Is this the right place for this?

[kayceear]

Does anyone have advise on scale hopping? I am pretty obsessed about getting on it at least 1 time a day and sometimes 2-3. I am encouraged as it goes down day by day but easily become discouraged as it slows or stops. I think it
stems from my DH asking me every morning how my weight is and it just became a habit to step on the scales. (NOW I CAN'T STOP)! Thanks to all who post.

[fluffyman]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

Kay,

First of all, you have done awesome losing all that weight. Secondly, with 18.5 pounds to get to goal, your weightloss will slow down. You just don't have as much fat to lose. Hopping on a scale daily or more often will drive you crazy. What you ate for dinner or drank during the day will cause fluctuations. So will water retention or exercise. If you follow your plan, a weekly weigh in at the same time every week will show a truer weight loss and provide you with more motivation than discouragement.

Keep up the good work - you are doing a great job!

[2big4mysize]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

there is nothing wrong with jumping on the scales a billion times a day. The problem is how you react to the number you see. If you allow it to rule how you value your self and all the hardwork you have done on your Atkins by its measure of the gravitational pull on your mass then you need to stay off it and try using your tapemeasure and/or the fit of your clothes as the measure of how you are doing.
On Atkins we morph or body mass. We shed fat mass, add muscle mass, and fluid mass is constantly fluctuating. You can be down fat mass up in fluid mass and muscle mass and not even know it from the scale number.
Remember too nobody sees the scale number when you walk in they see the healthier smaller you coming in that door. so in a very kind waty ask your husband to use a different word to ask you about your healtheir new way of eating and exercising. Maybe he could ask how your workout went?

[kayceear]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

Okay, I will not step on the scales again till day 7. That is next Tues. I will try to slowly wean myself off the scales so often...till finally I'm weighing only 1 time a week. Wish me luck.

[boonie stomper]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

You can dance on the scales - laugh as the numbers go up and down. You can tilt your feet inward to "gain" and outward to "lose" (at least on my bathroom scale you can). You can time your weighing to achieve the lowest number, ie, after using the bathroom and then drink a bunch of salty water and try again to see how much you gained. Or vice-versa - dehydrate yourself to force a new low. It's just plain silly. I do it anyway; just have learned not to take those numbers too seriously, if WOE is still OK.

Shucks, last night I erupted WOO-HOO! because I'd finally gotten the number down below 200! This morning, 204. I must have drank a lot of water in the middle of the night, plus it got retained due to salty porkskins yesterday.

At least this addiction will not make you gain weight - the pork skins may be another story....

[cristylp]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

I'm a scale hopper too. I am on and off that thing 5 times a day. I really try to just do it once a day but I haven't managed to go days at a time without getting on there. It discourages me when it's up in the evening (and it IS going to be up in the evening!)

Just don't let it rule you and keep on with the program!

[booklady]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

I keep it out of the bathroom and only bring it in in the morning and weigh on it and take it back out. I like to weight daily as I do averaging to see how much I really lose a week. Weighing later in the day is really pointless as once you start eating and drinking you are going to weigh more. Years ago when I tried weight watchers, they said not to drink for an hour or so before the weigh in as a glass of water could add a pound. So, you can see weighing more than once a day will not be accurate.
I plan on weighing daily even after goal so I never gain it back again. I will keep it closely monitored. I do not let the number upset me, tom, bathroom problems or eating too much salt can all make you go up a bit or stay the same. I notice I go up and down and when I go up for a day or two, I usually have a little whoosh afteward.
I personally need the feedback I get daily but I work hard to not let it bug me when I do not like what it says. Excercise and building muscle can also make it go up even though you lost fat. It is a tool, not always accurate based on the things that can unbalance your system, but if you weigh every day and add them up every seven days and then divide by seven you will get your average for the week, starting week two, you can see how much you have lost on average, I do not necisarily go by that days weight. I do post my weight daily at home and often online, but I consider the avaeraged weight the accurate one.
This works for me, you have to find what works for you.
Stephie

[Angel_Eyes18]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

The obvious answer is what you already know. No one can make you stop steping up on the scale. Besides.

