Can you lose weight without weighing yourself?

aksae

I think most people can notice weight loss without the use of scales but it is whatever you as an individual wants and feels is best for you and your body. I have always avoided the use of scales because often they don't tell me anything useful! Plus people may weigh a heavier amount due to muscle mass or simply because they are taller. If you want to use them, take the advice of others, perhaps only do it every month or something, when you feel you've achieved something. It sounds like you want to see your results and fast, but if you want to lose weight successfully you may have to be more patient. Good luck whatever you do.

aproc

I'm just starting on trying to lose some but I typically only weight myself once every couple of weeks. You could just measure yourself.

kenazfehu

So far so good. This time around I want to focus on the choices I make on a day-to-day basis, not on what the scales show. I was weighing about once every couple of weeks, now am trying for once per month. The scales used to completely throw me off course. If I had gained, I consoled myself with a favorite food (and way too much of it). If I had lost, I celebrated with a favorite food treat.

Now my focus is one meal at a time, one exercise session at a time. If I do well in those areas, I trust that weight loss will follow.

WendyTerry420

I focus on inches lost, not weight! I've gained like two pounds since I've started but I do look stronger so I'm slowly learning to not rely on the scale.

Same here! One of my motivators for losing weight was that I was unable to sit in a movie theater seat (the same seating that I have been sitting in since the theater opened when I was a teenager) without "spilling over" into the seats next to me. And the metal bar under the arm rest was digging into my outer thighs. So yeah, inches is WAY more important than body weight.

SunnyLuc87

Personally, I had to cut down on how often I weigh drastically because I'm one of those people who will get discouraged if the numbers go up, even when I know it's water retention. I find that when I weigh all the time I feel discouraged from strength training and building lean muscle because sometimes that makes the scale go up.

Right now I am measuring my success in how well I stay within my calorie & nutrient goals, how much I stick to my workouts, how much more energetic I feel every day, and how much improvement I see in my strength & stamina. I intend to weigh once a month, or once every two weeks at the very most.

I have done this before and it worked out pretty well.

nexangelus

p.s. Lulu...you can message me anytime, I just read your profile, weighing, the scale, the numbers, the calories...they all lead to swirling spirals...please...please step off the scale and regain your sanity...I am a recovering anorexic/bulimic...3 years clear of triggers, spirals and obsessiveness...it has been a long journey, I am 38 now and it began when I was 16...

As I said before, I only weigh in once a month...it works for me.

hughtwalker

You cannot lose weight without weighing your food but you can lose weight without weighing yourself.

Your clothes and your friends (and even ex-friends) will tell you when you have lost weight.

rml_16

I thought it was stepping on the scale that caused the fat cells to shrink.

Ejourneys

One diet I was on years ago had an excellent strategy for weighing: Weigh yourself once a day (same time of day would be ideal) and then take your weekly average. The average shows a much smoother downward trend in weight than relying on either the daily weights or weekly weights:

<img src="https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8316/8058380998_ed08a62411_z.jpg"&gt;

In case my spreadsheet image didn't insert correctly, you can find it at
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8316/8058380998_ed08a62411_z.jpg

I've been a yo-yo, so I'm working my way back down again. That brings me to another point: I am focusing on behavior that I can sustain, with respect to both what I eat and how I treat the scale. I weigh myself once a day and view the scale as a tool, nothing more. I also gauge my weight loss by how my clothes fit and how I look in the mirror.

Here's a great article showing the difference between focusing on weight and focusing on one's muscle mass:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

Angiesolomon

I also find the scales can be triggering! Its a good I to keep track of your progress though to know you're doing the right thing. Maybe weigh yourself every two weeks? Also never weigh yourself after a treat / cheat day!!!

JLD81

lol! I think a lot do

I thought it was stepping on the scale that caused the fat cells to shrink.

hughtwalker

not when those beggars see the scales coming - they breathe in an make themselves as large as possible - probably trying to scare off the scales (like "they" say you should do with mountain lions in Yosemite)

RLehotsky

There was I time in my life where I was very depressed about my weight and my doctor said to not look at the scale but to look at the way my clothes fit. Which made sense I had weighed at that time 140 and I wore a size 6 and my height is 5'4" so to be that size at that weight was unusual but I felt great and I was happy. But then life happened and it all changed and here I am trying to get there again.

