Don't Let the Bathroom Scale Get the Better of You

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Replies

  • maiomaio71
    maiomaio71 Posts: 231 Member
    I'll friend you and give you the data. I'd rather not do it publicly! You can unfriend me afterwards!
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    maiomaio71 wrote: »
    I'll friend you and give you the data. I'd rather not do it publicly! You can unfriend me afterwards!

    As a very private person I understand. Send me a FR and I will accept it when I see it.
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,116 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    maiomaio71 wrote: »
    Oh. I thought I'd messaged you. So do I need to add you as a friend? Not sure how to do that! What info do you need from me?

    I just need a recent date and a weight while you were losing and a date and a weight about 4-6 weeks before it.

    To add friends you click on the user name, it takes you to another screen, then click on the user name again, on the next screen there should be a button to add as a friend.

    ETA: It allows you to think you have sent a message to another person but it never goes through. It is a stupid system. I sent one to @Jackie9003 awhile back because I can never remember who my friends are. If I go into the Sent folder I can see that she has never read it. I do not actively "Friend" people on MFP because I am a terrible at keeping up with the newsfeed.

    @NovusDies just checked my messages and definitely didn't receive it, nor did I recieved a notification that you'd tagged me in this post. Happy to accept a friend request, it might be useful should anything come up in the group.
  • maiomaio71
    maiomaio71 Posts: 231 Member
    edited October 2019
    @NovusDies Finally managed to add you as a friend and give you the details you needed.
    This week weight was -100g, which still means I'm in a plateau I think. That's 100g lost over 4 weeks! I'm OK with it....plodding along....but getting frustrated and a little despondent. I know I'm going to struggle to keep weighing and logging if I don't see progress soon.

    Should also add I'm 1m68cm tall and 47 years old. Female.
  • brittanynicholex
    brittanynicholex Posts: 34 Member
    I weigh semi-daily (usually every couple of days). I don't generally stress about it unless its gone up a pretty significant number, which hasn't been an issue in a little while. I just like to see how things i eat on different days effects my weight. Like, I still have fast food from time to time (shame shame, I know), so I'll weigh myself, especially if maybe my water intake was down that day to see how much of a fluctuation I have. Then maybe the next day I have better food choices and high water intake, I'll weigh myself the following morning to see if there's any changes. It's just how I have been figuring out what works and doesn't work for me.

    sometimes I'm still in a deficit but maybe I had a little more salt than normal and that makes me hold onto water weight for a day or two.

    If it freaks you out or gives you anxiety or can possibly derail you if you don't see numbers constantly going down, I don't suggest weighing quite as often. I also really recommend measurements, because just cause you aren't losing pounds doesn't mean you aren't losing inches!
  • maureenkhilde
    maureenkhilde Posts: 849 Member
    I came back here today to review this again. Why? Well last week or so been struggling a bit. And yes I did let the scale number annoy me.
    So I just had to have that stern talking to myself.
    It is glorious strawberry season here in Florida. And to me the best way is crush them up a bit, a wee bit of truvia and then when nice and cold have them over low fat frozen yogurt. Which I did do. And I actually did stay under my calorie goal. So why did I get mad at myself?? Well I sort of guessed what would happen and I was correct it skyrocketed my blood sugar number.
    So I am going to figure out how to make Keto so called ice cream. So I can have the glorious strawberries but not have the terrible guilt of doing myself in blood sugar wise.
    And for about 5 days I have been more snacky than normal. Which I do when I am upset/annoyed with myself.

    But reading all of the posts in this thread has helped me. Because I was up 1.4 lbs on Saturday morning. But today down .75 a pound. So need to remind myself, scale goes up and down. Quit over blowing one day out of seven.

    And just wait for Dr results from Xrays and ultra sounds as to why I am having an annoying pain on the side of my lower leg which is hampering my exercise.

    I feel better after just putting this down.
  • papayahed
    papayahed Posts: 407 Member
    I haven't done it but they say that mushed up frozen bananas have the consistency of ice cream.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    papayahed wrote: »
    I haven't done it but they say that mushed up frozen bananas have the consistency of ice cream.

    I get these Diana Banana dark chocolate covered frozen bananas that have an ice cream like texture. I like them better than ice cream because I don't like really sweet things most of the time.
  • yxba
    yxba Posts: 33 Member
    I just keep believing in the math. When I go a week or two without reaching a new low I just focus on the fact that it will eventually start coming down again. I've had many periods of time like this where my weight did not come down and I just stick with my calorie count and exercise level and eventually it would come down quickly for a period of time.
  • papayahed
    papayahed Posts: 407 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    papayahed wrote: »
    I haven't done it but they say that mushed up frozen bananas have the consistency of ice cream.

    I get these Diana Banana dark chocolate covered frozen bananas that have an ice cream like texture. I like them better than ice cream because I don't like really sweet things most of the time.

