Thursday, March 25, 2010

Scale Obsessed.

Hello everyone!

Today I want to talk about scale obsession.  I'm going to be honest and admit that I'm totally, TOTALLY obsessed with the scale.  I think it's something that we don't like to talk about.  We all know we should only weigh once a week, or even only once a month.  We post about our weight loss journeys and our eating, and working out and we are bold and up front with our numbers about those things.  "I ate 1650 calories today, and here's the breakdown."  "I ran for 20 minutes and then did weight training, and then did work on the bosu ball, and I burned 478 calories!"  "I ate 10.2 grams of figs today."

But for me, the numbers I get most obsessed with are the ones on the scale.  My scale.  The scale at my brother's house.  My parent's scale (it's the same scale as mine, so I always enjoy weighing in on that one.)  The scale at the gym.  The doctor's office scale.

I weigh myself at least twice a day, sometimes three to four times a day.  I weigh in my underwear in the morning after I go to the bathroom.  That is my "weigh-in" weight any time I update you guys.  Today that number is 169.4!  (hurrah!)

I then weigh at some point in the evening, just to see what effect the food I've eaten thus far has had on my body.  I feel like it gives me a handle on how much I've been eating and what kind of sodium I'm consuming.  Of course, if I tracked my food and all those numbers I would KNOW what those actual numbers are, but I don't do that.  And then I weigh myself before I go to bed when I'm in my pajamas.  I like to see the difference between night-time weight and morning weight.

I've heard lots of advice from people in their blogs or on forums about weighing in.  Weight fluctuates so much that you really can't get a good grip on your overall weight loss week to week when you're weighing in every day.  It can be discouraging.  It's not a good thing, because it can make you really obsessed with the number on the scale instead of how your clothes fit, how you feel and how much more you can work out than you used to be able to.  But for me, I find that constantly keeping my ass on the scale is the biggest thing that keeps me motivated to stay on track.  It's the series of days that I don't weigh in that makes me slack off.  When I feel "okay" in my jeans, or when I feel pretty, or my face doesn't feel bloated... those are the times I tend to slip and cheat just because I'm not face to face with the digital box that says "170" on it.

For me, I love the weighing in.  It keeps me focused.  But that's just me.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who does it, so what about you?

~J

39 comments:

Barrie said...

I was hoping I wasn't the only one! I'm the world's worst! I will weigh myself after I get dressed to see how much my clothes may weigh. The morning weigh in is my favorite because its always the smallest. And any weigh in during or just before 'that time of the month' is the most discouraging. Its strange what a significant difference the time of the month really makes. But seeing that daily difference is what keeps me working for it every day. I think "would I rather eat this donut or be satisfied when I step on the scale tomorrow". The scale wins every time, well, almost. But its all about that instant gratification we all want so badly.

Julia said...

I know that you and I have already talked about this subject and you know that I am the same way. Secretly I weigh in like 5 times a day. I don't get mad or frustrated with the number other then my "real" Monday morning weigh-in weight.) I think, rather, that I am just curious about how certain stimuli (like water and food) affect my weight.

I can't lie, checking the scale is addicting. This "trait" might just be part of our genes. I am obsessive about other things in life as well - like I never think the step or calorie count is good enough on my BodyBugg. I am always challenging things and trying to be better.

Watching the scale hinders some people but it works for me. I enjoy feeling like (for the most part) I am in control, I have the power to make my weight go down (and unfortunately, up as well.)

(BTW, congrats on the continued loss. You are so close to goal. . . seriously, I am so amazed, inspired, and proud of you!)

Julia
http://jewliagoulia.blogspot.com

Loser Girl Jess said...

For some reason I don't own a scale. I know it would be a one time investment, so I don't have to trek to the gym once a week to weigh-in (I have been known to walk into the gym for this purpose alone, and walk right out).

We all have different ways of staying focused on our goals, and checking in on progress, so if constant weighing in is your technique, continue! Prosper! Enjoy!

Just Me said...

You know I used to be a numbers person, but lately I focus more on how my clothes fit. Because sometimes I am not losing weight but i might lose inches or centimeters more likely, and my favorite jeans seem to make me feel lighter than that stupid scale! Sometimes I swear the number goes up just to spite me even when I am doing so well at the gym and eating!

