How to Make the Scale Move

jweluv
jweluv Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
As someone who is very obese I find it very difficult to gauge weight loss by anything other than the scale. I could lose 10 lbs (in fact I lost 20) and don't notice in my clothes or in any other way. This frustrates me greatly when the scale doesn't show what it should and my motivation starts to falter. I give up after showing an increase on the scale to only have a loss of the gain plus a little more by the next day. (This MAY or MAY NOT have something do with having PCOS/being insulin resistant and my carb intake.) I'm not sure how to use the scale to my advantage and not let it get me down when it's the only thing I can see a difference on. I usually only weigh myself weekly, but have found that if I gain I either give up completely and stop weighing myself altogether or start weighing myself every day until I see a number I'm ok with. For other people in a similar situation who have been successful: what worked for you and/or what should I change?

Replies

  • peachfigs
    peachfigs Posts: 831 Member
    Have you tried measuring inches?
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    It sounds like you're weighing yourself everyday. That's a sure fire way to drive yourself insane. Your weight can easily fluctuate two to three pounds a day just in water weight. I weigh myself weekly on the same day at the same time. What I have noticed is sometimes my weight will lose but no obvious signs on my body then suddenly after time there is huge body changes.

    Use the scale to measure the trend and try not to get too hung up on the numbers ( yes I know that's hard). As long as the overall trend is downward you are doing the right thing. Give it time and they'll be obvious body changes.
  • MzzFaith
    MzzFaith Posts: 337 Member
    Gone start measuring.
  • Kountygirl1
    Kountygirl1 Posts: 2
    The number on the scale use to dictate my day..... Scale up very bad day I wanted to give up I figured whats the point... really all the time and effort i was putting in was for nothing ... make a choice to put the scale away for one month.... You have to remember that almost everything affects those numbers.. How much water you dink, time of the month, ..even a BM. Plus if you building any muscle by exercise.. Well muscle ways more than fat The numbers on the scale aren't going to reflect that.... One little change One day at a time.. As long as your keeping at it taking one day at a time I think you will find that when you get it out again it will have changed. It took me four years to put on this extra weight and I'll be damned if a number is going to stop be from being healthy.. the weight loss has now become a side benefit...

    Cheers to your becoming healthy and strong
  • jweluv
    jweluv Posts: 10 Member
    I am extremely lazy and have never been able to keep up with measuring inches in the past. It seems like a hassle (which is ridiculous I know). At the moment I'm not doing any exercise, so muscle is not increasing. I will say that when I don't have some number to go by I tend to let my weight creep up and up. In the past when I didn't weigh myself I acted like I wasn't doing anything to make any changes. When I weigh myself weekly (always on weekends) the scale doesn't show changes...usually because I ate salt the day before or need to use the restroom (TMI: medication causes both days of constipation and loose stools). It always seems to coincide with my weigh in days, which is why when I weigh weekly I end up giving up because I was working on my diet so hard and still saw no results... Thanks for the advice! It's really appreciated!

Categories