To buy a scale, or NOT to buy a scale?

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vienna_h
vienna_h Posts: 428 Member
in Motivation and Support
I've never owned a scale. I just weigh myself when I use other people's bathrooms. So anytime I go to my parent's or a friend's house, I ask to use the bathroom and secretly weigh myself on their bathroom scales.

Up until now, this worked fine. But now that I'm taking fitness more seriously, I've become obsessed with weighing myself everyday. I only have a few pounds to lose, but I've become obsessed with monitoring my progress.

Is it a good idea to have your own scale where you can measure yourself all the time, whenever you want, and keep yourself motivated, or is better to avoid developing some sort of OCD and only use scales occasionally?

Replies

  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
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    A scale is a decent tool in the right hands. It isn't something that always shows weight loss progress. Since you only have the last few pounds to lose, I'd recommend measuring yourself instead.

    Depending on how much sodium I have, my weight can jump up anywhere from .5-2lbs the next day, I handle this well because I know it's just water weight, but some people freak out and are convinced they suddenly gained fat. It's really up to you.
  • Nelson081
    Nelson081 Posts: 27 Member
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    The thing about using various scales is they could be off from one another. Better to stick with one scale whether you own it or not., use the same one.
  • musicteacher40
    musicteacher40 Posts: 91 Member
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    I have a digital scale.... HATE that thing... I can get on it and it says one thing, get off let it reset and get back on and it says something completely different... so don't get a digital...

    I have quite a bit to lose (50 #) and hate that my scale won't tell me an accurate weight... as i am like you and obsessed to know if I'm losing, so since I've got the scale I do, I am concentrating more on my measurements rather than the scale... I figure if I drop a size or two or my measurements decrease, then I'm losing weight!

    Keep in mind I am by no means an expert on weight lose as I've been on this road for almost 4 weeks!
  • dnunny70
    dnunny70 Posts: 411 Member
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    Our scale is broken. It has me weighing about 50-60 lbs. less!
    I was using the scale at the Y; for consistency, but I'm not going this summer.

    I go to my doctor's office. I don't live that close to it, so I've gone 2x this summer (I started getting serious about 30 days ago). I noticed that my Wii Fit scale is pretty close to what the scale at the doctor's office has me at.

    I called first to make sure it was ok; and they said that was fine-they would just need to record it on my chart. Once I go back to work in mid-August; I won't be able to go weigh myself as much at the doctor's office. I'll use the Wii Fit scale or buy one. I'd love to be 30-50lbs. less when I go to my appointment in December! :wink:
  • toomanydogs99
    toomanydogs99 Posts: 33 Member
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    I'm thinking of buying the Fitbit scale and body fat monitor advertised on this site as I can get obsessed about weighing myself to often. I like the fact that it links to MFP so I can glance at a graph that will let me know the trend over time. I think I'll beat myself up to much with daily variances.

    I'm not promoting the scale :) and would love to hear from anybody who has one before I drop the $129.
  • MelsAuntie
    MelsAuntie Posts: 2,833 Member
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    Buy a scale, a good one. You'll wonder how you got along without it. Same goes for a FOOD scale.
  • Mlkmaid
    Mlkmaid Posts: 356 Member
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    You only have 13 pounds to lose. You could probably get by just judging by your clothing. When you go down a size, you're there.
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
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    You'll go mad!

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