Scale vs. Mirror

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TX_Aggie_Dad
TX_Aggie_Dad Posts: 173
in Health and Weight Loss
I've always been more concerned with the way I look in the mirror as opposed to a number on a scale. I explained this to my wife and a few other women at our gym the other day and they all explained that for most women, the number on the scale does have meaning. I was trying to make a point about taking measurements and focusing on positive movement in other "numbers" like dress size, hip measurements, etc. So I posed this question to them and I pose it to you:

Ladies, if you could have one of the following results, which would you choose and why?
1. The scale says that you weigh 120 lbs but you are a size 16.
2. The scale says that you weigh 150 lbs but you are a size 10.
3. The scale says that you weight 300 lbs but you are a size 4.

Replies

  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
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    You're right, there are lots of measurements other than weight that are important. But the number on the scale is important to me because that is what determines my BMI and that is the actual weight my furniture/car/floors must bear. BMI may be a garbage number, but it's what my insurance company uses to determine what my premiums will be. It's also one gauge of how my doctor determines whether or not I am "healthy." And my mattress and furniture doesn't take as much wear and tear, and my car gets better gas mileage if I weigh less. So the number on the scale is important. But so is size & fitness because that's what people see. Neither really supersedes the other to me.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    1 - The scale is dumb, dumber than a box of rocks. I'm 201lbs now and size 16 jeans are too big for me. So in this case I'd probably throw the thing out the window. The only way I can think of this happening (for me) is to be almost all fat and no muscle.

    2 - Not a bad weight, I've been a size 9 before and was probably 20lbs lighter. So in this scenario, it would probably for me at least mean a lower BF% then before (I'm 5'4" btw)

    3 - Hard to say...I mean it would really depend on what the weight was made of..If it was mostly muscle, I think that would be too low of a BF% for me...

    Overall I'll take muscle over fat any day. :drinker:
  • yummy_mummy85
    yummy_mummy85 Posts: 8
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    I try to go by what the mirror tells me and how my clothes fit but I take inches over lbs as sometimes people are built differently
  • TX_Aggie_Dad
    TX_Aggie_Dad Posts: 173
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    But the number on the scale is important to me because that is what determines my BMI and that is the actual weight my furniture/car/floors must bear. BMI may be a garbage number, but it's what my insurance company uses to determine what my premiums will be. It's also one gauge of how my doctor determines whether or not I am "healthy." And my mattress and furniture doesn't take as much wear and tear, and my car gets better gas mileage if I weigh less.

    Thanks. This response made me laugh out loud. I never really thought about the furniture/cars/floor/mattress wear and tear before. Hard to argue with that one!

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