scale addiction.

You're not alone because this is very common. I look at it this way: what if we had the capability to weigh our brains. Just our brains. Then we based our self-worth on that number never paying attention to all the wonderful things the brain can do and teach us. Logical? Not really.

Same with a car. It's like basing the purchasing decision solely on color. Nothing else. Doesn't matter if it has enough seats to fit your family or gets good gas mileage, etc. Logical? No.

So judging ourselves purely on the physical weight of our body isn't logical either. Yes, it is a tool to use. But it is one of MANY.

I generally weigh every day but when I don't, I put my scale under the bathroom sink. I don't think that it's detrimental to weight loss unless you get discouraged and then go on a binge. You might find more satisfaction in taking your measurements because there are so many things that can affect the number on the scale but the hips don't lie!

The scale should just be a tool to allow you to see a weight loss trend. If weight is going up you adjust your habits. If it goes down you do nothing. You should pay attention more to inches lost and how you look and feel. Everyone's body composition is different too and we carry weight differently. If you see weight going down consistently for a few weeks then make it a goal to not check your weight again for a month. Don't get obsessed with numbers. Getting healthy should not be so vain. You need to really do this for health. Don't see weight and being thin as beauty or it is going to mess with your head. Also, checking your weight throughout the day is not good because our weight changes due to food, drink, exercise etc. If you are going to weigh, do it first thing in the morning.

@Jonestiarra2013 it took a while, nearly two years, some times i stayes the same weight for months on end x

My suggestion is to have a list of metrics you can track, so that you don't just go by the scale number in determining if you've been "successful" or not. These things could be pretty much any goal other than scale number. For instance, if you start exercising, make your goal to add weight, or add time to runs. You can use a tape measure on body parts and track inches lost. You can write down every day how you feel - usually you will feel better; and write down how you feel when you don't stick to your goals - usually not very good.

I used to be addicted to the scale too. Now I weigh myself once per day for tracking purposes only. I only put my weight into MFP once a week. I don't sweat the daily changes because I KNOW I'm sticking to my eating plan, exercising, and staying under my calories. I'm doing everything I can do, so I can now look at the scale for what it is: a simple, non-linear progress metric.

I also suggest you start doing some positive thinking. Try to write down at least five things every day that you did to get you closer to your goal, or really anything you feel that you did well. That way, if you're having a day where the scale moves up instead of down, you can look at your accomplishments, and know that you're working at it and that you've really come a long way!

Good luck!

This is me too, but discovered the app Happy Scales.....I weigh in every day and since using this app, I don't stress it as much

You're going to weigh something different every day depending on the different levels in your body, so weighing yourself often is not really a good thing to do. Once a month, sure but every day, no

MEASURE MEASURE AND MEASURE!!! Sometimes the scales are not enough to know your losing

I've been using MFP for awhile now and have lost 77 pounds so far, but I'm compelled to step on my scale every day. I can't go by what my scale says, though because it is not accurate. I do, however weigh in at my Diabetic Education appt. once a month and that one I can rely on. I just want to see on my scale if the weight has gone down. My main focus is not on the scale, but the calories and carbs. I still weigh and measure my food.

I do like to weigh every day but only at exactly the same context: right upon waking, so fully fasted, and after using the restroom. All the other higher weights of the day are utterly meaningless to me. Think of yourself as a beautiful drinking glass... Would you weigh it full of water or beer or almonds? Of course not! You would weigh it empty. If you think of it this way you won't be tortured by weighing all day long. Now some people don't like everyday, but it doesn't bug me to bob up & down a little so long as I can see the trend line. And there are apps like Happy Scale to help you recognize this. Hope that helped a little. ONE time per day, at your emptiest!

I was in the same boat as you - weighing myself multiple times a day. I tried stopping cold turkey, but it wasn't easy. So, I started thinking about why I was weighing myself constantly, what was I getting from it? I think I weighed myself so much was because I wanted reassurance that I was "losing weight" and I wanted to see results right away. When the numbers went down I was happy, but when they went up I would beat myself down.

I finally asked myself, why do I want to lose weight? To get healthy, active, be a role model, etc. Well my behavior of constantly weighing myself wasn't going to speed up the process nor make the pounds disappear. I kept telling myself that this weight came on slow, so it's going to have to come off slow. So, one day I decided that I didn't want to be on that emotional roller coaster anymore and made the connection that a healthy life/BMI/etc. wasn't based on a number, but based on what I was actually doing/eating. I do weigh myself every morning in order to help with portion control and late night snack cravings.

It takes time to break an addiction, but I think like with anything else, it has to be for a reason that really means a lot to you.