Do You Follow The Scales? Or Go By Inches Or Your Clothes?

jaxg1234
jaxg1234 Posts: 27
in Health and Weight Loss
Should you really go by the scales?

Is it better to go by inches because the scales could go up due to muscle gain & water weight?

Replies

  • alienrite
    alienrite Posts: 314 Member
    The scale bounces like an evil tease. Inches are more positive. That being said, it's the scale that I check every day
  • jaxg1234
    jaxg1234 Posts: 27
    Same, it just annoys me! Because your body can flactuate so much!
  • Healthydiner65
    Healthydiner65 Posts: 1,448 Member
    Both! The scale warns me if I start gaining so I can adjust my menu and workout. Inches because if I don't lose weight and I lose inches it means my workouts are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
  • jaxg1234
    jaxg1234 Posts: 27
    That's true! I do that as well, I might start measuring myself.
  • sarahg148
    sarahg148 Posts: 701 Member
    I do both. But considering how I canNOT get into any of my zip up pants...I'm going by inches at the moment. I think my over indulging over the last month or two has really caught up with me...no longer "bloat" but bonafide pounds that came back. So at the moment, I'm sticking to my calories for the day/week/month and not eating back exercise calories. I'm feeling a little less "bloated" already...but will get on the scale once or twice/wk now...on Mondays and Thursdays. I hope to lose 1 lb/wk and get back to 169 by my birthday on Oct 31st. Then I have a feeling I'll be able to wear ALL of my freaking pants again!!! :\
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    I only go by body composition, girth measurements and progress photos. Scale weight is recorded but merely to track fluctuations.
  • jaxg1234
    jaxg1234 Posts: 27
    Hmmmm I'll just do measurements :) and scales as well :)
  • junipearl
    junipearl Posts: 326 Member
    yah I care way more about my physical appearance than the number on a scale.
    muscle tone can make you look a hundred times better, even when you haven't technically lost any lbs.
  • miss_ally08
    miss_ally08 Posts: 167 Member
    I go by both but I'm one of those people that weigh myself everyday but only record a weight like once-a week if that makes sense.
  • yo_andi
    yo_andi Posts: 2,178 Member
    I go by my clothes, my energy levels, my mile time and the amount of weight I add on my lifts every two weeks :laugh:
  • _stephanie0
    _stephanie0 Posts: 708 Member
    i weigh 15lbs heavier than 1.5 years ago and i fit the same clothes. i go by clothes and bodyfat %
  • Hezzietiger1
    Hezzietiger1 Posts: 1,256 Member
    All of the above. It totally depends on what you are doing, what your goals are and where you are weight wise. If you have a lot of weight to lose and you are following plan, the scale should be dropping. You are not "gaining" muscle if you are eating at a deficit. Watching your clothes sizes drop is a fabulous reward to all your hard work!! I wish I had measured my body in the beginning. I did about halfway through though and that's been awesome to watch as well. I'd say also pay attention to body fat percentage.

    I dropped 60 lbs and went from size 22-16. Then over the course of the last 9 lbs I've gone from size 16 to 12. So like I said inches and clothes matter.. but before I had a significant amount of weight to lose... now its all basically in my stomach. My pants sizes better be dropping rapidly. LOL

    Hezz
  • amruden
    amruden Posts: 228 Member
    At 1st I only went by the scale... and learned real quick she is a B!tch.
    I have lost the same 5lbs over and over.
    Started having an Affair with my Tape Measure...lost inches. So I'm getn smaller.
    But still visit that *kitten* the scale every once and awhile.
  • Spartan_Maker
    Spartan_Maker Posts: 683 Member
    Of those two options, measurements are far more important because they tell a person a lot about his or her changing body composition. The scale tells a person far less about body composition.
  • apachetear1710
    apachetear1710 Posts: 13
    I go by the scales - have thought about going by the tape measure too!!

    Can someone tell me, why MFP, ask for a neck measurement?
  • amruden
    amruden Posts: 228 Member
    You change that to what ever you want to measure.