JLD81

I also would like to point my own personal story out as an example. I suffered from ED's from 15 years old until my late 20s. I am now 31 years old and in the best recovery state I have ever been in. My ED's started healthy enough as wanting to lose weight and then became an addiction that took control. I restricted everything and hid them well. I got to a point where I was fairly healthy only to fall back later. I gained a lot of weight last year (40ish lbs) and went from a size 6-8 to about a size 14 in jeans. I gained as a result of constant birth control treatments and suppressing my periods and was later to be found to be b12 deficient- and not having the constant cysts they thought I had (so all that was really for nothing). It would have been easy to be angry but I didn't want to be angry. Instead I was finally diagnosed with ADHD and put on meds. My ADHD dr is aware of my ED history and threatened to take away my meds if she sees any slight indication that I am falling back into my old habits. As a result I viewed this as my opportunity to take control the healthy way.

According to the scale I have only lost about 15 lbs since I started losing. However, I have gone down to a size 10 jeans and can get into my size 8s- though not quite comfortably but very close. I could frustrated that the scale says im not losing, or look at the big picture. I was gone in training for 2 weeks without a scale and working out at a hotel. I didnt weigh those whole two weeks. When I got back I had only lost a half lb according to the scale. However, when I measured with a tape measure- I had lost an inch off my hips and an inch off my waist. Which would you rather look at? Size changes or the number on the scale. I couldnt even get the 8 jeans up my butt before i left. Now I can zip and button them. I think I made a lot more progress than the scale woulod indicate. Don't let the scale rule you

hughtwalker

You could join the "Monday Weigh-in Group" - it is below the first line on "The Community" - even I manage that!

I shall be here a while (and have no risk of becoming seriously underweight!) so you can always send me a messge if you need encouragement. I am too old for you to want on your friends' list.

Best wishes - you won't need to rely on mere luck

peanutbutterpretzels

given the amount of food I've eaten these past 3 days...i'm starting to feel like i should just give up on losing weight altogether

Thank you all for your answers to my question! It seems that it's split half and half between measuring and weighing...I think I'll give measuring/how I feel a go since weighing doesn't seem to be doing me any good

LorinaLynn

given the amount of food I've eaten these past 3 days...i'm starting to feel like i should just give up on losing weight altogether

Truthfully, as close to your goal as you are, you should.

I'm not saying give up on achieving goals, but change your focus to fitness goals instead of scale goals. Losing two pounds isn't going to make a huge difference, and the changes you want to see might even occur while gaining instead of losing.

For instance, one of my goals was to deadlift my body weight. I achieved that on Friday. Long term, I want to bench press my body weight. I'm about 75% of the way there. I want to be able to run a sub 7 minute mile. My fastest so far is 7:16. Since I stopped caring about the scale and started focusing on fitness, I did gain a little weight... and look - AND FEEL - way better for it.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/799682-lifting-gaining-weight-losing-curves-getting-bulky

Oceancold

Keep on going! I started off losing the first 5-10 pounds easily, then hit a plateau for almost three weeks. Discouraged as I was, I kept eating within my calorie limits, exercising 3x a week, holding out for the scales to tip in my favor again. It wasn't easy. This is the first time I am trying to lose weight the proper healthy way. It's so stressful haha. Sure enough, I started to lose weight again this week. But anyway, I agree that you should try to work on some fitness goals. It'll serve to help you on down the line ^^

hughtwalker

This question about is weight loss possible without weighing seems a bit like the one about trees falling - or men speaking - in the forest.

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

Of course it is. Also keep in mind that the scale only tells you the total bodyweight but it doesn't tell the whole story where the weight loss came from.

In my case, I rely more on measurements, clothes and more importantly how stronger & more energetic I feel. I would rather see the scale moving up but losing dress sizes than seeing the scale going down but inches & pudginess stays the same.