Scale obsessing and goals - Trust yourself!

[tisseltass]

Hi all,

Now this is something I have been thinking about for a while. You know how you work so hard for a week, you get on the scale and feel like you deserve this huge loss? Any one regocinze that?

I think I realized something that I felt was really important to me, so I wanted to share it with you guys and see if you agreed.

So, I see a lot of people that weigh-in _a lot_! For some, several times a day. You probably know that your weight fluctuates loads during one day, depending on carb storage, water volume and so on. So my question is, when you step on that scale ask your self why? If you know that you have not been eating well, would you still get up on the scale several times a day? Do you use the scale as a confirmation that you are doing something right? Is the scale your reward for doing such a good job during the day? Then you will get disappointed. Your scale does not tell you the truth on what you are doing, it’s not the pat on the back that you need! If you know that you are on the right track and doing the right things, sticking to your diet and healthy lifestyle then what you need to do is continue! Not get your confidence from a scale!

For me, I now weigh in every two-weeks. Sometimes when I feel bloated, heavy or if i’m on my period, I step on the scale basically to learn how my body works and reacts to different situations but it’s not my motivation! My motivation is that I every day look back at my short term goals, and every day for each goal I have lived up to I think YEY me! Today I kept to my diet and i biked everywhere! Because I know the goals I have set are right and if I just keep doing them I will loose weight, this is my trust, this is where I get my confidence and how I motivate myself not by a number on a scale. So trust yourself! Make good realistic goals that you know are right and give yourself a big pat on the back for every day you archive them! Trust yourself - not your scale.

 

[beckyn22]

Thank you for this tisseltass. This is good advice. I have managed to stick to weighing myself once a week and am finding a pattern that I gain when I have been on plan 100% occasionally. I am toying with weighing myself monthly and measuring myself weekly...I think I would be more motivated, but will need to be very strong willed to keep away from the scales for so long!! xxx

 

[RosaxEx]

this is so true! I used to weigh myself constantly then found it was just obsessive and no good, I would be disheartened all week thinking I hadn't lost and then on weigh in I would have lost say 4lb you need to give yourself that gap, one thing I do still do though is I have weigh in of a morning and then I weigh myself that night too, purely out of curiosity to see what the difference is!

 

[beckyn22]

I read something on the internet by someone who said you should weigh yourself every day so you get used to your body's changes. :hmm:. Still think you get depressed if you do that! Know what you mean about the curiosity factor 'tho!! xxx

 

[BlondieChocoholic!]

OMGracious! I completely agree!
In fact i agree so much that i have PUT MY SCALES AWAY this year! Banished to another bathroom at least!
and so far i have only wanted to stand on them once and i have stopped beating myself up about my weight cos i have no exact idea of what i am in stones and lbs! and the freedom is quite nice!
I agree with 'trust yourself' cos ultimately you 'know' where you are heading (up or down!) and whether you think you look nice or how well your clothes fit ...
it certainly is a mindset thing and i think i feel better in myself and proud of myself for not jumping on and off my scales for the last 7 weeks!

 

[fatmoo]

I was like that and felt so low when i didnt drop down to the next stone, so iv changed my scales to just weigh me in lbs its made the difference daft as it sounds.

 

[Bubblegum_87]

I agree, this is great advice. I used to weight myself several times a day and get really disheartened when I didn't see the number on the scale go down. I always knew that weight fluctuates for a number of reasons so only watching the scales wasn't the best or most reliable way to gauge progress, but I couldn't stop myself feeling so disappointed - I'd tell myself that it just wasn't working and then give up. Only to regret my decision later on, thinking if I had only stuck with it last time (and the time before that, and the time before that etc etc..) I could be at my ideal weight now. And then I'd just end up feeling worse. This time I'm trying to weigh myself monthly, and to stop any temptation, I keep them out of sight and in a difficult to reach place just to make it much more of a hassle to bring out frequently lol. I'm also taking progress pictures which seems to spur me on much more than any numbers on a scale.

