The Scale

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xcrunnergirl13
xcrunnergirl13 Posts: 67 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Normally, to just maintain my weight, I would weight myself daily. This kept me accountable, and worked pretty well. However, now that I have weight to lose I'm not sure if that's such a good idea for a couple of reasons. First, I (not conciously) eat foods that are more calorie dense but don't weigh a lot if I am going to weigh myself soon, so I'll stay away from fruits, vegetables, and drinking water in lieu of a granola bar or something that will give me quick energy but not make me see a higher weight on the scale. Another thing I'll do is if I'm succesful at losing a pound that week and I see the loss on the scale, I suddenly feel deprived (it's all mental) and binge. It's messed up! Does anyone have advice on how often to weight to stay accountable but not become obsessive?

Replies

  • LReneeWalker
    LReneeWalker Posts: 213 Member
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    The scale suck... Use the tape measure!
  • sgoldman328
    sgoldman328 Posts: 379 Member
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    Try to limit yourself to every other day, or even once a week if you can --- or hide the scale for awhile. It's not really good to get so obsessive about it, dear.


    Good luck!





    http://collegecookingandironchefamerica.blogspot.com/
  • tabbycat27
    tabbycat27 Posts: 9
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    My mom yells at me for weighing myself and tells me I should be weighing myself at the end of the week. I still weigh myself at the end of the day each day, but still, I see where she was going with that!
    You should be eating to nurture yourself, not worrying about how much it is going to weigh in your stomach. Fruits and vegetables are way lower in calories and full of vitamins and nutrients so they will help you in the long run, and counting calories is what matters in weight loss (as well as exercise, which burns them rapidly and tones your body!)
  • NK203
    NK203 Posts: 35
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    Once a week (same scale, same time, same clothes). Record the weight and put the scale away. You cannot gain tons of fat in one week. And, this gives you six days to eat those fruits and one for the granola bar. It is often enough. It can be difficult to wait, but knowing how you react to a daily weigh in, I hope you will give it a try. Best of luck!
  • 9jenn9
    9jenn9 Posts: 309 Member
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    Once a week (same scale, same time, same clothes). Record the weight and put the scale away. You cannot gain tons of fat in one week. And, this gives you six days to eat those fruits and one for the granola bar. It is often enough. It can be difficult to wait, but knowing how you react to a daily weigh in, I hope you will give it a try. Best of luck!

    ^^This. If you weigh first thing in the morning, before breakfast, you don't have to worry about "food weight". Try not to make yourself crazy with the scale.
  • sullykat
    sullykat Posts: 461 Member
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    ^^^ I agree with above and so does my personal trainer. Weighing yourself in the morning will just make you happier :)
  • asia_hanebach
    asia_hanebach Posts: 275 Member
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    I weigh myself every morning when I wake up. I figure the more numbers I have the more accurate the representation of what's going on with my weight is. I just make sure that I'm looking at the overall trend that my weight's following rather than obsessing about being a half a pound more one day compared to another.
  • spirit80
    spirit80 Posts: 327 Member
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    Every morning right when I get up. I am getting good at guesssing my weight based on what I had to eat the day before.
  • docktorfokse
    docktorfokse Posts: 473 Member
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    Assuming you're past the point of just losing water weight, you should weigh yourself once every week; even better if it's once every two weeks. Not only is weighing yourself too often likely to discourage you, but if you do that whatever changes on the scale you will be natural weight fluctuations for the most part.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
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    I guess I can see how weighing every day might be discouraging for some people, but it's very helpful for me. It allows me to see how my weight is affected by day-to-day choices. I "officially" weigh on Saturdays, and that's the only number I count/record while the other days are merely informational. If I weighed ONLY on Saturdays, I'd have no way of knowing whether a lack of progress or slight gain was the result of excess sodium and water weight (for example) or whether my habits all week need to be reassessed. But because I have information from every day, it's easy for me to tell the difference, which reduces stress rather than adding to it.
  • graelwyn
    graelwyn Posts: 1,340 Member
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    I used to be this way. I would even limit my fluids in the afternoon so they wouldn't add to my weight, and I ate the bulk of my food at night. I no longer limit my fluids, and just accepted I might have a day or two where my weight seemed higher before the lower calorie foods and higher water intake balanced out. Longer term, you are far better eating bulkier veggies and fruit than eating sugar filled granola bars, which might be better temporarily on the scale, but will be detrimental long term.
  • imaheal
    imaheal Posts: 63 Member
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    For some, weighing everyday might be what they need. But I try to weigh once a week, because body weight fluctuates so much from day to day. Usually in a week it seems the true weight shows. I used to get on the scales sometimes 3 or 4 times a day. If I didn't like what the scales showed I'd say the floor wasn't level. :laugh: So I'd move them around all over the room, hoping I'd see something better!:ohwell: Now I weigh one time on the same day of the week and that's it! Whatever it says, I count that! I was getting obsessive!

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