Morgan said...

Um, I had my husband hide my scale last Thursday because my obsession with it was flirting with unhealthy. Ok, it wasn't flirting. It had its skirt up around its waist and its panties down. Yup. So anyways, mine is away until next Thursday, when I will check in and see how the two weeks went. The first few days, I would look at its usual spot on the bathroom floor and feel lonely and sad and had to seriously fight off looking for it. Every morning I still think "time to weigh myself" right after I pee, but I'm not thinking about it constantly. We'll see how it goes when I get it back.

Loving my Complicated Life! said...

Scale Stalker right here! I watch the scale like crazy some weeks and then others I hide from it1 I weigh naked, with clothes, with shoes, without shoes. I weigh after I pee and before I shower. I am so glad I am not the only one, and my Bf will be too. He thinks I am addicted... well maybe he is right. If it works for you no worries! Watching your weight is a good thing! Thanks for being honest for all of us Scale Stalkers!

Allison

NJ said...

I try to keep away from it. I opt to go by measurements more and also how my clothes feel. My husband however has been obsessed since he slipped a disk. at 50 years old he'd been playing hockey 2-3 times a week. he's never had a weight problem and he is scared.

Kelly@MentalGarbage said...

I try to weigh only once a day... By during that one time, I will weigh 3 times in a row to make sure that the reading is consistent... And it's always first thing in the morning in my underwear after going to the bathroom... hahaha

I try not to let the number I see each day bother me as long as it is down more than up...

Beth Allums said...

I'm recovering - trying only to get the am nude weigh in and leave it be - but I do it everyday. Life was simpler when I weighed in at a center and didn't own a scale.

Mrs. Prissy Pants said...

I weigh around 3 times a day. My husband sometimes hides the scale so I can't find it. The scale is my best friend and worst enemy given the day. I have been known to sing its praises and also to fling it across the room and cuss it loudly. I def. do NOT have a healthy relationship with the scale!

Monica said...

You're singing my song!! I've weighed myself everyday for the past 2-3 years.

Anonymous said...

When I used the wii fit, I weighed myself everyday. The game makes a nice graphic with your data and you can always see how far or close you are to your goal.

Rebecca Yale said...

Its great of you to be that honest, but this obsession is so unhealthy! I was once like you and i can tell you that you can't keep it up forever and when you stop those days you "slack off" will grow more and more and you will gain it back and then some, it happened to me! You need to find a healthier relationship with food and weight and let your body find its more natural place, its a long process, but worth it in the end.

Unknown said...

There's nothing more satisfying than hopping on that scale and seeing a smaller number. It's definitely one of my top motivational tools - I'm on there every morning and sometimes at night (I have also been known to hop on the scales should I have to get up during the night to pee).

But, I know there are daily fluctuations, and only really take notice of where the scales are on Saturday mornings.

Cheers
Pen
http://baberestorationproject.blogspot.com/

Claire Dawn said...

It's always the things you're not supposed to do that get you. But then if they didn't get you, they wouldn't be the things you're not supposed to do, just the things you don't do. lol. That's confusing, eh?

rach said...

Yeah, I do this. And I absolutely agree - it's the thing that keeps me on track. It's all about accountability, and if getting on the scale every day works for that, why not?

Sarah said...

I weigh myself before I go to bed and then in the morning to see how much it goes down during the night. Sometimes during the day I will weigh myself randomly.

Anonymous said...

I step on the scale at least every morning, sometimes every morning and every afternoon, sometimes every morning afternoon and evening.

I don't like surprises. I always want to just know what's going on. I get annoyed when my BFF (who is attempting her own weight loss journey but is really struggling) says she's afraid to get on the scale. Why give all that power to a number? To me, it's a tool like just like Jewlia's BodyBugg or my mom's pedometer or whatever.

I also named my scale. I love him.

Crystal said...

I only weigh in once a week, on Saturdays...and I look forward to that day all week and the joy I'll feel (hopefully) when I see that number go down 2-4lbs. Which it has been so far. But I'm almost to the 40lb mark and that's when things usually slow down for me. Not looking forward to that part.

