I am a victim to my scale. I have a love hate relationship with it. I love when it tells me a good number and hate it when it tells me a larger number. Funny how a simple machine can dictate my happiness. Today, my friend Janice will be sharing her story and experience how she ditched the scale to find happiness.
Back in December 2009 I did something drastic – I threw out my scale. Frustrated with my creeping weight, I joined an online weight loss support group. The first three things I learned from the group was:
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Weigh yourself infrequently
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Don’t drink soda of any kind, even diet soda
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Don’t give up – every day is a new day
Those three things were the turning point for me. I’ve always been an active person, so moving wasn’t an issue for me, but my eating and emotional issues were. I played softball, went to mommy & baby bootcamp classes, stroller-fit and occasionally ran – but none of that was working to make me feel good about myself or obtain a healthy weight.
Why ditch the scale?
Quite simply, the scale dictated how much I ate and my sense of self-worth. I found that weighing myself actually made it very difficult for me to make any progress. I weighed myself 2 or 3 times a day, would have a few “good” days, and constantly hop on the scale hoping that the number would reflect my effort.
When it didn’t, I would console myself with food and take rest days because I earned those for being good, even if the scale said otherwise. If the scale did reflect my effort, I would take some days off from being “good” because I deserved it for being “good”. Guess what? My weight slowly crept up and up.
When I decided to try and get a better grip on my weight, the first thing I did was throw out my scale. We had a Wii Fit, so I knew I could weigh myself with that, but it was so inconvenient to start the Wii Fit up, that I only got around to weighing myself once a week. The 1x/week weigh-in quickly became a twice a month event, and now 5 years later it’s closer to a once every 3 months event.
At first it was extremely hard and I anxiously would wait for my weigh-in day (Sunday nights). Then as time went on it became easier and easier to not weigh myself constantly. Instead I began focusing more and more on different things. I’m obsessive by nature, so I began tracking other things like:
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My average running pace for the month
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How many times I strength trained each week/month/year
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How many miles I ran during the week/month/year
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How many servings of fruits and veggies I ate each day
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The number of glasses of water I drank each day.
Something miraculous happened! The scale slowly stopped being my measure of self-worth and measure of progress!
It worked!
I lost weight and became a faster runner too!!! I’ve become so much healthier, I take less sick days, and feel way better about myself overall! Much to my surprise, throwing out the scale has led to me finding happiness within myself and has helped me gain better control of my weight and cravings.
As another bonus my three daughters never see mommy weighing herself either. They see me eating fresh, wholesome foods, running and racing and associate that with a healthy lifestyle. I’m so happy that I ditched the scale, and my only regret is not throwing it out sooner.
Question/sharing:
Do you have a bad relationship with the scale too? How often do you weigh yourself?
A big thanks to Janice Smith, for sharing her success with ditching the scale! She is a full time working mom of 3 who loves running and triathlon, wants to qualify for Boston someday & shares ideas about how to live active, eat healthy, & enjoy life on her blog: Fitness Cheerleader.
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Rebecca Jo says
I have SUCH a bad relationship with the scale… it dictates my moods, which is so wrong 🙁
I tried to go on a 30 day fast from the scale.. I made it like 1 week… that’s bad.
Janice says
Big hugs! I had to slowly wean myself off of the scale by making it terribly inconvenient to weigh myself – first limiting myself to once a week for a few months, then once every two weeks etc.
Rachel says
I have a similar relationship with the scale. I don’t weigh myself as often as I used to… but when I do… oh boy does it effect my mood. 🙁
Ganeeban says
I have never cared about a scale, but when I’m at my parents I hop on it just for fun (is that even fun, hell no)! I just don’t see the value in spending money on one, I’d rather go out to eat. So this wouldn’t be hard, but when I do get on one I judge myself fairly harshly at the number if it is higher than I was expecting. It is ALWAYS nice to a smaller number. I enjoyed the first three tips and found it very interesting they suggested no soda at all. Thanks for posting, it was a great read! xoxo, ganeeban
Rachel says
Yes. I think the suggestion for no soda is so we don’t drink our calories. 🙂 I am guilty of doing that. 🙂
Cindy says
This year I started weighing myself only twice a year. I lost a fair amount of weight for the first weigh in at 6 months. I suspect the second weigh in will not be impressive so I may up the weigh ins to 4 times a year. The scale makes me crazy!! I am a person that can go up or down by 10 Lbs for no obvious reason on a regular basis. I just retain water sometimes and then I don’t. Even if I don’t manage to lose any weight, I am happy because I am happy and not going crazy anymore.
