January 1st, I weighed myself. I decided I should lose five pounds. Every day in January I weighed myself faithfully every morning and every night. Why at night? (This is where the craziness begins.) If I weighed less than three pounds more than I did in the morning, I would take a sigh of relief. If I weighed more than three pounds over what I weighed in the morning, I would stress and try to drink tons of water before going to bed. I always allow for a two pound fluctuation in either direction, come morning.
When I wake up in the morning, right before I would weigh myself, sometimes I felt "lighter" and sometimes I felt "heavier". If, when I weighed myself, I was below the two pound "comfort zone", I was in a great mood all day and because of this, allowed myself to eat whatever the heck I wanted. If I was above the two pound "comfort zone", I would be in a not so good mood all day and because of this, allowed myself to eat whatever the heck I wanted. Isn't this completely whacked? Right?
Needless to say, come January 31st I had not lost (or gained) an ounce!
I put my scale away February 1st. I'm not going to get it out for 28 days.
I have two sizes in my closet. I know if I gain or lose a pound (or five) based on how those clothes fit me. I don't think I need a scale to tell me. But, part of me thinks that (SOME) people don't weigh themselves because they are afraid to see their weight. Kind of the "what I don't know won't hurt me" attitude.
This is the longest I have gone without weighing myself on a scale. I feel so much better, not worrying what the scale is going to say. But there is a part of me that is scared to death I am going to gain ten pounds and not know it. This, again, is crazy thinking. I can't gain ten pounds and not know it! Remember, I only have two sizes in my closet.
I'm not eating food based on reward for a lower number on the scale or punishment for a higher number on the scale. I am eating much more healthy than I had been. I'm more aware of what I put in my mouth.
How often do you weigh yourself? Daily? Weekly? Does it affect you in any sort of twisted or not-so-twisted way?
I need to know.
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11 comments:
Hello! :)
I don't weigh myself...I don't own a scale nor do I get on one. I solely judge it by my clothes....and how much fat I can grab on my hips!!
I haven't owned a scale for about 3 years. The only time I get weighed is when I am at the doctor, or on my wii Fit. Even when I get on my wii Fit, I usually skip the whole weighing/BMI part.
I suffered from an eating disorder for 15 years, and part of my treatment was getting rid of my scale. I remember it being one of the most terrifying moments of my life. I soon realized that it was actually one of the most liberating things I could do for myself.
I don't know you personally, but I've been reading for long enough to know that you are a very self-aware woman. You KNOW your body. You will KNOW when you have moved outside of your "comfort zone"...that doesn't require a scale, just an intuitive mind.
I have maintained the same size (give or take a little "fluff" for winter, injury, or PMS) for over 3 years now. I couldn't really tell you what I weigh in numbers...I could probably guess...but it just isn't important to me. At. All.
I don't think much of weighting. I just go by how I look and my performance. One can be heavier but strong - so weight doesn't mean anything. I would throw this thing out. If at all I would do a body fat test once in a while.
I weigh once a week but usually I can tell if I'm losing or gaining weight. I keep a diet log as well so I know some the junk I'm putting in my body.
It depends. There have been times when I have been obsessive compulsive about weighing myself (like so bad that I would put the thing in my husband's car trunk so I couldn't weigh myself 362946273462 times a day LOL) BUT that has only been twice in my life. Both times when I was fat after having the kids. I waaayyyy overindulged during pregnancy and gained a huge amount. Like 75 extra pounds of a lot (for each kid). So I can TOTALLY understand why people get whacky about it.
But now that I'm normal weight I've gone back to my old way of thing which is "Ehhhh whatever. Keep an eye on it but don't stress". I actually ditched our scale in favor of the Body Fat Analyzer. But even before this I was only weighing myself so every often (once a week maybe?)
i dont weigh myself... we dont have a scale. BUT i keep telling my husband that i want one, he keeps saying no for those exact reasons you posted... i might have to buy one to hide :)
My husband and I weigh ourselves every AM, and sometimes more frequently to keep track of the lowest weight of the day (but not after running- being dehydrated is cheating!) We even graph it. We've been doing this for over a year now as a weight loss experiment (went low carb) so that's why we're religious about it. Before we started our diet a year ago I rarely weighed myself and so the pounds crept up on me unbeknownst. And at first, I didn't make much changes in my diet and just watched it for a couple of weeks and was perplexed when it refused to go down with only minimal changes! After all, I was limiting those cookies now! Anyway, I find it interesting to see what causes it to rise and fall.
So if you need to keep yourself honest or are curious, weigh yourself, at least occasionally. If you don't need that and it's more stressful than informative, then go by your clothes' fit.
Cheers,
Cynthia
I have gone through phases of obsessively weighing myself and basing my entire self worth on the number I saw and then phases when I avoid the scale and pretend I don't know what is happening when I eat everything in sight.
Right now, I am trying to stay away from it I have enough stuff I am obsessing about right now.
I don't own a scale. I haven't known exactly how much I weigh for years. I'm with Southbay Girl-- I judge by my clothes, but pretty much my weight hasn't really changed in years anyway, as I've been a runner/regular exerciser + pretty healthy eater for a loooooong time. It goes down if I am running more/longer, but it doesn't fluctuate excessively. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter. I know I'm not ever going to get into the unhealthy range, and the only person who will really notice that the scale has moved is me. Nobody else really cares. Attractiveness has so much more to do with what you project than a number on a scale. And I haven't had any complaints lately in that department, so I'll just carry on as before.
You're a beautiful person, Jo Lynn. Period. Numbers have nothing to do with it.
I don't bother weighing myself... really ever.
Here is a great post on the same topic from another blog I read, check it out:
http://eileenswanson.blogspot.com/2009/02/is-it-really-just-number.html
Cheers,
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