But I know most people are just as obsessed with the scale as you are, actually last time I dieted I weighed like you. Several times a day, and I got discouraged. This time I made sure I don't even have a scale in the house. I have to go to my Mom's to weigh in. It helps. :)

Elisabeth @ joggerslife.com said...

Everyone hates me when I say this, but scales are THE DEVIL. Throw your scale away, and never look back. We do not need scales for food or for our bodies!

I was treated for a 15-year eating disorder, and I've been recovered for almost 4 years. I learned how to intuitively eat, and I can honestly tell you that it is the ONLY way to go. Eating is no longer a compulsion, and the only way that it can stop being a compulsion is if we stop dieting.

I've only been weighed at the doctor's office since I 'graduated' from treatment 2 years ago. I have been wearing the same clothes for 4 years. In fact, today, I'm wearing a pair of jeans that I bought during my treatment in 2006.

Being chained to a scale (or any other mechanism of the like) is damning. Personally, my entire frame of mind would be dictated by the scale, and whether or not I had been "bad" or "good" on any given day. Food is not bad or good. It's just food. Weight is not bad or good. It's just weight. When I stopped putting so much emphasis on the mechanics of losing weight and actually focused on WHY I was so obsessed with it, my weight stopped being a struggle.

Dieting was a distraction for me. It kept me from really looking at the pieces of myself that I was trying to fill with food.

BonusLonessMom said...

I have a love/hate relationship with my scale... I love to get on it, especially when i feel i have done well for a couple of days. But i hate when the numbers appear... for the last 2 months!! its been the same number :( But i agree, most of the time i weigh in just about every day, more than once... i am glad i am not alone :)


http://losingthefatkid.blogspot.com

wahoostampingirl said...

I weigh in at least twice a day and sometimes I even weigh myself before and after my shower. I think it's funny that sometimes I'll lose weight in the shower and other times I'll gain. I've been following WW for 2 1/2 years and I've lost 92 lbs., but it's the daily weighing that really motivates me to keep going. Right now, I seem to be in the middle of a mini plateau (3 weeks) and the scale won't drop below 158, but I know one morning soon, it will be good to me!

Gabi said...

I'm with you. It's so easy for me to slip up and then rationalize by telling myself I still have 3 days until weigh in. I did that for so long and it got me nowhere. Daily weigh ins help me avoid that and help me stay on track. It's a constant reminder that I need to stay on track in order to get the results I want.
It's perfectly healthy. Until you start bedazzling your scale and referring to it as your bff. Not that I would ever do that.

Ex Yo-Yo Dieter Debbie said...

First, congrats on your weight loss!

I weigh every morning, right after I go to the bathroom, naked (I mean, my underwear could weigh 3 lbs...) :)

Weighing everyday keeps me accountable. The monthly hormone-related fluctuations fascinate me (and infuriate me, too).

On Wii Fit, I always take off the 4 lbs, for heavy clothing. My six year old called me out on it the other day and said "Hey, you're not wearing a sweater!". But I started weighing on Wii Fit taking off 4 lbs, and will continue to do so until the darn thing tells me I'm a normal weight! (Which apparently is 129 lbs if you're 5'4"...a long way from the 146 lbs at WW).

My name is Debbie and I'm a "weigher".

Stages of Change said...

Having read hundreds if not thousands of takes on it over the last year and a half of reading weight loss blogs and comments, my opinion of daily (or mutliple times daily) weighing as a negative thing has been affirmed in a big way.

I think that weighing in so often, for most people, becomes a sort of emotional barometer: if I'm down, I'm happy! if I'm up, I'm sad/angry. And I see no value in gauging if you're up or down daily or throughout the day because it's not accurate. Which is, well, the bottom line. Having lived an extremely...extreme life in so many ways for so long, I know that moderation is the key. Weighing so often is extreme.

Anyway, the only situation I would believe weighing daily, or more frequently, is an okay thing for a person is if it genuinely doesn't affect them at all emotionally. Like, really doesn't. HOWEVER, I believe there can barely be any people like that out there because if it DIDN'T affect people emotionally in some way, there would be no compulsion to do it in the first place.

Ashleigh said...