 

[beckyn22]

Just a thought ladies...get the tape measures out. Measured myself the other day and found I had lost a total of 11 inches from bust, waist, hips (2 inches each) and tummy (5 inches) but...had actually on lost 5lbs since I had last measured myself. Makes you think xxx

 

[RosaxEx]

I measured myself after I had lost my first half stone and had gained about 4CM don't know how that worked when I had gotten back into my size 16s though :s

 

[beckyn22]

I measured myself after I had lost my first half stone and had gained about 4CM don't know how that worked when I had gotten back into my size 16s though :s

Was it near TOTM hun? Blimey, we girlies can't win can we?!! xxx

 

[RosaxEx]

Nope don't think so, I probably measured wrong haha gonna start them from sratch I think

 

[Pipaluk]

This is so true! I weighed myself morning and night everyday (even though my official weigh in isn't till Thursday nights - at my Slimming World meeting). I've broke out that habit now. I do it because I want to make sure that I am doing something right which last week proved me wrong, I weighed myself at home and thought I had lost but was still the same at my Slimming World weigh in. So far this week I haven't weighed myself, so I am feeling pretty proud of myself if I do start again, I am going to end up giving my scales away

 

[monicab]

A good thread here

 

[beckyn22]

This is so true! I weighed myself morning and night everyday (even though my official weigh in isn't till Thursday nights - at my Slimming World meeting). I've broke out that habit now. I do it because I want to make sure that I am doing something right which last week proved me wrong, I weighed myself at home and thought I had lost but was still the same at my Slimming World weigh in. So far this week I haven't weighed myself, so I am feeling pretty proud of myself if I do start again, I am going to end up giving my scales away

Don't blame you hun. If you're going to class, prob better to just rely on their scales xxx

 

[wannabe_yummy_mummy]

Well said!

It's a great way to look at things, how your body has changed and being proud, rather than obsessing over a figure that can depress you, and hold you back

 

[JoozzyJoo]

I so needed to read this post! I've been weighing myself once a week and have steadily been losing (2lb a week). The last 2 weeks i've sts despite sticking to my calorie allowance. Last week I was like "oh well, it happens, keep to it". But then when I sts this week too I was really angry. Stress in work hasn't helped either, I was getting into my car yesterday lunchtime to go get some fatty foods (even though I had made a lovely home made chicken salad), but luckily DH rang at that point and talked me out of it.
I've sabotaged myself soooo many times in the past, just because of what the scales say.
Thanks to DH I didnt stuff myself, and now reading this thread, I know not to obsess over the scales!

 

[Nomsad]

when I'm in my size 14 wedding dress I really dont care what weight I am I'm rowing to get rid of excess fat, inches and tone saggy skin you can weigh heavy but be quite lean and small also if you lose fat to quickly sometimes empty fat cells temporarily fill with water, strange but true. you really dont need to be a slave to a number.............. lets throw our scales away!

 

[comperoo]

I know what you mean, we have scales in work because the girls are all doing their own diet club and I get in and sneak a peak on there first thing on a Monday and my weigh in day is Wednesday, I also found myself going on them on Friday, had a bad weekend this weekend because of mothers day but did 8 mile walk stayed the same as my Weds weighin but because I weighed on Friday I know I put a lb on if I had left off weighing from Weds to Weds I would not have noticed the up and down and would not be beating myself up over it on the plus side I am noticing my body toning up which is good

 

[Bun]

I'm weighing weekly at the moment (re-started 01/03/12) but hope to drop this down to once a month once I'm sure I'm in the groove. I weigh at Boots so get it on a printout - no jumping on and off my home ones getting a slightly different result each time - and somehow the printed record showing loss from weigh to weigh seems more official and more incentive to keep to it rather than spoil the future printouts with a gain. Everyone finds what works best for them along the way I think. I daren't measure... it'd be too depressing!

 

[Roo Swims With Fish]

Hi I'm new - enjoying getting inspiration here and so glad to read this thread and see that it is not just me. I actually got on the scales after an interval of 4 hours the other and felt disappointed! My last weigh in was Tues at the doctors (I am on Orlistat). Lost 15lbs in 2 months and he told me not to expect to get the same results anymore. Was in tears afterwards! But reading this I think I'll cut down on the obsessive weighing.