    Now those sound tasty!
  • dishiznice
    dishiznice Posts: 22 Member
    been struggling with the scale lately. feel like i have grown obsessed with it at recent moments - i would say 50% of the week im weighing myself at night and then again in the morning. i only log MFP updates on monday mornings. it's tough when my mindset is wanting to see loss every day, i've been doing better eating more calories but probably should be doing a bit more to scale my weight loss to 2 lbs per week. feel good overall most of the time so that's why i haven't really switched things up.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    It can be irritating, that's for sure! I've been good 5 out of 7 days this week, and the 2 days I was over, I was still under maintenance. But Monday morning, the scale jumped 4 lbs and its been very, VERY slow to come back off. Stupid water weight messing with my head!

    I weigh on Thursdays. Weekend eating is looser than weekly, and I seem to eat more items on the weekends that cause those water weight spikes, so Monday is routinely my heaviest day of the week. Friday is usually my lightest day, so I figured I'd sort of meet in the middle - give myself Tuesday & Wednesday to shed some of the water weight off, but not trust Friday's reading because I know the scale will climb back up over the weekend. Mind games? for sure but I play 'em anyway as an attempt to win the game :)
  • speyerj
    speyerj Posts: 1,369 Member
    I started tracking my weight with Libra (a free app) and it's helped me stay calm when I am gaining despite sticking 90% to plan. I've been using it for a few weeks now and started to see a pattern of gaining and losing that follows a 6 to 10 day cycle but then the highest high is always lower than the last one. But it's still maddening. I gained 2 pounds over a 6 day period. Yesterday I lost those 2 pounds. Today they came back. I suspect they will be gone again within the next 5 days. I'm hoping they take a couple more with them when they go.
  • danger1108
    danger1108 Posts: 15 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    The longer story short is that it is PERFECTLY NORMAL for your weight to stay the same or even go up while you are losing fat weight. I very often have to wait a full 3 weeks to see a new low weight on the scale. This is a good reason to find your motivation somewhere other than numbers on the scale.

    I thought it was just me!
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    danger1108 wrote: »
    NovusDies wrote: »
    The longer story short is that it is PERFECTLY NORMAL for your weight to stay the same or even go up while you are losing fat weight. I very often have to wait a full 3 weeks to see a new low weight on the scale. This is a good reason to find your motivation somewhere other than numbers on the scale.

    I thought it was just me!

    Definitely not. I have lost most of my weight in whooshes.
  • jjlewey
    jjlewey Posts: 248 Member
    I also have whoosh syndrome, it sucks.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    jjlewey wrote: »
    I also have whoosh syndrome, it sucks.

    It is forced patience for sure.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    I dropped pretty steadily from January 2017 to about September 2017. Then I hit a dreaded plateau for the next year and a half. Finally last summer, around June 2019, I stopped regaining and started slowly, painfully, losing again. But this time, it ratchets off: this week, I'm down 1 lbs; next week, I'll be up 2 lbs; the week after, I'll be down 2 lbs, after that, up another pound. The overall trend is definitely downward because I'm now 30 lbs off from what I started with in June, but that constant up and down from week to week plays havoc with my mental state!
  • hansep0012
    hansep0012 Posts: 385 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    Today I am going to challenge each of you and myself to be grateful about having an uptick. It is just for today. You don't have to be happy about it tomorrow.

    I am grateful my body is a complex machine that has coping mechanisms that involve water retention. The extra water often helps with healing and progressing.

    If my uptick is food waste related I am glad I can eat a wide variety of food. When my body is done with some of it, it will weigh a little more than perhaps what I had a few days ago.

    I am grateful to realize that weight is a state of being not a number on the scale.

    I am grateful to be have my patience challenged so that I can meet that challenge and grow from it.

    I am grateful that I am aware of my weight now and taking steps to manage it the right way.

    I am grateful to have spare money to buy a scale.

    I do not HAVE to deal with weight fluctuations. I GET to deal with them.

    Add to my list, write your own, or call me an idiot.


    From one idiot to another :wink:

    I am grateful that my sense of self-worth is not tied to a number on the scale.

    I am grateful that my capacity to learn about being healthy includes weight management, improving sleep, enjoying activities, and engaging with others.

    I am grateful that I have the resources and opportunity to chose from a wide variety of foods in a bountiful and reliable supply.
  • speyerj
    speyerj Posts: 1,369 Member
    I'm grateful that my weight went up a pound today because I went out to dinner with my husband last night. We had a lovely time, but we ate later than normal, had more food than normal, likely had more salt than normal and I drank more water than normal. I'm grateful to have these not normal events happen because they make life special and strengthen relationships.

    I'm grateful to @NovusDies for being so insightful and wise, and making me look at things from a different perspective - not just with this post but so many others.
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,116 Member
    A bit late to the party but I had an uptick due to a calf muscle injury and a girls night in, my injury is healing quickly and the girls night provided much needed stress relief. The scales may show a bigger number today but my clothes still fit, and they're still 3-4 sizes smaller than they were 2 years ago.
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    I've read the article at the beginning of this thread several times, but I find myself needing to go back again once in a while because what it says doesn't always stay in my head (definitely had to re-read it last week with the temp weight frustration!)

    I'd attempted to use my weekly average weight before as my weekly record weight, but slipped out of it pretty quickly as my natural impulse to record the lowest reading overcame my intentions, but I think I'm going to try it again, since I'm already stepping on the scale daily, anyway. Maybe this will help me establish the amount of weight I'm losing with the increase in activity and smooth out the water weight gains?