Hey Jenn, I, too, am 169.4 right now. I am down 11.2lbs. I am totally obsessed by the scale...mostly in the morning, though I do weigh before I go t bed and if I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. I wait to eat breakffast until I am sure that I have gotten what I believe is my true low for the day, i.e. after a fruitful bathroom incident...I can totally relate!

~ugly girl with a beautiful heart~ said...

I am also scale obsessed. I'm an evening and morning weigher, sometimes mid day before shower etc. Hubby's actually taken away my scale and hidden it from me before.

Unknown said...

Sounds like I do about the same. Weight in the morning and going to the bathroom and I even breath out (like that's going to make a difference?!) LOL! Then maybe 2 more times that day. It really doesn't reflect my mood or eating at all it's just kind of a habit I have now after I go to the bathroom.

my blog: http://mollymariegetshealthy.com

XOXO MOLLY MARIE

Kimberly said...

I hate being so enamored with the scale; the thing is making me crazy! I weigh all the time! It's madness! It doesn't make me feel good, it doesn't motivate me...mostly it pisses me off when it doesn't move enough for me! I'm close to 40 pounds down and the closer I get to my short term goals, the more scale-obsessed I become.

Dawn Oglesby said...

I weigh myself naked, clothed, before pooping, after pooping, after sex, after I eat too much, after Step class. I don't care too much unless it is Monday am and it hasn't moved.

A Fitness Minute with Pat Anderson said...

It's okay to weigh yourself daily. most successful dieters do. Who cares if you're addicted to it. If it works for you, go for it! Enjoyed visiting your blog.
Pat

Kristy @Loveandblasphemy said...

I would drive myself insane if I did that, but if it works for you, it works for you! You seem to have had great results! You can have my scale and I'll just stick my head in the sand. :)

Carrie said...

I used to be obsessed with the scale. I'm just not anymore, especially since I started jogging. I find I'm gaining muscle. The jeans I bought right before Tahoe fit better and are lose now, yet I've not lost any actual weight on the scale. I weigh in once a week and sometimes once during the week in the morning, but this is not what dictates my mood. It was hard though to detach myself from the scale. I entered a no-scale challenge last July and didn't weigh for a month. I had to have my husband lock the thing in his trunk and take it to work. But as time went on, I slowly realized I did not need it. At the end of one month I was excited to weigh in, but it didn't hold as much power over me anymore. I lost 5lbs that month, whether I weighed or not...that five pounds was coming off, because I was taking care of business in other areas. So I try now to let it be what it is, just *one* way to measure my successes and hold me accountable. It has definitely been a great tool this past month as I have been maintaining my weight. But again, I shoot for once a week.

Trainer T.s Fitness said...

When training hard I do weigh in daily and post on my blogs.

However I only to my stats every Friday morning once a week. Same time and same consistancy, no food and nude.

Many people even do to the points I just do to the 1/2 lb marker, that way I am not over-ly pounding myself.

Its what works for you though, really that keeps you going and motivated right? Why change what works.

Great blog!

Anonymous said...

I guess I don't have an obsession with my scale, but I check my weight every now and then.

Cole Walter Mellon said...

For my official weigh-in, I make sure I step on the scale at the same time of day each week. I discovered that my weight fluctuates wildly during the day for unfathomable reasons. For instance, I'll consistantly weigh 4 lbs more right before going to bed than I will immediately after I get out of bed. Maybe I'm sleep-jogging?

Fit and Fashionable said...

I'm totally the same way! At least, when I am watching my weight, and consistently weighing in. When I take a break for a while, and feel like I've gained weight, then I put off weighing for forever! Once I start back again, though, it's at least once every day, if not more!

ARJules said...

I don't have a problem! I don't! I can quit any time I want to. No really... wait... what are you doing?? Where are you taking my scale?? You can't take my scale! It's MY scale! HEY! Do go out that door! *sounds of tackling and struggling*

*petting scale* I'm sorry babycakes. Did that mean woman try to take you away from me?? Don't worry - let's go and see if I've lost any weight since this morning. Okay pumpkins??

*turns around and gives a strong glare at the would-be scale abductor* You should be ashamed.

Alicia said...

You might consider checking your measurements rather than the scale. The scale just tells you your total weight, whereas taking measurements tells you about how much your body has actually changed. It's more practical than regular body fat testing.