Stop Scale Obsession - easier said than done

Stop Scale Obsession

Do you weigh yourself every day? Do you worry about even the slightest change in your weight? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you may be obsessing over the scale — and if you're trying to maintain healthy habits, this behavior can actually be counterproductive.

The truth is, your weight may change from day to day for many reasons. Fluid retention, hormonal fluctuations, constipation, and even the food you eat right before stepping on the scale can cause daily ups and downs. These variations can be misleading and worrisome if you don't understand them. For an accurate measurement of your weight, weigh yourself only once each week and on the same scale every time (different scales may give different readings). An even better method of measuring your success is to let your belt be your guide. If your clothes fit better and you feel better, then you're getting healthier — even if the bathroom scale doesn't show big changes.

Ultimately, it's up to you to stop scale obsession. Weight loss takes time, so patience is required. Dr. Agatston, preventive cardiologist and author of The South Beach Diet says, "It's a marathon, not a sprint." Remember, if you're practicing weight-healthy habits like those recommended by the South Beach Diet, you will enjoy better health, and the extra pounds will come off in the process — whether you step on the scale every day or never again.

 

Boner....kudos to you for your excellent post!!!!  I am one who lives by the scale (I usually check every other day).  I try to only get on first thing in the morning for the sake of continuity....but to be honest, what the scale reads determines how my day will go.  If it is a weight that I am tolerant of...then I am content (not happy, but content).  If it is higher then I want, that generally sets the negative tone for the day.  Although, I really try and guage my weight on how my clothes feel, I still am obsessed with the scale.  Needless to say, your post is excellent...great reminder for those of us who should know better...and excellent input for the newbies!!!!!

Thansk, Daniel. You and I are within one day of our WLS and I weighed every day until about 6 months ago when I backed off to once a week. Monday morning after I shower and in the buff. This allows me to see what the damage was over the weekend, if any.  Life the article said, my weight can fluctuate every day for the reasons mentioned so I decided not to fret about it. If on Monday, I see my weight has elevated above my personal "red line" of 220 pounds, I eat salads and bump up the exercise during the week. I think the "how the clothes fit" is a good barameter as well...... To me, the key is understanding your weight can change up or down daily so that's why Dx's weekly weigh in is so important. Once a week boys and that will give you the real "tale of the tape." That's not to say you shouldn't weigh every day if you so choose or 20 times a day if you so desire. The point is don't stress if you see your weight has gone up a few pounds during the two minutes since you last weighed.  That Dx is one smart cookie, isn't he?  Boner

As soon as I saw this post I knew everyone would agree with it so here to present the other viewpoint, don't ignore your scale.

Yeah, I'm the guy who just saw his weight not budge for 4 days, but I found it interesting, it didn't make ruin my day. If you can take it with a grain of salt realizing you have fluctuations based on water weight (as I realized it must have been the sodium immediately) then when is more information bad?

You know when stepping on the scale has really depressed me in the past? When I haven't touched it for two weeks, then all of the sudden I step on it and find I've gained 5-10lbs (I gain about 5lbs a week when things are going bad diet wise). Everybody says see how your clothes fit, well maybe I don't wear tight enough clothes but I don't feel a damn thing when my weight changes 10 lbs, don't see it either, and since my only way to keep and eye on it is the scale I find when I ignore the scale too long I put on massive weight. Recently, before WLS (and one of the reasons I decided to finally go for it) I had stayed off the scale for a month, waaaaay to long. I stepped on it, realized I had gained 20lbs, and it felt so hopeless I just wanted to say screw it and eat some more. When I step on the scale after a few days and see I've gained a couple of pounds it's much easier to say I need to get back on top of it and drop two pounds than twenty. Yeah, this is coming from a guy who had to resort to surgery but it is also coming from a guy who maintained 100lbs weight loss for two years when I was stepping on the scale daily, and gained it all back when I decided I didn't care anymore and put the scale away.

My two cents, if you keep a clear head about it anywhere from daily to weekly is good, but no way I'd let it go past weekly. Finding you have gained two pounds might put you in a bad mood for the day and make you lay off the mayo, but finding you've gained 10 lbs can be enough to rob you of hope and feel powerless to control yourself.

crashing, you sound just like me.  If I stayed off the scale, I gained 30 pounds seemingly within a few weeks.  If I decided I wasn't going to worry about my weight, it came "packing" back in with me.  In the past it seems I've had to watch it or it took over.  There has *never* been any middle ground for me.  That's why I had surgery, too.  It will be the tool that helps me manage my weight responsibly.   I don't want that powerless feeling you described (and I know so well) to come back.

I think that's the key, to measure, but not take action knowing each measurement is not accurate, but the trending does tend to be accurate. I'm with you on this one, three days in the down I start smiling, three days up I start working.

Weigh once a day?  Your kidding right.  I have been checking at least twice a day and even more than that on my days off. My wife has threaten to throw it in the trash. I am new to the journey and I know I have to grow up and get rid of my security blanket (the scale), but it is hard.  I love it when it is lower. I am in new terrority (below 300 pounds) so I am like a kid with a new toy.  Please Help. LOL

I'm a daily weigher myself. I've been told time and time again to lay off the scale because it could become an obsession. The way I look at it is that if I am obsessing about the scale then I am making my success a key part of my daily routine. After first having surgery, weighing daily was wonderful. I could see the numbers changing regularly and it helped me to know I was on the right track. When, after a few months out, I hit some plateaus weighing myself daily let me know what changes I was making were working and which ones weren't. I logged a lot of what I was eating back then so being able to compare what I was eating with how the scale was moving helped me make better choices. I know that it can become a crutch but as long as I stick to once a day - just before my shower- then I feel like I'm OK.

Now that I am at a point where I am happy with my current weight I use the scale to insure that I am not letting all my hard work hit the way side. If I see trending in either direction I can make the necessary changes in diet and exercise. The way I see it- I don't want to go back. I've read stories online and heard them through the surgeon's  office that people go through the whole process, lose a bunch of weight, and then gain it back. I want to take every precaution to insure that doesn't happen. If that means monitoring my weight daily, so be it.

So, that's my story.. and I'm stickin' to it..

BUT, I'm a firm believer in "to each his own".

 

 

 

Before I started this journey I knew from previous diets that I'd let that scale **** with my head if I wasn't careful, so I bought a new scale and put it on top of the refridgerator where I can't see it. I allow myself to weigh twice a month and that's it. I also measure chest, abs, hips and upper thighs on those days to check the inches. Everybody has their own personal preferences, but making myself stick to a predetermined schedule with the scale and tape is the only way for me. I'll be reporting in this next Monday on the DX thread as that is my anniversary and one of my two designated days. Once I get to goal, I'l probably start weighing weakly just so I can stop an upward trend before it gets going.  But I will admit that on weigh day, I do weigh more than once. A couple of weeks ago I wake up about 4:30 and remember that it's weigh day and so I go get the scale of the fridge and put it on the floor and click it on and step up on it and it reads 315.2. I'm pretty pumped. That's about 22 lbs over the previous 30 days. I go back to bed and try to sleep but can't and during the next 2 hours I get up and take two pretty good sized ****** After the second one I'm thinking I might be down to 314 or maybe even 313. Nope, I'd gained up to 315.8. I claimed 315 instead of rounding up though.