Scale Obsessed

chloeelebeir
chloeelebeir Posts: 130
edited September 29 in Health and Weight Loss
I just wanted to know if anyone was scale obsessed like me and what you do to prevent your scale from taking over your life! I can't go a day without weighing myself. If I like was the scale says in the morning then I'm happy, if I don't like it then I'm upset and that's no way to live a life, am I right? I know it's extremely unhealthy but that's why I'm asking what others do. I've tried "hiding" the scale but I always end up digging it out.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

Replies

  • quitmakingexcuses
    quitmakingexcuses Posts: 906 Member
    I am SO scale obsessed. Like weighing myself a few times a day.. But I don't record my weight but once a week.. Maybe have a friend/family member/partner hide it for you and only bring it out once a week. Or instead, if you think you want to get on the scale, just get out of the room it's in and go do something productive!
  • FruitLoop05317
    FruitLoop05317 Posts: 229
    i cant really be of much help. i weigh myself everyday multiple times a day. it seems like the more i lose the more i want to weigh myself to see that lower number...
  • fastbelly
    fastbelly Posts: 727 Member
    I actually weigh myself every day but I'm pretty comfortable with my knowledge about how the body works and I'm not too bothered when I see the numbers stall or even go up for a couple of days. I know that I'm doing the right things so they eventually will come down again.
    You shouldn't let it rule your life. The scale is a tool that helps you on this journey but the biggest measure for your success is the way you feel.
    So do the right things and be happy, don't let the scale define your day if you need to keep weighing yourself every day.

    If not, do what most people recommend and take weekly readings rather then daily ones.
  • Dinob661
    Dinob661 Posts: 251 Member
    I weigh myself everyday. It used to mean a lot to me what the scale said. But, the way I see it now. Weight will fluctuate from day to day for many reasons (food in your system, water retention, added muscle, etc.) So now....all I care about is Calories out vs. Calories in. If I am winning that war, the scale will move the way I Want it to.

    Since I started looking at it like that I have had a ton of success. Some days my weight might be higher. but thats from the stuff mentioned above. So it doesn't bother me anymore. Hope this helped!
  • LosingTheWeight2014
    LosingTheWeight2014 Posts: 173
    I actually gave my scale to a friend once and she would only give it back to me once a week to weigh myself.

    Now I have it back for good and although I weigh myself every morning and sometimes in the afternoon (only on weekeds), I just don't let it bother me...It's hard, but you just have to keep telling yourself that it's a number and it's not the end all to everything. My weight will fluctuate as much as 2-3 pounds each day, so I have come to the conclusion that although the scale is one means to determining how I'm doing, it's not the end all to how I'm doing. I also have a pair of jeans that I cannot get up over my hips and once a week I try them on again and slowly but surely they are inching up and over my hips!!
  • redheaddee
    redheaddee Posts: 2,005 Member
    I have thrown my scale in the trash and instead go by inches on the tape measure. Every little tiny bit is encouraging and seems like its easier to see progress that way!
  • sesecat
    sesecat Posts: 124 Member
    Oh honey - at least 90% of the people on this site are scale obsessed. :-) I tried the hiding thing too. But it didn't work. I finally gave in, and accepted the fact that I was obsessed, and nothing would stop me from weighing. You just need to know in your mindset that you can gain weight from water weight, a huge meal you haven't finished digesting, muscle mass, or heck, if you haven't had a bowel movement in a few days. I just made it a rule to myself that I won't log a weight loss unless it's a pound or close to it. I get discouraged, but then I work a little harder at the gym, and in the long run the results are even better.
  • dointime
    dointime Posts: 103 Member
    I'm obsessed, but I don't get upset over it so I don't think it's a big deal. I guess I consider it "data gathering" or something, I like to see how little things change my weight. I only ever rely on the number that I take at a specific time under specific conditions, but even then I don't really freak out about it. I don't consider it a bad thing, because I know if I gain 4 lbs in one day and only ate 1500 calories, that it's not a real gain. I guess my obsessive weighing keeps me from freaking out! Plus, I also take pictures, measurements, and watch how my clothes fit, so I can use all of those methods plus the number on the scale to determine my progress. That being said, my scale is not working properly today and I am lost. Maybe we're just a tiny bit OCD! :) I know this doesn't really help, but sometimes knowing someone else is obsessed like you are can be comforting!
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    It's only unhealthy if you let it bother you. I weigh myself every morning, as well, but I'm just looking at the number and it doesn't bother me if it's up. I know it's a temporary gain (too much sodium the day before or it's my TOM, etc.) If you're letting it get to you, and can't just "hide it" until your weekly weigh in then it's maybe time to completely get rid of the scale. Literally throw it out or give it away. Find a scale you can use once each week (or two weeks, or month) to do an official weigh in. If you belong to a gym, it should have a scale you can use. Or use a friend or family member's.

