To weigh or not to weigh?

alys_in_wonderland · June 2011

Hiya all,

I've been on MFP a week now and have just realised that I've lost my scales when I moved house! Now, I know what my starting weight was because I went to the doctor the day before and was weighed there but I'm not sure how I'm going to measure things from here on in.

My question is, shall I hunt out a set of scales to see how I've been getting on or shall I just abandon the scales and just purely go with watching what I'm eating/being stricter with the exercise so that the emphasis is much more on how I look and feel?

What do we reckon!?

kr3851 · June 2011

Can you make a weekly stop at your doctor's office to weigh in? If not, get your own scale and start fresh from when you first use it!

ksr5000 · June 2011

Weighing in for me is something I look forward to and something that keeps me in check, therefore it is a definite requirement for me. I know that if I'm not happy with a weigh in I'm going to work that much harder, and if I am happy with a weigh in its going to make me feel good and make me work harder, whereas not doing that would probably cause me to lose track.

I think it all depends on how you feel and what motivates you. If you are getting more and more comfortable with your weight and your body then it should be more about the way you look/feel.

Maybe if you feel okay about not weighing in but don't want to lose track of yourself start taking some measurements. Measurements tend to be a better measure of progress anyway because as you work our and gain muscle your weight may not go down but you may get more fit and tone and start to look and feel better.

notoriousgtt · June 2011

Get a new scale and start from scratch with weekly weigh ins.
Dont use a different scale after this, even if you get weighed at your doctors use your own scale for your weigh ins.

lil_pulp · June 2011

Take measurements instead (it's best if someone can do it for you, if possible). They often change even when weight doesn't, especially if you're working out. Good luck!
-LP

momma3sweetgirls · June 2011

It's really not that important to weigh in a lot. A friend of mine on MFP doesn't have a scale and weighed in after a couple of months at her sister's and she'd lost 23 pounds! That sounds way better than losing 0.6 lbs like you might after one week! You can gauge your weight loss other ways like how your clothing fit.

bluefox9er · June 2011

Get a new scale and start from scratch with weekly weigh ins.
Dont use a different scale after this, even if you get weighed at your doctors use your own scale for your weigh ins.

sound advice. you really should ONLY weigh yourself with the same set of scales...even if they are wrong, they will be right for YOU..if that makes sense. I was weighed by my doctor in his surgery and his scales showed me to be almost 10 lbs LIGHTER than my home scales show me to be. quick sanity check using the wii fit board showed the Doctor's scales are WAY off.

lmelksham · June 2011

I think that you can get an idea of whether u are losing or not just by your clothes...but in saying that I do weigh myself more that I should cause I find that if I am going a little off track, then I pull my head in a try a little harder to stay under my cals. All the best

mom23nuts · June 2011

if you belong to a gym you may want to see it they have a scale....or if you want to just take tape measurements with a cloth tape measure.

hips, thigh right and left, chest, waist, let and right arm, neck and plug the numbers into MFP I think they only ask for hips waist and neck

that is a prety good indicator of weight loss better than a scale too. Less reclective or water weight.

katie041085 · June 2011

Hey,

I would say if you are not too bothered about the weight as long as you are feeling good and seeing the changes then don't worry about the scales. If you want to keep a track of the weight to make sure your daily routine is working for you, then either look for the scales or maybe go somewhere like Boots once a week to weigh in.
Going somewhere else to weigh in can be a good idea because it stops you weighing ever day or every few days.

Either way, good luck x Add me if you like x

StrawberrySprinkles · June 2011

I've kind of done a flip-flip on the whole scales thing. Usually, I would weigh myself every so often (before starting the calorie counting sha-bang), but now that I have started calorie counting and taking more exercise, I am/was weighing about once or twice a week, but this usually leads to frustration and disappointment because I wasn't understanding why some of it wasn't shifting. As you know, there are people who can shift it quite quickly and then there are those of us where it's a very slow and maddening process. :laugh:

Despite being nearly religious about it and getting more exercise than I usually would have, I've only lost a couple of pounds. While I'm happy about those couple of pounds, I can be impatient to see the progress. My husband has confiscated the scale (at least the battery) until next month. He'll only give me the battery on the 15th of every month to avoid disappointments and frustration in the event there are fluctuations. I think doing it this way will be much better so I'm not going back and forth with my motivation.

I have to keep in mind that as I increase my exercise that I will build muscle and that will eat up some of the lost weight, which will make it appear that I've not lost anything even though I will feel a little better, a little bit slimmer and my clothes will be feeling a little loose.

To be honest, I think it's taken some of the pressure off and the temptation to sneak a peek before the agreed time.

alys_in_wonderland · June 2011

Haha - quite the mix of responses!! I agree that if I'm going to weigh myself, it should always be on the same scales so it might be worth investing at some point.

I think I'm going to steer clear for now though and just concentrate on eating well and exercising and going on the basis of how I feel/how clothes fit etc. I don't want it to be all about one or two pounds when actually perhaps the focus should be more on doing the exercise and avoiding the things that are bad for you (within reason obviously: treats every now and then are definitely the way forward!). I've done WW before and it can be really tempting to hop on the scales midweek and then get downhearted if you've not been losing.

I did feel like I was making progress this morning and the motivation's definitely still there so that can only be a good thing, right? Although now I am really tempted to head to Boots to find out if the progress was only in my mind or off my body too!!

R_mageddon · June 2011

I don't weigh myself often because I want this to be a lifestyle, not a diet. If I weigh in frequently, I start obsessing about that number rather than being happy with the way I look and feel.

I have to say and I'm at all not being snarky...that it's interesting to me that it's assumed that the Wii is right and the doctors' scales are off.

skypie23 · June 2011

I loved weighing myself in the beginning but now I find the normal fluctuations throughout the week really, really put me off. I've decided from today to put my scales away and see how long I can resist. You definitely don't need scales, stick to your goals and weigh yourself in a big chemist or gym or a mates scales about once a month, I think the bigger drops would be more motivating, rather than feeling deflated if due to fluids the numbers go up when you've tried really hard.

Eviesmum · June 2011

Our scales broke the week after I started here, so had to start again from scratch. I'd buy some more as like someone else said, I find it a positive thing to keep motivated seeing how well you do every week.

Also suggest taking measurements every so often as well then you can also see inch loss as well as weight loss.

Good luck with your journey.

To weigh or not to weigh?

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