Rachel says
Yay! Way to go on the weight loss… and for finding a healthy balance of ‘not going crazy anymore’. 🙂
LyndaS says
I weigh myself a lot and really should stop. I like the idea of tracking other things that are more productive. I don’t run, but I could start walking more and keeping tally of how often I do that.
Rachel says
Yes. Finding non scale victories to celebrate.. moving more, drinking more water, etc. 🙂
Deborah Brooks @ Confessions of a Mother Runner says
I completely agree! I ditched my scale about a year ago and I have never been happier. it’s completely liberating and nothing bad happened. My clothes still fit and I feel great.
Rachel says
Yay! Way to go, mama! 🙂
Jillian @ Baby Doodah! says
There was a huge “a-ha” moment for me when reading this post. I totally eat well, workout hard, then weigh myself, see I lost some weight and then take it easy. I used to have my scale hidden, but since we’ve moved a couple months ago, I have it sitting out. I think it needs to go back into hiding, in a spot that is a pain in the a** to get out.
Thanks for sharing this post, and I’m really glad to have found you, Rachel!! I’m adding you to my Bloglovin’ right now!
Rachel says
Yay! Thanks for the new follow! 🙂 Yes… hide that mean ‘ol scale! 🙂
jill conyers says
I rarely weigh myself. I don’t really have a need to and I know how easy it is for me to get caught up in the numbers which, NEVER, say what I think they should say !
Rachel says
Yes. I think I would KISS the scale if it actually showed a number I liked… but honestly, I doubt that will ever happen (no matter how successful I will be with my journey).
Samantha @ The Faithful Runner says
I like to say that I don’t have a bad relationship with the scale, but I think I really do. I weigh myself a minimum of two or three times a week when I don’t need to. The worse thing is that I always weigh myself at the end of the day (when I think about it) and end up weighing more than I would normally because of my full stomach. I noticed that it would really start dictating what kind of mood I’d be in and I would mope around unhappy and feeling disgusted if I didn’t like the number. I’ve started only allowing myself to only weigh myself once or twice a week just to keep on track. I know that’s still probably too much, but I’ll get there. Good post.
Rachel says
Hugs. I think once a week (same day, same time, same outfit) is a good measure. We just need to realize and remember that our weight can fluctuate daily … hormones, water, food, etc.
Chris says
I’m finding more and more people getting away from the scale. I stopped weighing myself every week because it was driving me nuts! Other measurements became important like the notches on my belt and how well my pants fit.
I also learned the scale doesn’t tell you about lean muscle gains. This was my biggest frustration. I felt great and was becoming a faster runner but the scale showed I still weighted the same.
Rachel says
I love that you measure your success by the way your clothes fit (notches on belt) vs. the number:)
Yvonne says
I have scale that sits by shower and collects dust .. The last time I weighed myself was about 6 months ago .. My clothes are my guide. Yay for ditching the scale!
Rachel says
Love this about you, Yvonne! 🙂
Pamela Hernandez says
I would like to say I’ve come a long way but that number can still make or break a morning. I pay more attention to my clothes and only weigh once or twice a month.
LaVonne says
Yes! I haven’t had a scale for 10+ years and I don’t mind one bit! I don’t need to know the number. I go by the fit of my clothes and how I feel inside.
Patty says
I am currently on a medication that kills my appetite and I struggle to maintain my weight as I often forget to eat. This is novel for me as I spent the bulk of my life on the other end of the spectrum and I do understand the struggle. Weight Watchers was the answer for me and they taught me to weigh myself once a week and that it was more important how my clothes fit and how I FELT than a number on a scale.
Jen A says
We don’t own a scale, and often when we visit someone who has one we are surprised by the results. I think you should base how much you should workout or exercise on how you feel and how well your clothes are fitting at the moment.
Mistee Dawn says
I ditched my scales a long time ago. It is usually never accurate anyway.
Nicole says
There is no way I can’t be a slave to my scale. I need to weigh myself every day or else the number goes up-up-up. Not down, down, down!
Mommy2Jam says
I really need to do this as well. LOL I need to ditch my scale HA HA I needed this