Lenten Scale Diet Official Thread - Join us!

I need to give up chocolate for the rest of Lent, too, I think. Who else is chocolate-free til Easter?

I gave up chocolate and my scale for Lent. I have to say...the chocolate is hitting me way harder than the scale. I had gotten into a habit of snacking on Dove Promises and mini Heath Bars everyday. At first it was just one or the other, and at around 40 calories each, why not? But then it was one of each per day. Then it was a couple of each some days. When I started packing them in my lunch, I knew I had a problem! I know I won't ever completely give up chocolate for good, but I figured I had to do it for Lent just to break that daily habit it was becoming.

As for the scale...I'm usually surprisingly fine. I hid the scale and as long as I don't see it in the mornings, I'm good...except when my MFP friends weigh-in and I see their weight loss pop up on my home page. Right then, I want to be them. I want confirmation that I'm not totally screwing things up. It really tempts me, but the feeling is fleeting and before long I'm back to not really thinking about it. Usually the best way to keep my mind off of it is to go to my closet and try on jeans that were too small just weeks ago.

Oh, and just the other day I was coming out of the grocery store, and I stared longingly at the giant scale by the front door...really, Lent or no Lent, there's no way I'd step on a scale in such a public place, but, if only for a few seconds, I considered it.

Can't wait 'till Easter!!!!

Still off the scale
Not too hard..
Been good with food choices but still having too much. Not much too much fortunately.
Had two chomps yesterday. Much better than the Twix a couple of days ago!
Still feel like I've gained. No clothes feel loser (I wouldn't expect them to yet) and I have no confirmation that I'm on the right track.

What if I get on on Easter Sunday and I've not lost a pound?! Or nowhere near my goal?!
I feel I may have set the bar too high for myself.
But really I'm only looking at 17 pounds in 47 days.. Thats 2.5lbs per week average. My food should have me losing slightly less than that, but I've been over some days, some days massively... I am exercising still though. Walking almost everywhere which is loads compared to how much I used to. I've only gotten 1 taxi and that was with my shopping. I used to get 3/4 a week at least.
Meh.. Having one of those days :grumble:
189 here I come.....

Just checking in and seeing how everyone is doing! Glad to hear you're liking it Jenn!!!

@ RP - You have to watch your food entries if you want results. The scale isn't going to hand them to you. Diet and exercise are what take the weight off. Hard work and dedication. If you work hard (no eating too much) and are dedicated to working out you WILL see results by the end of the diet!! Way to stay off the scale!

Just checking in and seeing how everyone is doing! Glad to hear you're liking it Jenn!!!

@ RP - You have to watch your food entries if you want results. The scale isn't going to hand them to you. Diet and exercise are what take the weight off. Hard work and dedication. If you work hard (no eating too much) and are dedicated to working out you WILL see results by the end of the diet!! Way to stay off the scale!

I don't feel as accountable though without my scale. I am motivated to do it, I just have no driving force so to speak!
Trying to be good but all I can think about it carby food today. I bought a really lovely fruit salad for with my lunch but my mind was going, nah you don't want that.. I ate it though later on, and it was nice.. But I'm not used to this TOM business! I'd forgotten how much it messes with me! I'm not grumpy though which is something!!

Hard time today. I feel like I've gained 10 lbs! :noway: I know I really haven't but I'm freaking out that when I do get on that stupid thing it's going to go in the wrong direction. And I'm bummed out today. Rained all morning and now it's SNOWING, and not just a little, huge sticking snow. Crap. I just want to eat a huge plate of nachos right now and lay down and take a nap. I'm not going to do either, but it sure is enticing!

Ugh, don't you hate when you do things like that when you really don't mean to!!! Way to be a champ and not say, well, I already had 1, I might as well have another one!! Good for you!

Still avoiding the scale, but I accidentally ate a piece of chocolate It was totally an accident - just picked it up and put it in my mouth without thinking. There are more there but I know the first one was a mistake and I WILL NOT have a second one.

Scale (WII Balance Board) is not calling my name

I love this idea, and I am definitely in! The last time I weighed myself I was at 132.8. Can't wait to see what happens

I really feel like the scale motivates me positively... not, "You better not eat that because the SCALE will get you," but "Hey, look, the scale moved! I'm doing the right thing for my body and I should do it more!"

I KNOW the right way to treat my body. I'm very capable of doing it, too. I track and I exercise every single day. But I've definitely noticed more sugar and bread going into my mouth since I stopped weighing, and I'm just curious if there's a correlation.

I weighed this morning....I started freaking again last night and decided to weigh this morning. My weight was down....so, that's nice. I just don't know if I can keep up with the non-weighing. It's adding more stress to my already stressful days, and I can't handle it. I'm going to try for only once a week, but that might be as detached as I can get right now. With my college graduation coming up and my wedding in July, I need to lighten the stress load a little bit. I'm feeling the pressure of wanting to lose weight for the wedding, but it feels as though not being able to weigh only increases that pressure. I'm sorry guys. I'm already trying to tackle too much.

First I have to apologize I am late getting this posted, and have been totally “absent” lately—can you believe I’ve actually been having to WORK at work?! The nerve… :laugh:
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Week 2 - Lenten Scale Diet CHALLENGE!

