! I've been eating under my TDEE, exercising, etc. and that darn scales says that I gained 2 pounds this last week. My clothes are definitely looser and I'm wearing things that I haven't in months. Stupid scale...!
  • snowfox1
    snowfox1 Posts: 128 Member
    You go girl!! I'm with you! I've been eating under my TDEE, exercising, etc. and that darn scales says that I gained 2 pounds this last week. My clothes are definitely looser and I'm wearing things that I haven't in months. Stupid scale...!

    same here! good to know im not the only one. i say we have a burning of the scales haha
  • My scales decided to announce that I'd put on 15lbs in a week. They're seriously messed up.
  • kenazfehu
    kenazfehu Posts: 1,188 Member
    I totally agree. I did really well with my life-style change for 4-5 weeks, then I decided to step on the scales only to discover that I had added 2 pounds. My efforts have been derailed ever since. I feel so discouraged!
  • I hear you... boy do I hear you. But let me be your cautionary tale. I divorced mine a year and a half ago after a faithful and successful 4 years. We started to have daily struggles. I wanted the numbers to go down, Mr. Scale insisted they go up. It was a roller coaster.. up/down... up/down. I had had it. I was working out, aerobics, strength training, races, 5 kms, 10 kms... even a couple of half marathons. What did he expect???

    Well, almost 2 years later, we are back together again. Believe me, it's a lot better to see the weekly (or daily) fluctuations, they keep you focused. As long as I know it's up or down a couple of pounds, it's all good. If it's up too many days in a row... it's time to refocus, regroup, do something different to bring it back down. So, maybe I wasn't losing weight. I was down to my last 10 lbs and it was hard going.... but I was maintaining a 60 lb loss. Today, 25 lbs heavier, Mr. Scale and I are back together. I'm not so needy. We give each other more space and independence. But I know when I'm being too lax or when I'm slacking off. I need that kind of support. The number on the scale doesn't define my healthy lifestyle, it just tracks one aspect of it.

    All the more power to you if you don't need it! Good luck!
  • jerman01
    jerman01 Posts: 34 Member
    I like having the scale. I have had to buy all new clothes. I have lost 60 lbs as of today. The scale keeps me focused on my goal. Without a goal, I would get discouraged.

    Don't let the ups and downs get you. You won't lose everyday. If your MFP is set to one pound a week, that is only .2 a day. You won't see weight loss everyday, but it is like the stock market. You have to look at the goal at the end and not the daily weight.

    I like my scale. Just remember that if you don't go down it isn't the end. I have gone a week without seeing a difference on the scale. But days later I dropped 2 lbs.

    Over time I have averaged 2.4 lbs.
  • Obsessively checking daily is not needed, but a weekly check would be a good thing imo

    Monitoring your body fat % would be ideal
  • Sharon_73
    Sharon_73 Posts: 189 Member
    I love all the comments! Perhaps in a months time we can go into marriage counselling but for now, I don't need him. I am very committed to my healthy lifestyle- eating well, exercising regularly.....but I have spent too much of my life focused on what the scale says and not what I am actually doing to my body.

    For me (and we are all different) I am more focused on creating a healthy lifestly that I can maintain for the rest of my life than to get to a particular number on a scale. I think by having a good balalnce of proper exercise and nutrition I am doing more for my health than by watching my scale all the time. Now don't get me wrong...of course I want to lose some more weight but I like the comment that Shange_Gully made to monitor body fat%
  • awilmeri
    awilmeri Posts: 218 Member
    I weigh every week but I'm considering every per week because I agree. Weight is important but it's not the end all be all.
  • It's doing my head in and I only weigh myself once every two weeks. Although Im losing in inches what the scales says makes me feel like a lard *kitten*. Mentally its a struggle.

    Yes! Every two weeks can scare you even more because if the number is higher than the last time you weighed you start thinking oh no have I been creeping up this entire time?
    BUT without weighing myself I feel like I'm in the dark about things. Its weird huh - my weight basically can determine my mood for the day. A previous poster said her mood plummets if the scale goes up and I TOTALLY can relate to that!
  • RepsnSets
    RepsnSets Posts: 805 Member
    Yep, Im going to work on measurements and see what happens there. Trial and error! :)