Scale-Less Dieting

aziapatrick
aziapatrick Posts: 33 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Has anyone tried this? I did the diet thing last year and last around 40 lbs, but I was OBSESSED with the scale. I wanted to know how much I weighed daily (my ocd issues). I ended up getting frustrated because I hit a plateau and also because my husband wasn't on board and ended up gaining all the weight back plus some. Now I've been going at it again for about a month (with the hubby and extended family on board too!!!) and haven't really been as concerned with the scales. People look at me strange when they ask how much I've lost and I just shrug my shoulders. I can't really tell I've lost weight other than my endurance is better. When I first started exercising I could only go about 7 minutes on the bike before I was dead...now I can do 30 minutes. I've also started doing squats (hoping to do around 100 per day over the course of a day). I'm just curious if others have tried this. Currently I weigh around 330 (I think, lol).

Replies

  • scraver2003
    scraver2003 Posts: 526 Member
    I was giving my scale the eye this morning... but I did not weigh. I will weigh myself later. Right now, I am focusing on my calories - most importantly tracking every day. EVERY DAY. I usually start on a Monday, track through Friday and then quit on the weekend. Start again on Monday, rinse, repeat. And that got me no where. So my BIGGEST focus right now is tracking every day, even if I eat 4000 calories... I will track it. I have tracked for 7 (almost 8!) consecutive days!! I have NEVER made it a full week. I feel SO good about myself. And this morning, I thought - how will I feel if I step on that scale the the number is STILL the exact same... or worse! More! It would discourage me and I am just not allowing that number to have that kind of a hold on me any more.

    Things I am using to track my progress other than the number on the scale:

    - I will be tracking my calories (how many days in a row can I go for?)
    - How do my clothes fit? Are they getting looser? Tighter?
    - How is my exercise progressing? Do I feel good after exercising? Can I do a pull up? Can I do a push up?
    - My 5k times - can I run a 5k faster than the last time I ran one?
    - Am I limiting alcohol? :blushing:

    For now - those are my measurements. D@mn the scale. I am doing this to feel good, to be healthy, to improve my fitness.
  • TKhamvongsa
    TKhamvongsa Posts: 287
    Do not trust the scale. Measure yourself as oppose to weighing. If you must weigh yourself, take muscle mass into consideration and do it either weekly or bi-weekly.

    As long as you feel good about yourself and your clothes are starting to fit better/looser than that should be all that matters.
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
    You know what a scale tells you? It tells you what your relationship is with gravity. It would give you an entirely different number on a different planet. A scale tells you more about the Earth than it does about your health.

    Measure your progress through taking measurements, pictures, the way clothes fit, and further, measure your progress by how easy/difficult it is to climb a flight of stairs, measure your progress in how far you can run or walk, measure your progress by the number of vegetables you ate. Like you said, you can bike longer and do more squats than you used to (add some weight to those btw - better to do heavier than more if possible!) These are the things that are real, tangible accomplishments.

    And when people ask you how much weight you've lost - just respond with total confidence in what you've done. "I'm not sure, but I look great, don't I?"
  • Laughter_Girl
    Laughter_Girl Posts: 2,226 Member
    I have not tried this, but I don't see anything strange about it. There are plenty of ways to track your progress; pics, measurements, how you're clothes fit, endurance, etc. I generally weigh myself every few weeks. I actually enjoy the NSVs more than the scale results, but I like to know if I'm still on track with the weight loss.
  • ragan4bama
    ragan4bama Posts: 58 Member
    Love this !! awesome advice:)
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
    Me.

    For the first time in my life I got uber obsessed with weighing myself last summer. It was out of control. Previously I'd lost tons of weight without actually ever getting on a scale.

    I had my wife hide the scale last August. I haven't weighed since (though the scale is back in the open). I have been going by the mirror and clothes from my slimmest days. I estimate that I've lost between 50-60 lbs since then.

    I plan to weigh again when my smallest size jeans from way back in the day are falling off of me. That's soon because they fit now.
  • aziapatrick
    aziapatrick Posts: 33 Member
    Love this !! awesome advice:)

    I know right?? I'm feeling confident after reading this!
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    If it works for you, keep it up. I think that your husband being on board will do more for you than cutting out the scale. I weight myself every morning and do not let the number that I see affect me. It's just data. I also measure once a month to see other progress. I think that the scale can be a good tool for determining patterns (like how, every weekend for 5 weekends, I gained 2-4 lbs. time to change my weekend habits!).
  • starznholes
    starznholes Posts: 170 Member
    I've recently been thinking about going "scale-less" because I am obsessed with the scale. However, I think it would be good to maybe weigh once a month, just to make sure things are going the way I want them to.
  • ravenmiss
    ravenmiss Posts: 384 Member
    You know what a scale tells you? It tells you what your relationship is with gravity. It would give you an entirely different number on a different planet. A scale tells you more about the Earth than it does about your health.

    Measure your progress through taking measurements, pictures, the way clothes fit, and further, measure your progress by how easy/difficult it is to climb a flight of stairs, measure your progress in how far you can run or walk, measure your progress by the number of vegetables you ate. Like you said, you can bike longer and do more squats than you used to (add some weight to those btw - better to do heavier than more if possible!) These are the things that are real, tangible accomplishments.

    And when people ask you how much weight you've lost - just respond with total confidence in what you've done. "I'm not sure, but I look great, don't I?"

    This is brilliant, thank you. :)

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