I'm posting this on my Facebook page, but I thought it would be relevant here as well.

So i'm a bit behind in posting this (almost a week, I suppose). But i've decided to give up the scale for Lent.

First of all, i'm not a religious person, per se. My family never went to church, but I did. I loved Sunday School, and continued on with being Confirmed when I was 14, and even teaching Sunday School in my early 20's, and religion kind of petered off after I got married. The United Church spoke of Lent, but as my family wasn't religious, I never really considered it (and I was happy for it, because my Catholic friends all had to give up chocolate or chips for 40 days....over a month?? no way, said the young food addict in me).

Last week we decided, at my kid's request, to have a Pancake Tuesday dinner. At the table we talked about why it was Pancake Tuesday, and Ash Wednesday and Lent. I touched on the religious aspect, but spoke more of the self-awareness and learning ways to better yourself during this period. They took it in, and talked about what they could give up, and then dismissed the idea...which was totally expected.

And with that, I decided I would not give up a food item, as in general, I do pretty well. Instead, I decided to give up my slave....my scale. This might be easy-peasy to some of you, but it's hard for me. I have used this piece of equipment to "keep me on track", but a lot of the time it just makes me feel bad, or wonder what i've done wrong, or I feel great because the right number showed up. So, even with this past weekend of not great eating, I remained off the scale. I know it would not give me a number I like, so why do I need the proof?

40 days of not-weighing in....i'll let you know how it works out.

Good for you. I must admit I am not sure I could do this. Might be worth a try

Pat. The scale, and logging into MyFitnessPal to see how many consecutive days i've done has been a bit of an obsession for me. I lost my days on MFP a few times, just by technical issues, so I had them readjust my streak, but then I actually did miss a day and I felt bad.....which is ridiculous! So far, i've been really ok without weighing myself. And I will weigh myself on the day we leave for our cruise on Good Friday. Perfect timing.

There is no way I could do this right now.  I should try giving up my coffee... the doc said I could have one a day but I find I am drinking two (total lack of energy).

Good Luck keep us up dated.

Michelle

good luck with that! Better you than me! lol!! my scale keeps me accountable... I like to weigh myself.. but if i iss a day or even 2 or 3 from being at my guys place it isn't the end of the world, either!

Wow, I'm impressed. That's a difficult thing to do. I'd be interested if, by the end of the 40 days, being free of the scale was liberating or not. The funny thing is, we usually have a sense of whether we've gained or lost even before we step on it.

Please keep us updated on what the experience is like.

I shake with the thought of not stepping on the scale for 40 days. Amazing though, before wls, I don't think I had stepped on a scale in years, on purpose of course! 

Good luck pal.

Annette 👍

That is awesome Kelly!  I don't know if I could do it for 40 days-I get on every day but usually am not surprised by the number.  I should even try it for a week and then maybe try it for 2 weeks.  Baby steps lol.  Let us know how you do. 

Thanks for your post; lent has been on my mind a lot too as I've given up a lot of bad foods/drinks that I'm thankfully no longer missing.  My surgery is in 2 days so I'm on clear liquids now-and instead of complaining I'm just blessed for what I can have.  I'm not catholic but the more into my study I get of the life of Christ, even though my family never observed lent it seems to have so much more meaning to me now; He like lots of us struggled every day too. Thanks for your post &...

the religious aspect aside, I was never a scale watcher I read TOO many threads on this board and others where people became a slave to the scale obsessing over every lb up and down, not realizing that inches and weight re-allocation also made a difference.  In the first 18months or so, I weighed myself (once a week) on a Sunday and that way I didn't drive myself crazy~!

KUDOS to you to giving up your scale...hopefully it will be longer than lent