    I have one labeled "fat roll". :-)
  • bufger
    bufger Posts: 763 Member
    I dont see how people can weigh themselves every day, i couldnt do that. I like the build up to the weigh in day but ultimately as long as i know i've put the work in i dont mind if my body fluctuates all that much.

    I like to go on inches, When clothes look better on you thats a bigger boost than a number for me :)
  • Ewaldt
    Ewaldt Posts: 106 Member
    I would do both! Because both will fluctuate based on whether you are losing fat, or gaining muscle, and I want to get as much reassurance as I can!!! So my hope is always that if one gets worse, the other will hopefully be a little bit better. Mostly, when I hit my goal, I want to be able to see exactly how far I have come to get there! Inches and pounds!
  • jaxg1234
    jaxg1234 Posts: 27
    Yeah I really should start measuring.

    I hate the scales sometimes it's so depressing....

    Even though you just want the number to change haha. :)
  • Gwen_B
    Gwen_B Posts: 1,018 Member
    Clothes!!! I have dropped 2 sizes, which is more important to me than how much I weight.
  • OwenEvan
    OwenEvan Posts: 34 Member
    You can purchase cheap calipers on Amazon to measure body fat, this % has brought a little peace to my mind over all the scale watching.
  • I_love_frogs
    I_love_frogs Posts: 340 Member
    I go by all.

    Scale cos I am anal that way...I NEED to know the number but I can deal with what it says. The number is good for me to see...it is more of a guideline to see if there is a general trend...I know it fluctuates and is drastically different at times because of food and water intake during the day, so I am good at not letting it get to me.I find that it is really interesting to see the trending changes that occur with me for instance when it is near my TOM, or two days after a splurge on a piece or two of pizza or seafood like clams/shrimp/oysters etc on a Friday (even if in my calories for the day) will show me a gain on Sunday..

    Clothes cos that is the easiest way for me to tell if I am losing inches cos I can't measure myself right.

    The calipers are great but I only do them when my trainer measures me cos again, I can't get them situated in the right spots.
  • pattyg1821
    pattyg1821 Posts: 81
    I posted this on several threads that were related this same topic. I measure inches every few weeks but pounds daily.


    Ok I started taking measurements on 8/14/2012 through 9/20/2012 for 5 weeks.

    here are my stats:
    height :5'2 (62 inches tall)
    age: 35

    I used this site http://www.linear-software.com/online.html scrolled all the way to the bottom of page for female and used tape measure method.

    Ok on 8/14/2012
    weight@233.6
    body fat @50.63
    lbs/kgs of body fat @118.27
    lean body weight 115.33

    Ok today 9/20/2012
    weight@224
    body fat @47.65
    lbs/kgs of body fat @106.75
    lean body weight 117.25

    this tape method measured height ,neck,waist and hips plus age and weight.

    i inputed the info asked for each of the days and thats what i showed me.

    lost 9.6 lbs in 5 weeks plus lost 2.98% body fat in 5 weeks :-)
  • pattyg1821
    pattyg1821 Posts: 81
    so to answer this question ? I go by all.
  • SpiritRockBernie
    SpiritRockBernie Posts: 135
    a scale since i don't own a tape measure! Maybe I should purchase one.
  • cheekylemur
    cheekylemur Posts: 16
    I'm heavy enough that I should lose weight, no matter how much I would work out, so I do use the scale.

    I weigh daily, but I log that outside MFP on a Hacker's Diet app that gives me a calculated weight so I don't have to worry about normal day-to-day variations and can see whether my weight is following the trend I want. A few years ago that was really successful for me until I got lazy and stopped.

    I just took baseline measurements this week to see how I like that metric, but I've never used them before.
  • MyPaperBleedsInk
    MyPaperBleedsInk Posts: 240 Member
    I check the scale like a madman..... well... madwoman....
    But now I'm thinking about keeping track of inches more often .... never considered it before.... but once you think about it, pounds just seem like a relatively meaningless number. You might drop 5 lbs and not even notice it.... lose an inch or some centimeters, and it's definitely more noticeable.

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