Scale or no Scale?

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Veganvibesss
Veganvibesss Posts: 123 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I basically haven't gone ten minutes without thinking about calories losing weight and food for the past 3 years. I have lost 60+ and I'm so stressed from my obsessive thoughts all day everyday. I have been thinking about throwing my scale out and just continuing eating healthy, low calorie meals when I'm hungry and working out. I can't handle the scale going up the slightest even when I know it's normal and probably muscle. I am starting to think it would be better not knowing, not weighing myself everytime I go to the washroom and just start living on the edge haha. Live to feel good and screw the scale. Has anyone thrown their scale out and had success? I'm hoping if I threw mine out id learn to listen to what my bodies telling me more and id hopefully be happier and lose more weight because I'm not as stressed out.

Replies

  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    I haven't throw the scale out, but I rarely weigh myself anymore.
    I go by the mirror, I put weight on around my abdomen and shoulders first so it is easily seen, and how my clothes fit most of the time.

    If I feel my clothes are getting consistently tight, more than a week or two, with no obvious reason, (too many parties), I will then weigh myself.

    If my weight is close to the top of my maintenance range I will shave my portion size down for a couple of weeks, and maybe add in a couple of 30 min walks, until I am back looking like I want. I haven't had to do this very often during the 7+ years I have been maintaining.

    Put your scale in the cupboard and try going by visual clues for a couple of months.

    Cheers, h.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    I can't get by without my scale BUT everyone is different. You can try measuring instead.
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
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    If you're trying to lose, your gains likely aren't muscle, but water weight. I weigh once a day but I rarely ever look at 1 week graphs. I look at 1 and 2 month mostly to see the trend and because I can see the multiple water weight spikes and drops. If it looks like a spike is starting, I can look at history to judge how long it will be before it drops back down.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Don't throw it out. Just put in the back of the closet for a couple months.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,514 Member
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    I got rid of mine as i was weighing myself every time i set foot in the bathroom and it was impacting on my life

    Now i get weighed every tuesday morning at my local boots
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    You seem to believe gaining muscle is very easy - it's not easy and it's slow.
    Fast weight changes out of proportion to calories are far more likely to be water related.

    You need to resolve your stress (which can cause weight issues all by itself, cortisol etc...). If that means putting your scales away then do it.

    I'm fortunate in just regarding the number on the scales as data so I weigh daily but it certainly doesn't make or break my day or affect my mood. Each data point is truly insignificant - the trend is what matters.

    Does taking measurements have the same effect on you?
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    edited August 2017
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    It sounds like your real problem is the obsession, the unnecessary stress you're attaching to this process, not the scale. The stress is counter-productive obviously, and if the scale is adding to the stress, ditch the scale for awhile.
  • lalepepper
    lalepepper Posts: 447 Member
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    I haven't thrown it out, but I went from weighing daily to weighing once or twice a week. I also take measurements every 4-6 weeks.

    The loss still happens, and I don't have any unnecessary stress from the daily fluctuations or worrying about whether it's a good "time" to weigh.
  • igarcia13
    igarcia13 Posts: 59 Member
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    I typically weigh myself every morning but in days that I feel I may have eaten a little too much, I hide my scale for a few days. I hate seeing it go up! Before I bought a scale I used an old tight button up shirt to measure my progress. I would try it on once a week and it felt good to know I was making progress because the shirt kept fitting better. Maybe you can try that instead of the scale.
  • solovino1
    solovino1 Posts: 29 Member
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    The scale can create an unhealthy obsession. It is just a tool and should be used like one. I weigh myself once a week at the same time and at the same level of hydration (dry) and in the AM before breakfast. The rest of the week I use a too tight pair of jeans to check my fat level at the waist. This is the poor mans fat test. It works pretty good and is independent of the scale. In fact, sometimes I'm less fat but weigh more.

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