To Weigh or Not to Weigh…That is the Question

The dreaded scale.

I don’t know about you but I’m a “scale-a-holic”.  I’m one of those people who get up every morning, takes everything off (including my hair clip cause Lord only knows how much that might weigh, right?!) runs to the bathroom and jumps on the scale!  I know there are different professional opinions on whether to weigh or not to weigh and if you weigh, when to weigh and how often to weigh but I know for ME I am a slave to the scale.  Hopping on the scale once a week is just not enough. 

I don’t know what it is but as much as I try to avoid it my feet are uncontrollably drawn to that scale every morning.

I will share with you that when I initially gained weight I did not have a scale.  Now, would that have been my magical weight maintaining secret?  I don’t know but what I do know is I did not get on a scale for a couple of years and in that couple of years I experienced the greatest weight gain of my life.

I was pretty curious about the scale controversies so I did a little research.  In 2005, University of Minnesota researchers reviewed combined studies that included over 3,000 people who either wanted to lose or maintain weight.  What they found was 40 percent were fairly religious about stepping onto the scale at least once a day.  20 percent held their weigh-ins weekly and the remaining 40 percent did a weight check infrequently or avoided the scale altogether. Over a two year period, the study reported that the obsessive weighers lost an average of 12 pounds (You’d think I’d be a twig by now) and the weekly scale watchers lost only six. And the avoiders? They gained four pounds on average! 

I think, at least for me, frequent weigh-ins can act as an “early warning system.”  The daily feedback from the scale helps me in setting goals and catching small weight fluctuations as “snowballs” before they become huge “avalanches.”  

I believe one reason the 17 Day Diet has worked so well for me is the first cycle allows for rapid weight loss and I can see that digital scale moving. Sure there are days when it goes up a few ounces or even the dreaded pound or two but I can always seem to rationalize that as salt, PMS, building muscle or the full moon.  (Sure, why not?)

I still have plateau’s here and there. (We’ll talk about plateau’s another time) In fact I just had (Am having?) one.  Let’s face it it’s a little unreasonable, okay, it’s VERY unreasonable, to expect the scale to drop every day.  In fact the bottom line is it’s unreasonable and impossible.  But, where does logic and reason come into weight loss?  I mean if that was the case I probably wouldn’t have gained the weight in the first place, right?  It’s not very reasonable to eat a ½ gallon of Pineapple-Coconut ice cream for dinner is it?  But I have!  Hey, don’t’ judge me, I had a sore throat! (We’ll talk about excuses another day)

Regardless of how “good” you are the number on the scale is going to fluctuate.  Although I weigh myself every day I can’t realistically expect the scale to go down every day – although believe me I really, really like it when it does!  The truth is for countless uncontrollable reasons your weight is likely to change on a daily basis (and not always in the direction you’re hoping for) and you just have to understand there are many factors contributing to the fluctuations. For whatever reason weight changes are not necessarily an indication of failing your weight loss goals.  If you are sticking to your food plan you know the fluctuations can be attributed to a variety of things and the scale will come back down.

If you are jumping on the scale multiple times a day, chances are you’re becoming a little obsessive and are on the road to an unhealthy scale relationship. (Be careful or you’re going to have to go to “scale therapy” and file for a legal separation). 

Seriously, if you find the scale going up a pound or two leads you to be discouraged or depresses you then you should not weigh yourself every day.  An unhealthy relationship with the scale can lead to eating disorders. 

Whatever your relationship is with the scale, like in all relationships, do your best to keep it a healthy one.

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