Help! I'm addicted to my scale.

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mangaso
mangaso Posts: 21
in Health and Weight Loss
I can't even use the bathroom without standing on the stupid scale. I'll wake up 3am stagger in the bathroom and...yup...stand on the stupid scale. My wife has been able to weigh once a week. Not me, I eat a tic tac and feel like I need to weigh myself again.
Hide the scale you say? I'd just hunt for it till I found it. Only so many places it can hide. This addiction is new to me since I started MFP. When It says "Congratulations you lost .004 ounces" I get all excited. Then the opposite is true too. Anyone else have a scale problem to share? Is there a 12 step program?

Replies

  • LiL_MisS_C
    LiL_MisS_C Posts: 332 Member
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    I say hide it! I hid mine from myself for the longest time before I had the willpower to stop weighing myself every time I went to the bathroom. Try that! :)
  • peytons_mommy82
    peytons_mommy82 Posts: 28 Member
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    I have a scale addiction too. :) However, since I know my weight fluctuates during the day I try to limit it to first thing in the morning, and try not to every day. It's hard.
  • kimmerroze
    kimmerroze Posts: 1,330 Member
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    I tend to get really addicted to the scale..

    I initiated my 12 step program. Actually it was one step.

    I threw out my scale (donated it) and opted for a measuring tape.

    I have been a happy camper ever since. Sometimes I get the itch to weigh myself, and so I know there is a scale at my gym. so it makes me go work out just so I can weight myself.

    To me the scale is like a bad friend who only tells you how fat your are and how much further you have to go. I have chosen to not have friends like that in my life.
  • msmindyf
    msmindyf Posts: 133 Member
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    I always hide it once I use it on my weigh in day. I know where it is, but I forget about it and am too lazy to dig it out..lol
  • OnionCookie
    OnionCookie Posts: 272 Member
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    I only weigh in once a month due to scale addiction. Why not take it to a friend's house and ask him/her to only let you see once a week. Or ask your wife to hide it somewhere.
  • ydiggnme
    ydiggnme Posts: 4
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    Throw the scale away and buy a measuring tape. Weigh yourself at the gym if you have a membership. (but remember to do it before your workout)
  • exfatty89
    exfatty89 Posts: 15 Member
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    hahaha i had the same problem until mine broke. it fixed the problem. yesterday i almost bought a new 1 until i decided to wait until a couple of weeks, that way i over come the temptation of weighting myself
  • jmruef
    jmruef Posts: 824 Member
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    Can you ask your wife to hide it? Seriously, that kind of weighing isn't helpful...it seems obsessive to me. (And I say this as someone who used to disrobe, weigh, pee, weigh, shower, weigh, dry off, weigh, dress, weigh, disrobe, weigh, eat, weigh...you get the idea. I don't think you're quite there yet but it doesn't seem healthy.)

    Do you and your wife have separate cars? Can she keep it in the trunk of her car?

    Normally I'd suggest just throwing it out, but I believe it is possible to develop a healthy relationship with the scale, even if you don't like the numbers on it. :wink:
  • lisapickering
    lisapickering Posts: 374
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    I was doing really well for the first 12 weeks I was here. I would weigh in once a week and that's it. I was losing a pound a week and I was happy. Then last week all of a sudden I started weighing myself everyday, it was up and down and driving me CRAZY! I didn't lose anything that week. So this week I have forced myself not to get on the scale and tomorrow is weigh in day... I survived the week!! LOL!