I read somewhere and I tested my on theory that after you exercise and work your muscles you weigh more. It's like that if many different situations.

Water weight
After eating
after drinking alot of water
Sodium
Or certain time of the day

I believe we weigh less in the morning then we do in the evening.

[Tomorrow_I'll_Be_Perfect]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

Hi there, I'm a scale hopper too. There is an exception to this though. When I'm not being careful about what I eat and I'm in binge mode I won't go near a scale. Hmmm, that tells me a lot. It's okay to step on the scale when you use it as a tool (that theme has been talked about alot in the thread, and for good reason). The day I stop stepping on it is the day I don't care what I'm putting in my mouth. So for me, using the scale goes hand in hand with taking care of myself.

I too keep a weekly and monthly average. I have a spreadsheet I set up and mark my morning weight (after peeing) for each day of the month. I keep a tally of the weekly average and the monthly average. I haven't lost any weight for two weeks now, but I'm still 2 pounds lighter (on average) than I was last month. That's a powerful tool when you "think" you've gained or lost more than you really have.

The only thing I would change about my scale habits now is to get one that reports partial pounds instead of just whole pounds. That drives me nuts!

[meaty]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

I have been using the keto-sticks every morning instead of the scale. If I'm in ketosis that means I'm eating correctly and burning fat. That scale can really drive you crazy. I plan to only weigh every other week. I put my scale in the garage to keep from getting on everyday.

[CATBLUE]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

Okay, I will not step on the scales again till day 7. That is next Tues. I will try to slowly wean myself off the scales so often...till finally I'm weighing only 1 time a week. Wish me luck.

I know this is silly.. But it seems to help encourage me when I get on the scale every day... If its up or the same it tells me I didn't quite get my water or that I ate too much salt. When I look at my food log it becomes very clear that the days I have fish I drop weight. The days I eat bacon I remain the same. The days I don't get water will either jump 1/2 a pound or remain the same. It's been good for me to know how different foods affect my body.

But if it really bothers you... PLAY with it... Put on a heavy coat, keep your shoes on, carry your purse.. Then GUESS how much the added items really represent. You won't really know the truth until the weekly "true" weigh in. The rest of the time you'll be left to wonder how far off it is.... Eventually you'll tire of the game and begin to think of the weekly "true" weigh in as the only one that counts.. You'll stop hopping on and off, because it won't matter.

[Hoping]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

I'm completely addicted to the scale if it wasn't under my bed I would have probably weighed myself already, like right after I read the word "scale" on this posting.
It's obsessive and it's terrible, I know how you feel.
I've had to put my scale away because otherwise I would drive myself nuts, like I was before. I would get discouraged if I gained a pound or two and I hated the fact that I could reach under 200lbs.
I would say just put it away cold turkey. Otherwise you may not stop.

My scale addiction was so bad that I would grab my scale from under the bed and step on it, look at the weight, and not mention to my fiancee how much I weighed b/c I had told him I was no longer going to weigh myself. Anyway, that same day I felt really guilty and just confessed what I had done. After that day I decided no more scale hopping for me, this was last week!
Luckily, I went on vacation after I made that decision.
I'm much happier without weighing myself. I like looking in the mirror better because even though I wasn't dropping weight I was losing inches around my waist.

I say put it away cold turkey, you'll be much happier. And yes, it's difficult but you can do it. Good luck!

[solomoni]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

oh. so that's why i've been gaining weight in the evening.

[Defrazld]

Re: Is this the right place for this?

I was chuckling to myself as I read this thread - I totally related!

When I was on Atkins before - then WW last year, I found my scale was my best friend and my worst enemy. I love what you said (2big4mysize) about the reaction to the numbers on the scale... that's so true for me.

After not following through with WW last year, the scale went into the shed after failing to be sold in a yardsale...
I haven't gotten it out and won't.
I go to the mall where they have a great scale that measures out your BMI and prints everything out for you. It's in the vitamin store. I was wary of the scale being accurate so I weighed myself on the scales in a home store (silly me, but hey, I am no longer scale hopping at home lol) That scale hopping was truly maddening for me...