Scared to step on the scale

TheWaistBasket wrote: »

Tomorrow it's 2 weeks since I signed up here and I haven't stepped on the scale. I am scared. I have ignored the scale for years and now I am terrified. I am so motivated, what if the number will crush me?

What if I didn't lose enough to keep me going. What if I gained? What if I only lost 1 or 2 lb?

How often should someone like me weigh anyway? I want to be under 350 lb. badly. How long will it take to lose 12 or 13 lb?

I am weighing my food, I am logging. I stay mostly under 1800 calories/day. I must have lost weight. (But what if not?)

Well say you DIDN'T lose enough.............what's your choice then? To quit and continue on a path of gaining weight and risking health issues as you age OR continue on and consistently lose a little at a time DECREASING your risk?


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I am going to be honest, and do so as gently and lovingly as I can:

You HAVE to work on your mind, here. This + your profile leads me to believe that you are relying very much on success to motivate you. That is okay, to a degree.

But you are not going to lose weight quickly. You are not going to lose weight every week or even every other week. You are NOT always going to have motivation.

And the way you're eating now is, ultimately, about how you're going to need to live for the rest of your life. Without the little boost of of the scale dropping. Sometimes in spite of it bouncing UP.

You're at the start. You recognize these things about you. This is a great time to get that stuff untangled and to set yourself up to be successful. With professional help if you need it.

I am semi scale phobic. I suffer from "body dysmorphia" meaning my self image is not acurate or reflective of reality. I weigh everyday and often strongly dislike what I record. For me it's about staying present and accountable. I know I'm not where I want to be. The scale hasn't told me anything I didn't already know aside from assigning the unsatisfactory image with a number. That number is extremely helpful because by weighing everyday I know how much diet and exercise to put in. Look at it if you will like taking medicine. I take my medicine every morning and I dislike it every morning. It takes about 14days to adjust to weighing daily but I wouldn't have lost any weight if I didn't. It's easy to say I'm working hard and deserve a treat if you aren't weighing in because you're not aware of exactly how far you are from your goal. I need the rigid perspective not of a friend but of a machine that wont lie to me to protect my feelings. I never ignored my weight or had problems identifying when it's out of control. A healthy weight for my tiny frame would be 125lbs-130lbs nothing higher. I have a long hard road ahead of me. I personally need to build muscle and lose fat which is harder than just making that weigh in. You don't need to weigh in every day necessarily but I think you are far more likly to reach improvement by weighing in no less than weekly. Yes reality hurts feelings but I'd say in your heart you know your weight is unhealthy. Once you have a number with the picture your mirror gave you there is hope. Inch my inch we get the chance to climb out of the hole we dug and improve that first number. Remember to watch youtube videos of what 5lbs of fat looks like it's a lot. I lost 0lbs my first 3 weeks of hard work. At first I was sad but I kept going because I noticed my weight wasn't going up. Eventually it started going down. My weight and pants size dropped but it wasn't as satisfying as others find. My weight was so far above my goal that even lowered it was unsatisfactory to me. Little by little I'm reaching for my goal and throughout this process I only saw my start weight on the scale until I started going down. Even when my weight fluctuates up it never goes above 10lbs lower than where I started. At my most bloated I'm still 2 pants sizes smaller. If you keep this up for 1year I guarentee you will lose enough to be proud of yourself. Day by day we'll get there. You see for some of us it's not just losing weight that's an accomplishment but also not gaining weight because we were steadily going up without leveling out or losing weight for a long time. Remember the scale is not your self worth it's a measuring tool. We start because our weight is climbing and it takes time + hard work to get the scale to lay horizontally meaning we're no longer gaining. It takes more time + hard work for our weight to lower. Once you get the hang of it though you'll see the changes you want little by little until your not as afraid of weigh ins. After a good weightloss streak you may even start to take pride in weigh ins. Good luck.

TheWaistBasket wrote: »

wunderkindking wrote: »

I am going to be honest, and do so as gently and lovingly as I can:

You HAVE to work on your mind, here. This + your profile leads me to believe that you are relying very much on success to motivate you. That is okay, to a degree. But you are not going to lose weight quickly. You are not going to lose weight every week or even every other week. You are NOT always going to have motivation.
And the way you're eating now is, ultimately, about how you're going to need to live for the rest of your life. Without the little boost of of the scale dropping. Sometimes in spite of it bouncing UP. You're at the start. You recognize these things about you. This is a great time to get that stuff untangled and to set yourself up to be successful. With professional help if you need it.

Of course I need motivation. Who doesn't? Of course I would like to see success. Who doesn't?
My mindset is fine, I am here. :-)

I know what you mean, and you might be right, but I know how I work best. Motivation at the beginning will keep me going. Small setbacks won't distract me, but overall success is my motivation. Here and in real life.
I did seek professional help from a dietician and will go back.

I understand this. Everybody wants success because if you don't achieve it, why bother, right? But this kind of success takes lots of change in habits, finding new habits to replace the old, thinking positive, being patient, being gentle with yourself and don't berate yourself if you have an off day or week(just get back to it).

TBH I've lost/gained so much weight throughout my lifetime.... When I had a lot to lose, usually the 1st week or 2 I'd lose 5-10#. Ex. I weighed 200 when I went to WW the first time. When I went back the next week I'd lost 10. I was ecstatic. But the next 3 weeks I lost a pound a week. Still good but I was very impatient and wanted to be done. Oh I've learned so much since then.

Take your time, learn, experiment and adjust as you go. Try to have fun while you're doing this. Maybe find a new activity or hobby you like to keep your hands/mind busy. Enjoy life every single day, which is what we should all be doing no matter what our scales tell us.