Scared to step on the scale

Hi there

I think this depends on your attitude, you can either step on the scale and let it dishearten you and stunt your progress, or you can step on the scale, maybe the number wont be what you hoped for but it will make you more determined than ever to shift the weight! Trust me, once that first pound comes off and you see the result on the scales it really kick starts your motivation!

Be brave, step on the scales and make a resolve that you will reduce that number by at least one pound in the first week, from there your motivation will kick in as you are seeing a reward for your hard work :-)

Good luck! x

When I was at my highest I was very afraid to step on the scale. Actually seeing that number would send me into a binge so I know what you are talking about. I would suggest you wait for now. If you have a calorie goal that you are working with & you are weighing/measuring your food so you know that the numbers are as accurate as you can make them, I would just wait. Nothing says that you have to get on the scale. I would take some baseline measurements--waist, bust, hips, thighs, etc & go from there. Give it a couple weeks to really get established without risking disappointment.

I think it will depress me and I will go on an eating binge....

Hey, guess what? You just figured out why you binge.

Here is a difficult truth: If your immediate response to painful, discouraging, or uncomfortable realities (such as seeing your weight on a scale) is to abuse your body with food by compulsively overeating it, then I'd suggest the problem is in your mind and heart, not in the act of weighing yourself.

If I were you, I would forget about the scale for now and immediately begin to pursue figuring out a solution to overcoming your emotional issues and subsequent problems with compulsive overeating. Until you fix your mind, you will most likely just yo-yo back and forth unsuccessfully with diets. This could go on for years. Perhaps you've already experienced that. If so, now is your time to break away from that awful cycle!

I recommend seeking out good books, articles, and even threads here on MFP to read on this topic. Go talk to a counselor who specializes in this sort of thing. Journal. Pray. Go to Overeater's Anonymous meetings. Get mentored by people who have had success in overcoming bingeing.

Seek answers. Start your healing process. Over time, you'll find the scale becomes less and less scary, because REALITY in general becomes less and less scary. Because you learn to handle your emotions in healthy ways, instead of abusing food like a drug. The scale becomes nothing more than what it's always been all along: an inanimate tool that helps you mark certain milestones along your journey.

Good luck and if you have any questions, PM me.

I am trying to loose weight but I am terrified about stepping on a scale and seeing my actual weight....I think it will depress me and I will go on an eating binge....does anyone share my fear?

I totally understand! I was the same way. I waited a week in to weigh myself, and I wish I hadnt, because now I do not know how much weight I have lost totally...I do not know how much I lost the first week, which is normally a bigger loss!

You should weigh yourself, and tell yourself that no matter the number, you cannot change the past, but you are on the road to change your future and you should be proud of yourself for choosing to create change!

For me, it wasn't until I bought a scale and stepped on it that I became determined to change my ways.

oh lord, me too. when I seen that number say I was the biggest weight ever - even bigger than I was at nine months prego with my third baby- I knew I had no choice but to face it and do something about it.

The scale is a tool. Nothing more. It does not measure how much work you put in or define you. I have this written on my scale.

For me, it wasn't until I bought a scale and stepped on it that I became determined to change my ways.

Me too, kind of - for me it was when I was weighed at a hospital appointment, as opposed to buying my own scale. I hadn't weighed myself for years, telling myself that I didn;'t bother with the scale because I went by the fit of my clothes and didn't let a number on the scale rule my life. Well that was true for a long time (which is why I'm a bit hazy on my goal weight now because I don't know what I weighed when I was last happy with my size!), but when I started to let myself go and my clothes started to get tighter I still avoided scales, like the person who never opens their bank statement because they know they've been spending too much.

Once I'd been weighed by the nurse that time as there was no choice, I knew the number then and something just clicked. No more fear, just a starting point to work from. Could you try to think of it like that? Try to detach any emotion and feelings of shame, just treat your starting number like a work project or something?