    I'm not sure what to tell you... just don't do it!!
  • ppiinnkkmmoonn
    ppiinnkkmmoonn Posts: 418
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    scale *kitten* #12 and proud for me it keeps me accountable!
  • michelleisgettinfit
    michelleisgettinfit Posts: 90
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    Ask your wife to hide it and only bring it out on weigh in day once a week, that might help. :)
  • Megan182
    Megan182 Posts: 9
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    I am a recent scale addict. Except I've made it six days without weighing myself since I swore off daily weigh ins and am switching to weekly. I get to weigh in tomorrow and I am SOOOOO anxious. I would recommend setting a personal goal for yourself to only weigh in once a week or every three days. It's definitely hard but I just used will power and somehow battled through the last week. The way I look at it is, youre more likely to see positive results since you're only doing it weekly. There is less chance of fluctuation compared to weighing daily/multiple times a day. It's keeping me on track with my diet and exercise so I can look forward to the number on my Weigh In Day. Best of luck!!! I also like the idea of donating the scale and using the gym scale as motivation to go.
  • aash28
    aash28 Posts: 85 Member
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    I can feel your pain. For 6 years, I measured my self-worth based on a number on a scale (with multiple daily weigh-ins being the determiner for how I felt about myself at any given time). Starting this week, I am vowing to weigh myself only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I don't want to throw out/hide the scale completely because personally, it's easier for me to get off track if I never know my weight. Also, if I go too long between weigh-ins, then I get very disappointed if I don't see the difference on the scale that I had imagined in my head. So, my suggestion is maybe try the 3 times a week approach (just think of how much happier you'll be when you see the progress of multiple days' work, rather than hours of difference). Just a thought....
  • scubacat
    scubacat Posts: 346 Member
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    I'm the same way, I weigh myself last thing at night (to calculate what the number should be in the am) I wake up and can't wait to weigh myself. If I want an extra snack, I weigh myself which changes my mind about the snack or forces me to make a healthier choice.The day the battery died, I went through "withdrawals" because I had to wait a whole day until we bought a battery. I've had the highs/lows and walked away in tears many times, so I don't think its good for my emotional health. However, I can't stop myself. It has helped keep me on track as I haven't cheated because I know that scale will haunt me. I understand about water weight and that it can fluctuate etc, but I just cant stop myself from weighing in. It can be a double- edged sword for sure.
  • Smith3803
    Smith3803 Posts: 5 Member
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    This is only my 2nd time replying to a post so it's defintely something I am passionate about.
    I am also a scale addict. Recovering.... I had to weigh every morning- if I had an overnight trip I would pack the scale. Pathetic I know. Last week one of my trainers at my job agreed that I need to eat more to speed up my weight loss, I agreed to try it but then she threw in the real challenge I can only weigh once a week on Mondays. It's all about changing the recording in your head. Why do you weigh every day or more because you think what you did last night is already affecting the scale and that is just not true. You are relieved when you get on the day after a horrible eating day and the number didn't go up or the other way around you have a really great few days and the scale is up 2 pounds and you want to throw it out the window. We are just fooling ourselves it doesn't happen that quickly. Your weight will flucutate everyday based on liquids consumed, how much soduim you had 3 days ago, your last BM etc. You have already made the decision to eat better and live a healthier life style this is just one more hurdle. Weigh once a week and it it helps to do it outside of the house go for it.
    I have only been doing this for a little over a week and it all went good the first week.

    P.S. My trainer also suggested because I am that obsessed to just write down what I thought I would weigh and compare them to the real thing on Mondays. I was way off. 3 pounds less then my guess.
  • dmoses
    dmoses Posts: 786 Member
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    scale slave here. if you get the 12-step program, please share. everyone says just hide it or just don't weigh, but guess what?! not so easy for me to do that!! i try to use it more as a tool to keep me in line, plan out my food and exercise for the day. but, i'm right there with ya! sorry, i can't offer any help, just know you're not alone!!
  • DeniseGdz
    DeniseGdz Posts: 592 Member
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    I was doing really well for the first 12 weeks I was here. I would weigh in once a week and that's it. I was losing a pound a week and I was happy. Then last week all of a sudden I started weighing myself everyday, it was up and down and driving me CRAZY! I didn't lose anything that week. So this week I have forced myself not to get on the scale and tomorrow is weigh in day... I survived the week!! I'm not sure what to tell you... just don't do it!!

    I just started this too!!
  • golferd
    golferd Posts: 400 Member
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    I see no problem with it. You will get use to your variations of the multiple ups and downs. Everything will change the number: food, water, activity.

    It will keep you in check:

    I also recommend photos and measuring. I even measure my waist 3 times a day.

    I do these things to keep my feelings in check. I could not go a month and think I have made all of this progress and find out I had gained weight or increased in size. I see at times over an inch in my waist variation.

    Maybe it is because I have gone since March without weight loss and want to make sure I dont miss it.

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