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Well it finally happened

frecklesandfries
frecklesandfries Posts: 32 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I found out how much I weigh. I know it sounds ironic, trying to lose weight without knowing how much you weigh, but I was terrified to find out! I tried to repeat the mantra, "the scale does not define you, they are just numbers." Alas, it was not working.

So I found out at my doctor's office, and not by my choice. I did the usual, "can you weigh me backwards?" so I would not have to face the music, and she did. She laughed and said she would let the doctor know not to mention anything. Sure enough, she must've forgot because she said, "You are [blah blah], you don't smoke, occasional drinker, you're 5'6 and you weight [X amount]." And there it was. The one number I was dreading the most. But oddly enough, It felt so freeing! I now feel more invested in my want to lose weight but also, I am no longer afraid to step on the scale!

Has anyone else gone through a similar experience?

Replies

  • tsikkz
    tsikkz Posts: 404 Member
    Haha YES I went through the exact same thing all my mfp friends followed the saga on my newsfeed.. feels good to face the music and get over that fear!
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    This is why I walk by the scale when the nurse stops there and tell her "just put plenty". (NO, I don't do that anymore), but when I went this week, I did tell her the amount off my own scale from that morning. No sense in getting myself worked up because I like the naked weight better than what she would have told me.
    WTG on getting it over with!
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    You're better off knowing. Now that you know, you can weigh yourself and gauge you progress better.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Oh yeah, I was in denial for years, was just saying 'oh I'm 200 pounds' (which already put me in the obese category), until I finally had a physical and they weighed me and I was 213. Talk about a wake up call.

    That's why I keep weighing myself, even if it's just once every 3 weeks. For me not weighing is the first step of denial.
  • oedipa_maas
    oedipa_maas Posts: 577 Member
    Hiding from things--the scale, how much I eat, not eating in front of other people--has always detrimentally affected my weight loss efforts. I still struggle with it. Facing facts, such as honestly logging what I eat every day, makes me less afraid and disempowered. It's weird how that works. I'm so glad you felt relief instead of judging yourself. I know what that's like.
  • pinkpolkadots25
    pinkpolkadots25 Posts: 101 Member
    Yes - there was one point where I honestly thought I was 180 and then it turned out I was 226. ..... that was a bad day. But it didn't keep me from gaining up to 260. Knowledge is so important and it gives you a real place to start!
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I can relate! When I was 40, I'd lost around seventy pounds. Over a span of five years, I knew I was putting weight back on but could not find the motivation to stop the nonsense and lose it. When I would go to the doctors, I would not allow them to weigh me, but I'd state some random number that I thought I was.

    Finally, I stepped on the scale and realized I had not gain back those 15 pounds after all-I'd gained 30!

    I got back on the bus and I've been riding it ever since. Even though I occasionally go overboard in my food, the point is that I couldn't do it every day anymore like I used to. It's not the once-in-awhile overboard that got me in trouble, it was eating loads of calories every day and mind-boggling myself into thinking I was eating less than I really was.

    It was freeing for me as well when I finally knew how much I weighed, and how much I'd gained back.

  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Well, I've only been able to start weight loss journeys by forcing myself to be honest with my weight.
  • CJsf1t
    CJsf1t Posts: 414 Member
    I am still uncomfortable with my weight . though I am 15 lbs lesser than my highest. I still find it embarrassing to tell people (IRL) what I weigh.
  • meltedsno
    meltedsno Posts: 208 Member
    I guess I come from the opposite end... I've lost a lot of weight but have no clue how much. 16 months ago, I weighed 230 lbs... 1 year ago I weighed 177 ls... I've stepped on the scale once since then -- at my sister's house -- and she is the only person on this earth who has an idea of what I weigh. That was in July. I've dropped another clothing size since then. I refuse to step on the scale because I just don't think I can handle knowing what I weigh. I suspect that I have lost over 1/2 of my highest weight (270 lbs) but the number isn't important. I am not sure what I will do when I go for an annual check up at the doctor.. .maybe I'll look.. maybe not.
  • CJsf1t
    CJsf1t Posts: 414 Member
    meltedsno wrote: »
    I guess I come from the opposite end... I've lost a lot of weight but have no clue how much. 16 months ago, I weighed 230 lbs... 1 year ago I weighed 177 ls... I've stepped on the scale once since then -- at my sister's house -- and she is the only person on this earth who has an idea of what I weigh. That was in July. I've dropped another clothing size since then. I refuse to step on the scale because I just don't think I can handle knowing what I weigh. I suspect that I have lost over 1/2 of my highest weight (270 lbs) but the number isn't important. I am not sure what I will do when I go for an annual check up at the doctor.. .maybe I'll look.. maybe not.
    Wow!! That's really awesome! I wish I could stop my scale addiction:)

  • wmcmurray61
    wmcmurray61 Posts: 192 Member
    I am not weighing myself for the month of Novemeber because I was addicted to the scale and someone started a challenge on here. So far I haven't. I am very, very curious but I am not going to peek.
  • justalittlecrazy
    justalittlecrazy Posts: 88 Member
    I have always had a good idea of what I weighed. I did think I weighed about 15 lbs less than I did when I went to see a doctor for the first time in 15+ years. That was my sort of wake-up and face the music moment. I had a health problem and had to go to the ER and actually tell the nurse, from my own mouth, what I weighed. Somehow saying it out loud to another person meant I couldn't hide from it anymore.
  • frecklesandfries
    frecklesandfries Posts: 32 Member
    I'm glad I am not the only one who has had this experience! I would love to get back to not weighing myself, but I want it to be out of a feeling of complete health regardless of a number, and not because I think I will feel shame by seeing the number!
  • redpandora56
    redpandora56 Posts: 289 Member
    I'm glad you reacted positively to hearing it and it isn't a fear any longer. Now the trick is not to let it control you - use it to motivate you to make healthy choices, and let how you feel, how your clothes fit, and your energy levels be your real measures of progress. The scale can only be one small indication of your overall well being, so don't let it rule you! Good luck on your journey.
  • meltedsno
    meltedsno Posts: 208 Member
    [quote="
    Wow!! That's really awesome! I wish I could stop my scale addiction:)

    [/quote]

    That's exactly why I stopped weighing myself. It was tough... was weighing like 3 or 4 times a day...pushing the scale from room to room to find the "skinniest" spot. I'd get so frustrated seeing it go up a pound, down two pounds, up three pounds, down a pound and so on and so on... so one day I said enough was enough.. I needed to break the vicious cycle of literally years of doing this... and it worked. Put the scale away and give yourself a week... that's what I started out doing.. a week went by and I decided it was too soon and I'd wait for another week ... before I knew it, it was 18 months later and I am a size 4 :-)


  • MelanieRBrace
    MelanieRBrace Posts: 245 Member
    Good for you. Knowledge is power.
  • Deps
    Deps Posts: 31 Member
    I steadily avoided the scale after I lost 30+ kgs and then started to put it back on. Living by the 'if I can't see a number, it doesn't exist' mantra. Then I went to give blood and didn't realise they required you to weigh yourself. When they told me to I briefly consider leaving instead, then told myself off for being so bloody selfish and just did it.

    I'd put on 20kgs from the last time I weight myself and it kickstarted my renewed desire to lose weight. I weigh myself every day now, not worrying about the numbers each day but just to prevent myself from skipping, keeping myself accountable. If I've lost overall by the end of the week I'm happy.
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