Weight loss and scales

I found this on another site and asked if I could use it for our forum - makes perfect sense to me and hope that I can remember it when I get the crazies...


The Scale LIES and Enslaves You [Edit Post]
It seems I write these words on the main board every day. For women, especially, this is a very important truth: If you judge your success by the numbers on the scale, especially if you weigh daily, you will drive yourself crazy and make yourself a slave to the scale rather than to food. 

That's silly. Why trade one kind of slavery for another? 

There are far better ways to measure your progress than by the numbers on the scale. 

1. Take your measurements. No matter where you are in the process, take a set of measurements of your choice. They should, at minimum, include: Neck, bust/chest, waist, hips (one or the other will do for guys; just pick the largest spot and measure), widest part of the thigh and at the ankle. Add up the total of these measurements, as well as recording each individual measurement. 

Now, keep track of these measurements once a month, no more often than that. 

Chances are, you will find that even if the scale isn't moving, you're losing inches. 

2. Pick the following items that fit you now: A necklace, a ring, a shirt/blouse, a pair of pants/shorts, and a pair of shoes. Try them on once a month and marvel at your progress. 

Before surgery, I used a 24" chain to wear pendants just above my neckline. Now an 18" chain puts the pendants in the right place. My engagement ring, which had been upsized twice and was getting tight again, now twirls like a Hula Hoop around my index finger. The shirt I use for comparison purposes is now so baggy, "the girls" hang out of the neck. I can almost fit myself into one leg of the selected pants, and I'm going to have to get a bloody fortune in Birkenstocks adjusted at the shoemaker so I can continue to wear them....And folks, I have almost a hundred pounds to go! 

3. Add up your total pounds lost and divide them by the number of weeks since surgery. For example: I've lost 130 pounds in six months, which is 26 weeks. 130 / 26 = 5 pounds per week average loss. 

When you're going through a "stall" or "plateau," those numbers can really bring in a reality check. We apparently NEED those times when no weight falls off for any number of biological reasons. I lost 12 pounds between my 6- and 12-week checkups. Now don't get me wrong; I was quite happy at the concept of losing two pounds per week. But I sure felt a lot better when I looked at my averages from day one. If you really need to see numbers, this is a far better way to see numbers than by getting on the scale every day and letting your mood be dependent on what it shows :-). 

4. Keep track of the percentage of excess weight lost, or %EWL. Here's the formula:

Take the number of pounds you have lost, in my case 130, and divide them by the total number of pounds you're supposed to lose, in my case 240. 

130 / 240 = 0.54 (rounded off) 

Multiply this number by 100 (or just drop the zero and the decimal point).

0.54 x 100= 54

The resulting number is the percentage of excess weight lost. Isn't that just TOO COOL?!?! Then you can party because you've gotten as far as you have in the amount of time you've had to do it . 

Listen up, friends. WLS is a lifetime thing. It's a marathon, not a sprint. There are no medals awarded for how fast you lose your excess weight. What counts is keeping.it.off. What counts is getting healthy in both body and mind, and then *staying* that way.

Read that paragraph at least three times, please. It's really, really important. 

You see, this is not about getting that nice tight butt or that bikini figure you've always dreamed about. It is probably NOT going to happen, at least not without the skilled intervention of a reconstructive surgeon, and even then, you'll have scars to obsess about. So, if you are chasing these kinds of dreams, it's time for another reality check. This is about  1)saving your life and 2)getting/improving a life. 

Please, don't sacrifice those most important goals by pining away over the scales or obsessing about excess skin--or scars, if you're able to have plastics. Celebrate how far you've come and look outward and forward!

Thanks for sharing!  Personally, I am one who chooses to weigh every day.  I don't obsess about what the scale says, especially if I go up a pound or two.  I weigh every day because it helps to keep me focused like nothing else does.  I am an emotional eater (even now at 13 months post op) and weighing every day helps to keep me motivated, especially on my more stressful and emotion filled days.  Now this doesn't work for everyone but it's what works for me.  I only have 12 more pounds to get to my goal weight but even if I don't ever see that "magical" number on the scales, I've come a long way and I am proud of my success!  Everyone's journey is different and I think that each person has to find what works for them personally.  Good luck to you!

This truly is good advise. Especially this part -
"You see, this is not about getting that nice tight butt or that bikini figure you've always dreamed about. It is probably NOT going to happen, at least not without the skilled intervention of a reconstructive surgeon, and even then, you'll have scars to obsess about. So, if you are chasing these kinds of dreams, it's time for another reality check. This is about  1)saving your life and 2)getting/improving a life. "

I want to be healthy and live as long as I can and feel good while doing it. There can't be a better reason to go through all of this.

This is terrific advice. I copied the text, put it into a WORD document, and will save it for when I need it later on. I'm several months pre-op, so I have a feeling I'm going to need to revisit this!!
Meredith in NC