I threw out the scales...

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DangerousDUCK
DangerousDUCK Posts: 181 Member
edited February 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm no longer weighing myself, well at least until I'm happy with the body fat levels I see in the mirror/measuring tape.

The scale number is largely irrelevant and mine varies by 6/7lbs everyday and can affect my motivation for the day if I'm up 7lbs for example! I know the body fat is coming down, I'm getting stronger in the gym and I know fat levels cant have a 5lbs swing either way in a couple of days all that can is water weight, stomach content, etc and stress levels, day to day eating habits mean the number is as I said largely pointless.

Terry

Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Good job.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,757 Member
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    yeah I hid mine 6 months ago. Weird cause I used to weigh myself as much as 10 times a day for curiosity. I didn't really derail me when I gained weight as I knew there is always peaks and valleys its just than eventually I realized that I just wanted to feel good, look good and be strong. Weight wasn't really something I cared about, so I wasn't sure why I was obsessing about it.
    I guess because we want evidence of progress, and nothing hits you in the face like a number!
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    Good move.

    My goals have nothing at all to do with meaningless numbers on a scale.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    I see these threads and the first thought that comes to my mind is "the FOOD scale? Nooooo".

    But yeah, good for you. I rarely weigh in.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    I don't own a scale. I use the one at my YMCA every two weeks.
  • JimFsfitnesspal
    JimFsfitnesspal Posts: 313 Member
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    I don't get it.

    Work hard, weigh often.

    But, whatever works for you.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I have to weigh regularly (not everyday), so I know if I'm on track. If I didn't have a scale I wouldn't know if I was gaining until it was too late. .
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
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    Probably depends on the individual. I just read a paper that showed the longer the gap between weighing, the more weight gained. I'll see if I can find it.

    Okay, found it. Here's an excerpt of the summary from Cornell.edu:

    A new study in PLOS ONE showed that the more frequently dieters weighed themselves the more weight they lost, and if participants went more than a week without weighing themselves, they gained weight.

    The researchers analyzed 2,838 weight measurements (up to a years' worth of weigh-ins) from 40 overweight individuals (with a body mass index of 25 and over) who indicated that weight loss was a personal goal or concern. The researchers found that weight loss was related to how often individuals weighed themselves. "The more often you weigh yourself the more weight you lose," says to lead author Elina Helander from Tempere Univeristy of Technology in Finland. This observational study cannot prove causation - it may be that less serious dieters weight themselves less or that dieters who stop losing weight stop weighting themselves. The average time that participants could go between weighting without gaining weight was 5.8 days or about a weekly weigh-in.


    I liked this cartoon from the cornell.edu page:

    Weekly%20Weight%20Rhythms%20Cartoon-2014%20Obesity%20Facts.jpg

    Here's another that speaks to frequent weighing helping maintain weight loss: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474347/

    55835802.png
  • kiki_anitoni
    kiki_anitoni Posts: 40 Member
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    Good job! And forget the nay sayers. I haven't weighed myself in two weeks. I go over board and weigh myself 4-6 times a day so I decided to just not have it around. I am anxious at times to just step on it but I refuse. I am going to try to weigh in 1-2 a month. I know im losing weight because I can see it when I look in the mirror so that helps.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
    edited February 2015
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    sodakat wrote: »
    Probably depends on the individual. I just read a paper that showed the longer the gap between weighing, the more weight gained. I'll see if I can find it.

    Okay, found it. Here's an excerpt of the summary from Cornell.edu:

    A new study in PLOS ONE showed that the more frequently dieters weighed themselves the more weight they lost, and if participants went more than a week without weighing themselves, they gained weight.

    The researchers analyzed 2,838 weight measurements (up to a years' worth of weigh-ins) from 40 overweight individuals (with a body mass index of 25 and over) who indicated that weight loss was a personal goal or concern. The researchers found that weight loss was related to how often individuals weighed themselves. "The more often you weigh yourself the more weight you lose," says to lead author Elina Helander from Tempere Univeristy of Technology in Finland. This observational study cannot prove causation - it may be that less serious dieters weight themselves less or that dieters who stop losing weight stop weighting themselves. The average time that participants could go between weighting without gaining weight was 5.8 days or about a weekly weigh-in.


    I liked this cartoon from the cornell.edu page:

    Weekly%20Weight%20Rhythms%20Cartoon-2014%20Obesity%20Facts.jpg

    Here's another that speaks to frequent weighing helping maintain weight loss: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474347/

    55835802.png

    I was just going to say that Wednesday is the day I actually log (in another app on my phone). I weigh myself 3-5 times per week, but Wednesday is the only day that counts for me and that has been the case for 2.5 years with 40 Lbs gross down and 30 net (intentional bulk) and 1.5 years of maintenance.

    I advocate for regular weigh ins, but if people aren't comfortable with natural fluctuations I always just recommend once per week in the middle of the week.
  • DangerousDUCK
    DangerousDUCK Posts: 181 Member
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    47Jacqueline wrote: »
    I don't own a scale. I use the one at my YMCA every two weeks.

    good idea. :)
  • DeadLift107
    DeadLift107 Posts: 11
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    Yea just for s**ts and giggles I use the scale at the gym at the end of every month. If I do it every week I get to freaked out about the numbers and lose sight of the big picture

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