    Thursday morning, the scale read 267.6; this morning 261.9 - that looks like a 5.7 lb loss in 72 hours!
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    I've read the article at the beginning of this thread several times, but I find myself needing to go back again once in a while because what it says doesn't always stay in my head (definitely had to re-read it last week with the temp weight frustration!)

    I'd attempted to use my weekly average weight before as my weekly record weight, but slipped out of it pretty quickly as my natural impulse to record the lowest reading overcame my intentions, but I think I'm going to try it again, since I'm already stepping on the scale daily, anyway. Maybe this will help me establish the amount of weight I'm losing with the increase in activity and smooth out the water weight gains?

    Thursday morning, the scale read 267.6; this morning 261.9 - that looks like a 5.7 lb loss in 72 hours!

    I know some people use weekly averages. I don't see it. When I am trying to lose the only number I trust, unless I know I am dehydrated, is the lowest number. Time will flatten your fluctuations.

    In a 7 day period I may have zero, one, or sometimes two numbers that could be usable. The rest are noise. I record the noise, sometimes I try to make some sense out of it, but mostly it is random.

    Have you ever checked out one of those weight scale apps?
  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    edited March 2020
    NovusDies wrote: »
    I've read the article at the beginning of this thread several times, but I find myself needing to go back again once in a while because what it says doesn't always stay in my head (definitely had to re-read it last week with the temp weight frustration!)

    I'd attempted to use my weekly average weight before as my weekly record weight, but slipped out of it pretty quickly as my natural impulse to record the lowest reading overcame my intentions, but I think I'm going to try it again, since I'm already stepping on the scale daily, anyway. Maybe this will help me establish the amount of weight I'm losing with the increase in activity and smooth out the water weight gains?

    Thursday morning, the scale read 267.6; this morning 261.9 - that looks like a 5.7 lb loss in 72 hours!

    I know some people use weekly averages. I don't see it. When I am trying to lose the only number I trust, unless I know I am dehydrated, is the lowest number. Time will flatten your fluctuations.

    In a 7 day period I may have zero, one, or sometimes two numbers that could be usable. The rest are noise. I record the noise, sometimes I try to make some sense out of it, but mostly it is random.

    Have you ever checked out one of those weight scale apps?

    I record once a week every Thursday as my compare day though I do step on the scale pretty much daily. I chose Thursday because I'm typically up on Mondays, and my lowest weight of the week is on Fridays, I so figure that recording on Thursday gives me 3 days to offload weekend excesses (obviously doesn't always work.....) but I have had weeks where Thursday will spike so I look like I've stalled out or gained when Friday or Saturday will be back down. I hate it when that happens.....The guy at physiconomics recommended the average thing, so I thought, what the hay, can't hurt to give it a try for a few weeks.

    I tried looking around for a few of them, but don't want to pay for it. Is there a good free one out there?
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    I've read the article at the beginning of this thread several times, but I find myself needing to go back again once in a while because what it says doesn't always stay in my head (definitely had to re-read it last week with the temp weight frustration!)

    I'd attempted to use my weekly average weight before as my weekly record weight, but slipped out of it pretty quickly as my natural impulse to record the lowest reading overcame my intentions, but I think I'm going to try it again, since I'm already stepping on the scale daily, anyway. Maybe this will help me establish the amount of weight I'm losing with the increase in activity and smooth out the water weight gains?

    Thursday morning, the scale read 267.6; this morning 261.9 - that looks like a 5.7 lb loss in 72 hours!

    I know some people use weekly averages. I don't see it. When I am trying to lose the only number I trust, unless I know I am dehydrated, is the lowest number. Time will flatten your fluctuations.

    In a 7 day period I may have zero, one, or sometimes two numbers that could be usable. The rest are noise. I record the noise, sometimes I try to make some sense out of it, but mostly it is random.

    Have you ever checked out one of those weight scale apps?

    I record once a week every Thursday as my compare day though I do step on the scale pretty much daily. I chose Thursday because I'm typically up on Mondays, and my lowest weight of the week is on Fridays, I so figure that recording on Thursday gives me 3 days to offload weekend excesses (obviously doesn't always work.....) but I have had weeks where Thursday will spike so I look like I've stalled out or gained when Friday or Saturday will be back down. I hate it when that happens.....The guy at physiconomics recommended the average thing, so I thought, what the hay, can't hurt to give it a try for a few weeks.

    I tried looking around for a few of them, but don't want to pay for it. Is there a good free one out there?

    I am for anything that helps and this seems like an experiment worth trying. I guess because I am accustomed trusting that I am losing weight even when the scale doesn't relay that information for sometimes weeks at a time I think more monthly than weekly.

    I am not aware of a free trending app. I tried a couple of them myself but none of them do for me what my spreadsheet does so I have not used one for more than a few weeks I suggest it because it does seem to help others.
  • Jackie9003
    Jackie9003 Posts: 1,116 Member
    Happy Scale and Libra are the most recommended on the forums, I've used Happy Scale it's OK but quite basic.