Addicted to the SCALE...HELP!!!

[asiangail]

I have a problem....I can't stop checking the scale EVERY MORNING!!! It's like I need some sort of reassurance or something that this WOE is working. My clothes are fitting slightly looser, and I KNOW I should keep away from the scale but it's SO HARD. It's like I need to know that it's working. When I didn't see the #'s go down this morning I felt almost saddend but of course I know weight loss is not linear......its just the scale and I can't stay away from it. I've read other posts in here to just weight once every 2 weeks and measure myself instead. I was almost thinking of getting my husband to take it and hide it somewhere till I need to weigh in every 2 weeks hahahha!!!! I just want to know what the rest of you have done to help your mind "ease off" letting a scale dictate who you are.

[Perry]

Re: Addicted to the SCALE...HELP!!!

I was almost thinking of getting my husband to take it and hide it somewhere till I need to weigh in every 2 weeks hahahha!!!!

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[not2late]

Re: Addicted to the SCALE...HELP!!!

I have a problem....I can't stop checking the scale EVERY MORNING!!! It's like I need some sort of reassurance or something that this WOE is working. My clothes are fitting slightly looser, and I KNOW I should keep away from the scale but it's SO HARD. It's like I need to know that it's working. When I didn't see the #'s go down this morning I felt almost saddend but of course I know weight loss is not linear......its just the scale and I can't stay away from it. I've read other posts in here to just weight once every 2 weeks and measure myself instead. I was almost thinking of getting my husband to take it and hide it somewhere till I need to weigh in every 2 weeks hahahha!!!! I just want to know what the rest of you have done to help your mind "ease off" letting a scale dictate who you are.

It took 30 pounds to be lost before I noticed any real change in the fit of my clothing. So, I "needed" the scale too for reassurance. Then I hit a 6 month period where I didn't lose anything (down a pound one week, up 2 pounds the next, down the next week, up the next, etc.). However, it was during that "scale stall" in which I lost 3 dress sizes. That's why I'm not the biggest fan of the scale. It doesn't tell me if I lost fat and replaced it with muscle. Those were 6 very nerve-wracking months and I didn't get a reality check until I had to buy some new summer clothes and found that I was no longer as big as I was. The funny thing is that at that weight I was smaller, physically, than I had been the last time I weighed that much.

But the way I look at it, if weighing and/or measuring is incentive for you, then go for it. As long as you realize that weigh can fluctuate throughout the day and day to day, your weighing schedule is up to you.

The only time it gets bad for you mentally is if you don't realize that scales are evil. Like I wrote in another thread recently, we had a member here who was thoroughly depressed because she weighed herself in the morning, then weighed herself 4 hours later at a department store. Her department store weight was 7 pounds heavier than her morning weight. So she posted here with the usual "Atkins isn't working for me. I gained 7 pounds since this morning. blah blah blah." Through a series of questions, we found out that when she weighed herself at the department store she had on her winter coat, boots, purse, etc., which could easily account for the 7 pound weight "gain".

[tickletussler]

I hope y'all don't shoot me down for saying this, but...

I check the scales everyday - in the morning, when I come back from work, and just before I go to bed.

I know you aren't supposed to, but the good side is I am now very familiar with the fluctuations in my weight, so I know which is the true reading - which is always in the morning - just after I wake up, after I've done my business, no clothes, no jewellery, before breakfast.

I notice that without fail I would put on 1.5kg (3lbs) in one day, and if I hadn't, it was because I skipped lunch or didn't drink enough water that day.

If my reading changes for only one morning, I don't react to it. I only get excited/disappointed if it says the same thing for 3 mornings, because then I know it's the "true" reading for me.

And the added plus for me of checking just before bed-time... if I find I haven't put on my full 3lbs that day, I can pretty much guess that I'll have a weighloss in the next few days...[/b]

[sskyeye]

Another idea if you simply must weigh daily is to average your weight over 1 or even 2 weeks. Do not worry about day to day fluctuations, but only concern yourself about the average. This way you will eliminate fluctuations due to water or other normal daily changes. It still gives you your daily "fix" but without the worries about the daily fluctuations that we all have. :hug

[Peytonn]

I do it too.. I know they say it's bad... but it seems to help me stay motivated.... I don't mind if I don't lose for a while.. I just get reassurance by not gaining..

[ztachick]

There are some people(like me) who never get over their scale addictions.
just KNOW that it will fluctuate
Just know that even if the scale says that you are the same weight or that you gained a couple of lbs, IF you are doing atkins the RighT WaY then it will be working andyou will be losing weight or inches or something....

[Blue Diamond]

I am fairly new here, but I find that if I focus on the diet itself, recipes and my exercise I tend to forget about the scales. Then when I do weigh in I am very pleasantly surprised. That water weight we all carry would drive me crazy when the scales go up and down everyday. :dancingb:

[asiangail]

Thanks everyone for your support and input. I managed to keep off the scale this morning but fell vicitim to it when I came home at lunch!!! I gotta get rid of this thing!!! Hehee

[sskyeye]

Maybe have DH put it up somewhere you can't reach, or even hide it? And tell him that no matter what you say under no circumstances is he to let you have it for 2 days. Then work up to only weighing once a week?

[Ebonyspice]

:wave Wow do i understand what you are going through or what lol . i had to take the battries out of my scales and put them under the bed . I used to get so depressed when i look at the scales and i didnt lose as much as i thought i had . bEcause my clothes where so loose on me . Try leaving them at your family's or friends house so that you dont have tempation .
Luv Ebony

[asiangail]

You guys are so great! I'm going to get my husband to hide it and only give it to me once a week on Sundays. It's going to be hard to resist the urge to weigh but I think I can do it!!! Thanks for the advice guys!!!!

[mannamay]

I have to say that I am addicted to the scales as well. Its not easy to wait to weigh 1 a week or even twice a week...

[tabekat]

bye, bye metal monster

In the past I sought instant gratification - I wasn't willing to wait. So I would put something in my mouth to get that instant gratification feeling.

To me, using the scale to monitor your daily success is seeking instant gratification in yet another unhealthy form. It is like gambling on a slot machine. When you think you win you feel great, when you think you lose you want to bang your head against the wall.

And then you come to irrational conclusions about yourself and your way of eating, and you sabotage your body again

But here is the truth.

Nothing we read on the scale is a reflection of how things really are with us. Our bodies are making amazing gradual changes that we are not even aware of.

I put my body through **** before Atkins. I forced my body to frantically shuttle globs of extra fat to every spare corner for years.

I slam junked my blood with high sugared foods and forced my poor body to develop diabetes. But despite my incredibly shallow and self-centered disregard for its well-being, my body kept serving me faithfully.

So now I will give my body the respect it deserves. I will no longer require my body to perform overnight tricks for me just to fulfill a vain and neurotic compulsion.

I will cultivate substance, patience and endurance in my life.

I will no longer allow a metal monster to determine my relationship with my body. There are, healthier and saner ways to evaluate my personal progress.

The scale cannot tell me hour by hour what my worth is and I refuse to subject myself to the indignity of allowing an eternal source the right to determine how I feel about myself.

I refuse to have a scale in my house. I weigh myself monthly at the gym and I do not draw any conclusions good or bad about that number. That is good enough for me.

If I need to see a change on the scale to commit to this way of life I know that I am using the scale as a reason to sabotage myself.

There are plenty of reasons to stick to this way of life even if I never lose the weight. I am seeking freedom from carb addiction and I am seeking freedom from the scale addiction. I wish to be healthy and strong, and my sanity is very important to me.

And I'm worth it.

[asiangail]

Re: bye, bye metal monster

Oops!