Throw away your scale!!!!
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I believe this can work for some people, but just to throw my experience in here, not weighing has always been a recipe for disaster for me.
Same. Not weighing leads me to get fat, although that was when I wasn't logging. I have to weigh myself otherwise I just decide to be blissfully ignorant about my body lol. I'm much too lazy to measure myself anyways. I know that when my weight goes up that it's a fluctuation and I can usually track what caused it really easily.
Yep, I went years without weighing myself and I got fat.
Same. I'm never letting that happen again. I will not avoid the scale and realize that the fluctuations are just par for the course. Since I'm still losing, they're part of a trend. In maintenance, the scale will keep me on track and I'll be used to the fluctuations.
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I didn't weigh myself for a few months, and guess what happened? Like most of the people replying I gained.
Weighing on a regular basis keeps me on track. I need to know my weight so I am able to adjust my calorie goal every 5-10 pounds. I've also seen what happens when that number doesn't get updated.
Instead of encouraging people to throw out the scale, how about encouraging people to learn about body fluctuations and what causes them so they have a better understanding of why that number on the scale can change so often.
ETA: I find it interesting that you say to throw out the scale but at the end of your OP you say you only need to weigh in once a day. Which one is it?0 -
Not weighing yourself is sound advise!! Use your clothes as a measure! Muscle and fat may weigh the same but muscle being denser is smaller in size. A scale is a good determinate for your weight, especially if it is a tanita scale, but the fit of your clothes is best!! I for one do not care WHAT I weigh as long as my size continues to decrease! If you weigh...no more than once a week...preferable every two to three weeks. Do not be a slave to a number....I think that is the main idea of this discussion.
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Yup. I measure once a month, which happened to be yesterday. My thighs were each up one inch. It's because I just started a new strength training program and my legs were killing me. So they were retaining water and, therefore, up in size.
I get why some people would benefit by not weighing. But it's not for me. I like to be able to gauge my progress by looking at my weekly averages in weight. I would go crazy waiting to see changes in measuring tape, clothes, or pictures as my only measures of progress.
By the way, my recommendation is to use several means of measuring progress. I personally weigh daily (and average them weekly), measure once a month, and take pictures once a month. I have a hard time with clothes, because I tend to wear my old clothes until they are so baggy that they are falling off.0 -
congrats on finding what works for YOU!0
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I use a caliper and a scale in tandem. I don't trust my scale's measurement of my body fat percentage though. It says I have 20% but I can see my abs.0
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Its a personal choice and the weighing scales have a useful role to play. they are an importnat tool for many and all they need to do is understand about fluctuations, appreciate there are other methods that can be used in tandem and then just use information as data. I like weighing becayse it tells me where I am in the longer term, reminds me of my journey for weight already lost, puts me on notice for weight gains that may turn into a trend etc.
Find what works for you. I like the data scales give and the challenge of seeing a new number.0 -
OP tried.0
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CA_Underdog wrote: »
Yes! My biceps can gain an inch if I do a workout after a one month break. Alas, that's due to swelling, and not a massive gain in muscle fibers. If you want to know what a scale loss represents, try a scale that measures body fat.
In the above chart from one point in my journey, body fat trends are far more illuminating than total body weight in seeing that I'm doing something correctly. You don't need a very accurate scale to do something like this, merely a consistent one.
I totally agree about weighing at the same time each day, especially when you wake-up, and tape measures are a great alternative to weigh-ins if you're obsessive about scales.
I don't think the body fat percentages on those scales are accurate, even for trends from what I've heard. I wouldn't trust it.
That function on my scale broke a long time ago though anyway.-1 -
Serenstar75 wrote: »I don't think this all really needed snarky responses back. It was definitely well meaning. I weigh myself a few times a week. I record only one. I know when I fluctuate, how and why most of the time. I don't look at any one day and say, "Well I weigh more today, what did I do yesterday that caused this?" I don't think weight works quite so fast in that sense. Yes, in water fluctuations, you can see that quickly, but it has nothing to do with actual weight in fat and proper trending. If I ignore the scale, I pay for it, but I refuse to obsess over it.
well, she had 4 !'s for something that just doesn't make any sense. Well meaning or not, it came across as condescending for something that is flat out wrong for most people.-1 -
lostinwebspace wrote: »I use a caliper and a scale in tandem. I don't trust my scale's measurement of my body fat percentage though. It says I have 20% but I can see my abs.
OK what about other measurements. You act like everyone needs to be a certain percent to see abs. I have been able to see my quads at above 30% body fat when other can't see quads at a way smaller percent.
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SexyKatherine73 wrote: »
100% agree also. This is absolutely what I have to do to stay focused and not revert to bad habits that resulted in me being morbidly obese. I like being a "normal" weight, and if it takes weighing myself everyday to stay here, this is definitely what I will be doing.
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GuitarJerry wrote: »I think this is poor logic and reasoning. The better approach is to say, don't rely so much on the scale. Data is data, and weight is one aspect of data. What if my weight increases, but my measurements decrease? That is typically a huge "ah ha" moment for people. Data is good. Never throw it out. Just don't rely so heavily on the least reliable data source, i.e., weight.
It isn't the least reliable data source.-1 -
Put me in the "NO" category.