    You can't let the scale rule your life and your emotions. How we feel, how our clothes fit, and how much more we can do without getting out of breath or tired are better indicators than a number on a scale.
  • leslturn8
    leslturn8 Posts: 505 Member
    Hi, i have to weigh myself every morning, I am not obsessed with it though, i use it more as a routine then a obsession. I started August last year and have written down my weight every day since then in a book, i have a chart on the fridge which i write down for the month then add it to my book. Its a progression thing i think i do it for, so that i can see what im doing where i flux and before my platue i was every month lowering my weight, i have been on 75 for a while and now i am 74kilos.....i hope im over my platue and i think its benefitial to some to do daily but if ur really upset how about challenge urself,
    So today if you didnt lower your weight do 20 crunches as a challenge to urself.
    Tomorrow if your not down do 20 crunches and drink 3 extra glasses of water.
    the next day, 20 push ups?
    Dont get upset get even?
    Scales are one percent of results and if you cant get past it take on my challenge to ease the burden :) Good luck!
  • highdesertgirl
    highdesertgirl Posts: 72
    I keep my scale in the trunk of my car outside my apartment in the detached garage and bring it in only on Sunday mornings when I weigh myself or I get so obsessed too.
  • celtickarasu
    celtickarasu Posts: 76
    My shrink actually told me to weigh every day. I know, and he knows, that the common wisdom is to weigh once a week, but he told me that if I derailed during the week and didn't know it, the self-esteem crash from the sticker shock on the scale would derail me even more. So I weigh myself once a day, though I keep in mind the little 1-3 pound variations due to water, TOM, or whatever. I think that you should do whatever causes you the least stress, though, and it sounds like weighing every day is causing you serious stress. I would do whatever I could to freak out the least.
  • xcmom
    xcmom Posts: 33 Member
    Sorry don't have any suggestions for you! I am scale obsessed also. I weigh myself every morning, every night before bed, and even in between most days. I know my normal weight fluctations for any time of the day, so for me the number doesn't dictate my mood but keeps me on track. Eager to hear what others have to say!
  • cheshirequeen
    cheshirequeen Posts: 1,324 Member
    i am weaning myself down. i used to do it like 10 times a day, just little by little, reduce it. im at once every 3 days or so.
  • tradkins12
    tradkins12 Posts: 20
    I am the exact same way. I weigh myself first thing in the morning & if it isn't a # I am happy with I feel like crap. I want to only weigh myself 1 time a week but can't hide the scale.
  • sprinkies
    sprinkies Posts: 309 Member
    i used to be obsessed with it until i realized the number didn't really matter, and that when it does fluctuate it really can ruin your day.

    drink water as soon as you get up so that you know if you weigh yourself the scale is not right. do that each day that you honestly don't want to weigh in. soon enough you'll be down to only once a week and getting a real number.
  • kaitlynnesmommy
    kaitlynnesmommy Posts: 166 Member
    i cant really be of much help. i weigh myself everyday multiple times a day. it seems like the more i lose the more i want to weigh myself to see that lower number...

    I do it too! I weight every morning...it seems that the mornings that I forget are the days that I don't do so hot!
  • cheeksv
    cheeksv Posts: 521 Member
    I do the same and sometimes get frustrated.
    you gotta brush it off tho, pick one day a week and every other day doesn't matter.
  • bookyeti
    bookyeti Posts: 544 Member
    Once a month or less. I go by how my clothes fit, measurements, and how I feel.

    I'm the odd one out I guess. But it works.... for me. Everyone is different. :-)

    A while ago I got into the habit of hopping on the scale almost every morning. I know a lot of people do this and it works for them, keeping them on track. But for me? It sabotages my success completely and it has *never* helped me lose weight. It only caused me to focus on a number, distracting and discouraging me. I want to focus on feeling better and looking good — that cannot be encapsulated in a number. When I kept my weigh-ins to once-a-month or longer, I was able to keep that number in perspective. it also seems to keep me more 'in tune' with my body as I'm going mostly on how I feel and how my clothes fit.

    So, for me, the dang scale went in the closet, and will not see the light of day for another month or so.
  • rosadona
    rosadona Posts: 36 Member
    i actually have a really good suggestion for this if your scale is digital. put masking tape over the first number (the hundred place, so if you are 150 lbs put it over the 1) - that way when you read the scale it's not so much of a shock because the numbers are only two digits, so you don't associate them with weight so much as just a score, or a way of letting you know how you're doing. if you look at the number 153 and really have it in your head you gained 3 pounds, it's much more of a bummer than going from the number 50 to 53 because that number has nothing to do with weight, it's just an indicator of how you're doing with food and exercise and you know you need to tighten up a bit. it sounds crazy and like psychobabble but it really does help you keep some distance from the scale and from the emotional roller coaster by changing your perspective.
  • shonasteele
    shonasteele Posts: 473
    Yup, me too! Every day, but I know that it can fluctuate. It's sad, when I get up in the middle of the night to pee, I hop on the scale just like I do when I get up in the morning - my brain is well-trained for bed, pee, scale! It's actually kind of neat to see it go down overnight though :0)
  • dayglo4
    dayglo4 Posts: 18
    Putting the scale in your car trunk,

    Lol, that's a good idea:) The closet is too easy to get to :tongue:

    I like the idea of taping over the first digit too, then it's not this huge weight staring at you reminding you how far you have to go:grumble:
  • atsteele
    atsteele Posts: 1,358 Member
    I weigh myself every day too. It's sort of a guage of how much I can eat, or should I say if I can cheat alittle, that day. hehe Im comfortable with my obsession. ;)
  • chloeelebeir
    chloeelebeir Posts: 130
    Thanks everyone! All your advice is extremely helpful. I hope just overtime I'll understand my body weight fluctuations like many of you so I'll understand why I'm up or down, and have a reasonable explanation and not freak out haha. Also I love the suggestions!

    Sprinkles has a great idea to drink water right away so I wont want to weight myself because I know it will be wrong. I also like lesiturn8’s suggestions of not getting upset getting even! Also mzmonica76, that’s a great idea with the jeans! Perfect way to measure non-scale victories. Rosadona that’s an amazing idea! I’m getting out the tape now!

    Thanks again everyone! I feel better already.
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