Happy Saturday friends! Hope you are had a great week and are planning on enjoying your weekend with fun activities with your family!
This week's topic is about the dreaded scale.
Do you have a love /hate relationship with it? I certainly have to admit I do. It was an addiction in my past and although I am free from stepping on it daily, it is still something that can easily break my happy mood. I made progress when I began the Prism Weight Loss program which with the help of an accountability partner I was only allowed to weigh monthly. Through only the grace of God I have stuck by that routine to this day. Unfortunately when clothes get tighter and for me it only takes 5 pounds that makes a difference in my clothes fitting nicely, I want to jump on that bandwagon again of daily or weekly weighing.
I believe we need to know where we are so we can discover where we need to be. I believe there is a number that is our right weight, a comfortable natural weight that is not difficult to maintain without excessive exercise. I believe there are many ways to determine progress without the number of the scale, but we do still need accountability. Once a month weighing works for me. My weight loss progress was always slow compared to others and has been that way since I can remember. Weekly weighing used to completely discourage me even if I had lost weight. You see being a perfectionist the number of pounds lost was never enough to satisfy me. Weighing monthly freed me from a weekly battle that was always in my mind more than anything else. And I've had to pray and pray to God for help to not step on that darn scale. You see if you are doing the right things with your food then you really don't need confirmation from the scale. You can be losing inches and fat and that number on the scale will never show it sometimes.
If you've chosen a weight loss program and you must weigh in weekly than by all means continue to do so especially if you are paying for the program! I would recommend though measuring yourself by others means. Get a body fat test done and at local gym. Measure your body with a fabric measuring tape, specifically your stomach, thighs, upper arms, chest, and waist below belly button. Use those measurements when the number on the scale doesn't budge.
Everyone is different. Some of you may have no problem weighing yourself daily and prefer it that way. Many others of you may be addicted to that scale as I was. I can only share my experience with you, but can honestly say only weighing monthly has been the best thing I could have ever done for my sanity!
Progress is made in many ways not only by weight loss on a scale. I just encourage you to look at all the progress in others areas of your life than just the scale and its number.
You are more than that number on a scale!
Share with me your thoughts.
Are you a daily, weekly, or monthly scale weigher and why? What is your relationship with the scale?
Week 6 here if you missed it: 2 Simple Carbohydrate Rules.
About Brenda
Brenda Bennett is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, certified Sugar Detox Coach, certified Keto Coach and certified Life Coach. She has been Sugar Free & Refined carb free for 17 years and has written 2 cookbooks, Sugar-Free Mom, and Naturally Keto and her 3rd book The 30-Day Sugar Elimination Diet, is a four part program to help you detox from sugar, eliminate cravings, balance blood sugar and lose weight all while eating a delicious, nutrient dense whole foods. Meal plan offers two tracks to follow, low carb or keto. She is the founder of the Sugar Free Fresh Start course and Sugar Free Tribe weight loss membership. Learn more.
Christina
I weigh in irregularly. I've hit my goal weight and now I would love to lose five more pounds, but that's going to take some serious effort. If I weigh too often, then I get stressed because a lot of time, I'm building muscle and don't know how much to account to that. I'm on a huge fitness kick, btw. So, I check once or twice a month, in the morning, with as few articles of clothing on as possible! I am most interested in my body's shape. When I'm seeing visible results then I weigh myself less.
Debbie Rogers
I did Weight Watchers for a year and got used to a weekly weight in. I felt like I had learned enough in the year to go it on my own. I still weight in weekly and report to my husband. He didn't ask me to. I just do it to keep myself in check. I have started tracking carbs in addition to WW points. So many of the WW foods have 0 points yet are high in carbs. Trying to keep my carbs to 100 a day. It isn't easy! 😉
Denise
I've been struggling with the same question: "To weigh or not to weigh?". I currently weigh daily. I lost 70 pounds last year by using MyFitnessPal and a 1200 calorie limit. I've been maintaining for a while, but still use MyFitnessPal and daily weighing to monitor my calorie intake and weight. When I go up 2-4 pounds I know why (due to over indulgence or monthly cycles) and I have found that I quickly loose it over the next few days. I'm not quite ready yet to give up the daily weighing routine, but your post has definitely given me something to think about. Thanks!! Love your blog by the way.
Brenda
I think my fitness pal is a very helpful tool. And thank you!
Karen
I use Calorie Count.com for the same reasons and totally agree with you Denise
Karen
I agree with Kim. I weight myself once daily in the morning. I started eating healthy and portion control 18 months ago and I have lost 80 pounds. Weighing once daily gives me instant access to seeing what it was that specifically affected my body so that I could adjust what I was doing accordingly. If I waited longer, I wouldn't know exactly what it was. This goes both for things that help and things that hinder. It has helped me to see how my body works and to know that weight is affected by so many things- monthly cycle, if you need to go to the bathroom, water weight and so on. If I weighed less often, I may catch it on a day when it is up due to whatever reason and not even know where it has truly been. Daily weighing works for me. 🙂 Great topic.
Erica Thompson
I used to have bathroom scales, but when the battery ran out I didnt bother replacing it and eventually gave the scales away. I judge my weight by what clothes I can fit into, if I cant fasten the button on my pants or my top is too tight then I know I have been overdoing the bad stuff and need to eat more healthily and exercise more.
Kim | At Home With Kim
Great post and discussion! I do weigh myself daily. It helps me to see how what I eat affects my weight.... and I am desperately trying to hit my goal. 🙂 I can do this though bc I know that even if I have a "poor choice" day or couple of days... it's not weight that is stuck. Meaning, with good eating choices, it will fall off in a few days. But it helps to hold me accountable.
Brenda
Thanks for sharing Kim. I appreciate your thoughts and I think its wonderful if doesn't effect your mood each day! Everyone is just so different.