The Great Scale Controversy

Opening a can of worms here ;)

Many veterans have encouraged the newbies to hide the scales because when it doesn't move, most people become very disheartened. Seems like sound and helpful advice.....so why can't I follow that advice??

Personally, I love my scale. I weigh myself every time I use the bathroom. The numbers for me are intensely interesting. They rise and fall throughout the day and have helped me learn the science of how MY body works.

Maybe I'm the only one, but for me the scale is a tool in the same way as my Fitness Pal, my step counter and my tape measure.

I have no illusions that there won't come a day when the scale is no longer my friend and I may rethink stepping on it. Does anyone else have positive scale thoughts or does it become a negative for EVERYONE?

Good Morning,

I step on my scale twice a day... first and last times of the day.  I use it as my gauge.  In the morning, If is up/down since the last day, I think of what I ate and if I got enough exercise in.  I'm one and half years out.  Even during the 3 week stall, I weighed every day... at least it wasn't going up!  I knew the scale would tip in the right direction eventually if I was eating and moving right...

Mark

Yup!!!  LOVE my scale it's as important as surgery was for me as a tool.  I weigh every day and sometimes twice a day. and like you it is also helping me know how my body works and what foods are best for my body. even through the stalls I weighed everyday. As well my scale is a wifi FitBit scale so it syncs to my cellphone. Sends me congratulations at every 5lb mark and very encouraging too.

Everyone is different. Some people can not take the ups and downs of the scale. It can be a psychological nightmare for some.

I am just over 2 yrs. I also use it as a tool. It keeps me from gaining. I have struggled with maintenance and it keeps me honest. Everyone has to decide for themselves the role a scale will play.

I've never been a "hide the scale" person, BUT I've also never been obsessed with it. I typically weigh myself each morning and then leave it. It's a tool to help me monitor my weight and that is all - no self-esteem connections, no panic over numbers. Some people become too attached to it in which case it may be necessary to step away for a bit, thankfully I've never had that issue.  Which is not to say that I haven't given it the evil-eye and kicked it on occasion. lol

I am with Karen M. I also weigh myself each morning, but, just to see where I am at. I don't get upset if it is up a couple of pounds and yes, it is exciting if it goes lower than my lowest recorded weight. But, I don't worry about it. I am almost 15 months post-op and I am fairly certain that I am done losing. So, now the scale just lets me know if I am staying on track. So far, so good. If I start creeping up, then it will be useful to help get me back in check. I have learned a lot about my body through this whole process, including what the scale tells me during the month. It is great!

If you don't weigh in the beginning, then you miss the fun and excitement of watching the scale go down.

If you don't weigh constantly you miss the upward trends that happen as time goes by.  Missing a gain leaves you with a difficult and often unsurmountable amount of weight to attempt to lose again.

Losing weight becomes much more difficult every year after surgery. 

I have resolved to step on the scale every day of my life.  If there is a one or two pound gain that lasts more than a few days, then I take steps to address that regain.  My goal is 136.  This morning I am 137. 

If I avoided the scale, I know I would be back in the 180's by now.

I agree for some it's a motivational tool and for others it can bring dred or panic.  I am 5 years + post-op and I used to weigh myself once a weel on a Sunday morning...I haven't done that since Nov 2013 and my tool is now jeans...if my jeans are getting a bit snug...it's time to snap back into reality.

It's all how you are wired and what brings you joy or what brings you apprehension...what makes you sad or happy and believe me having been in this process for roughly 7 years I have read many, many accounts from people in a stall that irritates and makes them anxious.

If anything I would ONLY weigh myself once a week...there is obsession in weighing yourself everytime you enter the bathroom (just think about it)>~!

Thank you all for your responses. I certainly wasn't expecting so many pro scale responses.

This site and all who contribute to it, are a wealth of information. I appreciate that no 2 of us have the same journey or even the same reactions to the changes.

Just a side note. My scale is in my bathroom and I pass it on the way in and the way out. Spending 3 seconds to jump on the scale is not an obsession. It's simply curiosity and a routine. I compare it to washing my hands every time I go. I don't think about why I wash, I just do it ;)