Would you buy a scale if you were me?

tanyaheartsfrogs
tanyaheartsfrogs Posts: 49 Member
in Motivation and Support
This post is overall positive. :smiley:

I had a baby 18 months ago. I started running again this year and lost weight (yay). So three months ago I was lighter than pre-pregnancy (yay!) but I got stuck at low 150's never able to go below 152 and I kept going up and down 3 lbs. Then last month we sold our house and we moved all our stuff into storage including the scale. It is currently sitting in an unmarked box surrounded by many more unmarked boxes: I couldn't find it if I tried.

Lately, I catch myself in the mirror and I think I look great! I'm fitting wonderfully into my clothes. I'm even skipping putting makeup on because I think I got it going on :wink: So now, I desperately feel a need to jump onto a scale for validation.

I want to buy a scale today to see if what my eyes are seeing is true. Did I really loose a little weight? Oh how glorious that would be! BUT what if I buy a scale and it turns out I haven't really lost weight...would my prescriptive change right away? Would this confident feeling go away?

Has my opinion of myself changed just because I'm not constantly looking at the scale? Have I been too hard on myself because I've let the number on the scale dictate how I see myself?

Would you buy a scale if you were me? It could be glorious OR it could be disastrous.

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    No, I wouldn't buy one. You feel good, you look good. Don't buy trouble.
  • Spook_Skywalker
    Spook_Skywalker Posts: 180 Member
    I would buy a scale, but that's just me.. I can't deal with the unknown lol. Regardless of what the number is on the scale, you are feeling great and that is what's important. Do you work out? Maybe you haven't moved the scale that much, but you've lost some inches (given that your clothes are fitting great)?

  • tanyaheartsfrogs
    tanyaheartsfrogs Posts: 49 Member
    Hi Spook! Thank you for your response. I'm not working out too much but I have been eating a little less and drinking a lot more water. I'm with you, I can't not know. But if I buy it and it says I've stayed the same, I'm afraid all of a sudden this pep in my step will vanish. Ahhhh!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I will never understand the obsession with some arbitrary number...if you look good and everything is fitting as it should, why would some arbitrary number matter?
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    edited October 2016
    After not having had or used a scale for many years, and now a daily weigher (after 147 lb loss) I would say everyone should have one and weigh themselves regularly. It is too easy to convince yourself that tighter fitting jeans are not a big deal. We need ways to keep ourselves on track.

    That said, don't use your new scale as a validation of the progress you've experienced. Each scale is different and can vary by 1-5 pounds. Since you don't have a "before" weight with the scale you would buy, the current number is a meaningless comparison to the past. But record it as a baseline, and track your progress from here, keeping in mind normal weight can fluctuate 1-5 pounds in a day.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    I went through something similar this summer, so I can understand your hesitance!

    I lived in a cabin in the woods for the month of July with no cell or internet access (so no MFP logging), and I had neither a food scale or a body weight scale. I kept a paper log of what I ate (estimating portions as best I could) and was very active (daily 4+ mile walks in the hills).

    When I moved back home, I was REALLY nervous about stepping on the scale. I FELT good, and suspected that I had either maintained or perhaps even lost a couple of pounds, but it was almost two weeks after moving back home that I finally dared step on the scale because I didn't want to face the disappointment if I had, in fact, gained.

    When I finanlly DID step on the scale, I was exactly where I was before I left for the cabin, which was a relief.

    Having lived with that ambiguity for a while I could see where you might argue that "hey, I feel good, and I think I'll just be happy with myself until we get through this move and I can unpack my scale again. . " but I can also see where you might buy a scale with the mindset of "at this point with so much change and turmoil in my life with the move and the new baby and all, I just need to KNOW where I am"

    Ultimately, it's your choice!
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    I agree with @lorrpb. I have two scale that are 3.5 pounds apart and I only use the one I like to track my progress although the other one shows me lower numbers. If you end up buying a scale you have no way of knowing if you lost weight or not because you don't know how it compares to your older scale. I say buy a new one, and just assume that you lost regardless of the number to keep your morale high.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    A new scale wouldn't show you the same weight as the old one most likely because it is a different scale. It might be more or less but it wouldn't really mean you had gained or lost.
    If you get a new scale you would need to look at it as getting a new starting weight from that date on that scale and then you could check to see if you gain or lose on that scale compared to that reading. You should not go back and forth between scales.
  • TangledThread
    TangledThread Posts: 312 Member
    I would buy a new scale and start fresh. Moving and storing have always killed my scales and I could never get them accurate again and I ended up buying new anyway.

    Maybe I'm a horrible packer but I've lost three this way.

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