Scale or No Scale?

Hey! It all depends on how you view the scale. There was a time in my life when the scale absolutely ruled my day. If it was down - life was great. If it was up - the day sucked. Finally I came to realize that there are so many things that impact my relationship with gravity and the scale was going to bounce around but if the trend was down - then what I was doing was working. I weigh daily - many suggest weekly or even monthly. I find it very interesting to see how it fluctuates day to day. That said - I use a digital scale but I could not tell you the brand. I spent about $50 for it. Went for something mid-range.

Are you asking about a food scale or body weight scale?

I have a small (Martha Stewart) food scale that I use when in doubt as to portion size. Am in the market for a digital one, as the lines are getting harder to read as I age...

Emmarosesos wrote: »

No scale! Your health is NOT a number on the scale! If you want goals to keep you accountable, look into Body fat percentage, measurements, before and after pictures. If you MUST weigh yourself, don't do it everyday! Try once a month to start. Typically when people don't see a number on the scale that they were expecting or wanting, it is harder for them to stay motivated. Some people say the scale is a motivator, but majority of us get more discouraged than anything!

Please don't make sweeping generalizations about what people should or shouldn't do. I disagree with everything in your post and find, for myself, weighing daily is an important part of the process and is helpful to me.

Individuals need to figure out what works for them. If no scale works for you, then say so and say why, but please don't assume that everyone responds the same.

I weigh and track daily using a weight trending website, Trendweight. I can see the daily flucuations and better understand what y weight is doing and how what I eat (sodium, alcohol) impacts my weight. My scale also gives me BF%, but that's a crapshoot.

But if you are talking about a food scale, then if you are counting calories (and I assume you are as you are on MFP), then yeah. I'd say get one. It is too easy to underestimate how much you are eating without one.

I carry a Taylor digital food scale in my purse. I have another (larger) one at home but don't know the brand off the top of my head.

I think my home scale for body weight is a digital Biggest Loser scale because 200 lbs ago, I needed something that would actually go up that high. My doctor's office has a fancy TANITA scale that measures lean mass, fat mass, body fat % etc, and gives a printout. I think when I hit my goal I will buy a home version that does not print.

I use a food scale when I cook at home and I have one at work to dole out portion sizes. I weigh myself officially once a week. I get on the scale every now and then between official weigh ins to see how im doing. I don't get upset, but it lets me know that I need to cut back if the numbers aren't changing.

I use a food scale when cooking at home, it gives me a good idea of what real portions look like. It's a "good cook" brand. As for weighing yourself, everyone is different, I found I became too obsessed with the number and was weighing everyday. Had to stop and now only weigh once a month. I know if I'm honest with my logging and weigh my portions, along with exercise, than I will lose. It really works! Good luck finding what works for you.