Like others here, I weigh every morning, and then I enter it into my spreadsheet along with the calories I ate vs expended the day before, along with any pertinent notes that might have caused a slight fluctuation up or down. (birthdays, holidays, cheese lol)
Personally I find it fascinating to track my weight range and to see it slowly slide down, but I don't get upset when I see it go up a little - it's all part of the process. It also motivates me. This morning was a fist-pump YES kind of morning.
However, if it works for you, great!0 -
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GuitarJerry wrote: »GuitarJerry wrote: »I think this is poor logic and reasoning. The better approach is to say, don't rely so much on the scale. Data is data, and weight is one aspect of data. What if my weight increases, but my measurements decrease? That is typically a huge "ah ha" moment for people. Data is good. Never throw it out. Just don't rely so heavily on the least reliable data source, i.e., weight.
It isn't the least reliable data source.
It is less reliable than any other source people have readily available. I fluctuate 5 lbs on any given day, but my body fat and measurement stay very consistent. They do not fluctuate day to day.
I don't fluctuate 5 lbs on any given day. Speak for yourself. My measurements can fluctuate too and are prone to human error whereas the scale is not prone to human error. Body fat is also not an easily measured number in the first place, so not really a source for tracking day to day anyway.-2 -
ravlomama123 wrote: »Here is my suggestion. Stop weighing yourself! Seriously. When you look at the scale, you don't know if you lost fat, water or muscle.
Use a tape measure instead. If you loose a inch, you know you lost fat.
If you can't live without a scale, weigh your self a few minutes after you wake up. It's the most accurate.
Your weight naturally goes up and down though out the day.
There is no point to weigh your self every hour.
Once every morning is all you need.
Eat clean, sweat but don't skip the cake every now and then!
Terrible advice. Do what works for you, but I guess most people are here because they weigh too much in the first place, so OP is suggesting we should ignore that?
I'll keep weighing myself daily and staying honest with myself, thank you.
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I love how these threads blow up with opinions when the OP has a track record of "2 posts"0
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I like to use a combination of scale, measuring, how my clothes fit, and pictures. They all have their errors and downfalls, but together I think I have a pretty good picture of where I'm at. (And put me in the camp of daily weighing so that I can see how things like big or salty meals affect my weight, and once I understand the fluctuations I can ignore them.)0
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ravlomama123 wrote: »Here is my suggestion. Stop weighing yourself! Seriously. When you look at the scale, you don't know if you lost fat, water or muscle.
Use a tape measure instead. If you loose a inch, you know you lost fat.
If you can't live without a scale, weigh your self a few minutes after you wake up. It's the most accurate.
Your weight naturally goes up and down though out the day.
There is no point to weigh your self every hour.
Once every morning is all you need.
Eat clean, sweat but don't skip the cake every now and then!
I find it works best for me to weigh once a week in the morning and take my measurements once a month. I eat food I like. I pre-log it and try to stay at my calorie goal. I exercise a bit. I've lost about 1 lb a week doing that. I've lost inches too.
I agree that weighing multiple times every day could be leading to an unhealthy relationship with the scale. If someone is weighing every hour they should probably get some distance from the scale. Some people can weigh daily and some people need to weigh once a month but I don't think the scale needs to be thrown out entirely.
I agree that people can eat cake sometimes. You don't have to "eat clean" though to lose weight. As long as you are not exceeding your calorie goal you can lose weight eating whatever you want. If you eat smaller amounts of very high calorie foods then you can eat more.0 -
Troll walks into a forum, sets off bomb .... retires to watch the arguing start
Mission accomplished going by some of the remarks
Obvious troll... is oh so obvious ...-2 -
I have always heard to not use the scale but I have always been so scale happy. I swear every morning I would hop on the scale. But this time around I am not allowing myself on a scale except once a month and on Feb 1st Ill see if that works for me. I don't have a scale in my house so its a little easier for me currently.0
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Okay people. Let me explain.
I'm not saying to go eat cake, watch tv all day and let yourself go.
What I'm saying is that meny people weigh themselves and the number determines what kind of day they are going to have.
If you are working out and eating clean, you shouldn't be gaining fat.
My point is that meny people have a obsession with what the scale says and they weigh themselves throughout the day and they freak out that they went up .7 pounds.
Don't worry people, You don't have to take my advice. -1 -
ravlomama123 wrote: »Okay people. Let me explain.
I'm not saying to go eat cake, watch tv all day and let yourself go.
What I'm saying is that meny people weigh themselves and the number determines what kind of day they are going to have.
If you are working out and eating clean, you shouldn't be gaining fat.
My point is that meny people have a obsession with what the scale says and they weigh themselves throughout the day and they freak out that they went up .7 pounds.
Don't worry people, You don't have to take my advice.
Wrong again OP.0 -
ravlomama123 wrote: »Okay people. Let me explain.
I'm not saying to go eat cake, watch tv all day and let yourself go.
What I'm saying is that meny people weigh themselves and the number determines what kind of day they are going to have.
If you are working out and eating clean, you shouldn't be gaining fat.
My point is that meny people have a obsession with what the scale says and they weigh themselves throughout the day and they freak out that they went up .7 pounds.
Don't worry people, You don't have to take my advice.
My scale has shown me that i am not gaining fat.
BTW, i eat DIRTY!!!0 -
Please explain0
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