How will you hold yourself accountable without the SCALE to “answer to”?
Looking through the posts, accountability seems to be a big issue for a lot of us (myself included!) once the ominous Scale-Monster is out of the picture. :devil: So what can, and WILL, you do to keep yourself accountable, making healthy food choices and exercising? Open your diary and ask others for feedback? Ask a friend or family member to talk with you about your workouts during this “diet” (whether you’ve actually worked-out that day, how hard/far you pushed yourself, what exercises are you doing, etc.)? Ask that “one” friend on MFP (you know, the one that you hate because they are brutally honest, which is why you love them) to do a daily/weekly check-in? Tape a picture of your dreaded scale to the fridge? Commit to exercise with a friend, or join a gym (if you’re paying, maybe you’ll go?!)? Vow to keep your MFP “numbers” out of the red for X number of days or weeks?

Whatever you choose, remember that this “diet” and the scale are just pieces of the puzzle—YOU will keep yourself motivated and accountable in the end, not the scale. While it might feel like it slaps you in the face when you’ve had a hard week, it doesn’t (at least not literally)… and it doesn’t hold your hand and cheer you on when you’re busting your @ss on the elliptical, either. Do NOT give-up on yourself just because some silly little scale isn’t there to stick its tongue out at you, or convince you that a week of chocolate must have been a good idea because you stayed under your total calories and didn’t gain. YOU can do this… we can help, encourage, or be that “one” friend, but it still has to start (and continue every day) with you!

We’d love to hear your ideas if you’re willing to share… I’m sure we can all use any inspiration/motivation/encouragement we can get :bigsmile:

My Accountability Plan:
*Picture of the scale is taped to the freezer (where my Slim-a-Bears & hubby’s Phish Food are hiding)
*Diary is public… and I get hell for some of it every few days, but I love it!
*Hubby asks me every day about my workouts… this bugged me for a few days, but now I find it really motivating
*Last night when I didn’t feel like working out (for no reason other than sheer laziness), I told myself “this is what it feels like to give up… this is why people fail… do you want to go back to 3 months & 20 lbs ago?” I worked my booty off after that! I’m hoping to use that mentality again
*My 3,500 Calorie for 4/6 weeks goal seems to sneer at me when I’m feeling lazy

Good luck everyone—we are doing awesome! Sounds like staying away from the scale is getting easier as well.

I must confess, that I am a sinner! I made it 9 days & I stepped on it this morning. However - I had GREAT news 3.2lbs gone in 9 days! SO....gives me the motivation I needed to get back on this & stay away from the scale! Made me realize that what I"ve been doing is working & I know I can stick to this. I haven't read all the other posts yet, but will catch up later this weekend! I hope everyone else is doing awesome!

I'm a sinner too :embarassed: . I just couldn't take it anymore and I got on the scale this morning. It was just stressing me out to much. I'm not a chronic weigher, as in multiple times a day. I usually only weigh in once a week. Good news is I lost 2 lbs . :bigsmile: Sorry to have let you all down! I wish you all much luck in sticking it out until Easter!

Sorry to see you go!! But woohoo to the 2 lb loss!!

I'm a sinner too :embarassed: . I just couldn't take it anymore and I got on the scale this morning. It was just stressing me out to much. I'm not a chronic weigher, as in multiple times a day. I usually only weigh in once a week. Good news is I lost 2 lbs . :bigsmile: Sorry to have let you all down! I wish you all much luck in sticking it out until Easter!

First off, congrats on going the distance (and further) with your C25K program!!! 2nd, I totaly know what you're saying about seeing all your friends weight loss and then seeing your own ticker just sitting there looking at you like, "um, hello, are we going to move any time soon??". It's frustrating to no end, but I am trying to focus on the fact that when I do weigh again and that ticker moves, it's gonna be a BIG move!!!

I've been doing pretty good so far not thinking much about the scale. But Friday is my normal weigh-day, and yesterday I was just obsessed with weighing myself. I didn't do it, but I thought about it all day. Every time I saw that unchanging "12 lbs lost" on my home page. Every time I saw one of my MFP friend's status update "...lost x pounds since her last weigh in..." Every time I looked at a calendar and realized it was Friday. Ugh...I kept counting down the days...how much longer until Easter? I think it's probably because I had 2 days in a row this week where I went out to dinner and ate and drank entirely too much.

Anyway, as far as my Accountability Plan goes, my diary is open. I welcome any and all of you to comment any time...support is fine, but more than that, I need someone to call me out on my ****! I've been making too many excuses for myself!

Also, my nephew came with me on my C25K run the other day and really pushed me. He held onto the timer and tricked me into running longer than I was supposed to...yay him! I'm dragging him along with me again tonight for one last run before his spring break is over and he heads back off to college.

Taping a photo of the scale to the fridge would be BAD for me as usually I'm of the "out of sight, out of mind" mindset.

And, a couple of days ago after eating out and ending up about 300 calories over my goal, I was making excuses for myself and one of my MFP friends reminded me that 30DS is ONLY about 20 minutes. Thanks to her, I did the Shred at 11pm, burned off a little of my indulgences, and felt just a bit less guilty!