I threw away my scale !!! - ThinnerTimes

LizzieShell · 03-23-2008, 01:49 PM

The program I am in has three parts: psychological (behavour), exercise and nutrition.
I have a long sorted history with the scale, as do most of us. My parents thougt that it would be a good idea for the 3 of us to go on a diet(s). I had to weigh in every Sunday morning. I was about 13 when the processed started. It was about a year and it was horrible. No matter what I did, there was drama. If I lost then my Dad was upset that I lost more than he did. If I gained I was scolded. I learned how to "play the scale" very quickly. I still have a sense of failure if the numbers don't do what I want.
So last week the psychologist told me that she thought I should throw my scale away. Of course my reaction was, "Um .. I'll think about it". Her reasoning is that I will pay more attention to a healthy lifestyle and less to the numbers. OK I can understand that.

Well tomorrow I have an appointment with the Nutritionist, I see her every two weeks. She's the only one who does the weigh-ins and she reviews my food journals. I am freaking out! And of course what does one do when one is stressed??? EAT ...
I have been battling the hungry monster all day. Maybe throwing the scale away was not a good idea after all ....

Corrine · 03-23-2008, 06:48 PM

YES!

I had an outstanding psyc. and she was the one who made me realise that scales were a constant source of drama. So they went even before I had surgery.

I'm now just about 6 months out and I've relied upon the hospital visits for my weigh-ins.

I can understand that I'm getting to the point where scales will have to come back into my life - but I haven't missed having them around.

Lizzie - throwing the scales away was a good thing. Dealing with hunger AND not seeing the scales drop like you want is a BAD combination.

Get a tape measure out instead.

Janelle · 03-23-2008, 07:02 PM

I agree with Corrine. Get the tape measure out.

SueRN · 03-24-2008, 04:49 AM

I'll be 3 years out this may. It took a long time to not weigh myself everyday. I don't agree when people tell you to throw the scale away because I do think keeping track of your weight is important. Not the end all, but still important. I'm weighing myself about 3-4 times a month now. I see that if I don't keep an eye on it, the pounds seem to sneak up. I still have some issues with numbers but I am getting better about it and not letting it rule my life or be the measure of my success. It still kills me that at 168 lbs (5'8"), I am still considered overweight. I wear a size 4. People tell me they are surprised to hear that I weight that much. I am actually starting to believe that I am more fit and have more muscle mass, as I do work out everyday. It's hard because we are conditioned to look at numbers, weights, and sizes. I was determined to be 160. Now, my life long goal is to stay under 170. If I can stay around 164-168, that's my target. I've gained 5 lbs at 173 and am doing South Beach to get that off before the 5 becomes 15 lbs. I try to pay more attention to how my clothes fit versus the scale, but I need to scale to keep me in check. One of my biggest accomplishments during this process is that I don't look at the scale as the enemy anymore. It's just there to help my stay focused and on track. Just remember that this is a process and it takes time and a lot of hard work. You will make mistakes, as we all did, so don't beat yourself up over it. Just learn from it and move on. Good luck to you. Sue

Corrine · 03-24-2008, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SueRN

I'll be 3 years out this may. It took a long time to not weigh myself everyday. I don't agree when people tell you to throw the scale away because I do think keeping track of your weight is important. Not the end all, but still important. I'm weighing myself about 3-4 times a month now. I see that if I don't keep an eye on it, the pounds seem to sneak up. I still have some issues with numbers but I am getting better about it and not letting it rule my life or be the measure of my success. It still kills me that at 168 lbs (5'8"), I am still considered overweight. I wear a size 4. People tell me they are surprised to hear that I weight that much. I am actually starting to believe that I am more fit and have more muscle mass, as I do work out everyday. It's hard because we are conditioned to look at numbers, weights, and sizes. I was determined to be 160. Now, my life long goal is to stay under 170. If I can stay around 164-168, that's my target. I've gained 5 lbs at 173 and am doing South Beach to get that off before the 5 becomes 15 lbs. I try to pay more attention to how my clothes fit versus the scale, but I need to scale to keep me in check. One of my biggest accomplishments during this process is that I don't look at the scale as the enemy anymore. It's just there to help my stay focused and on track. Just remember that this is a process and it takes time and a lot of hard work. You will make mistakes, as we all did, so don't beat yourself up over it. Just learn from it and move on. Good luck to you. Sue

Sue,

I'm not advocating never having scales.

For those like Lizzie and myself who have deep issues with scales, not having them in the house for the first few months post-op can save and enormous amount of anguish and it allows us to focus on the more important issues early on in our WLS journey.

As I said earlier, I'm at a point where I need to bring the scales back into my life. I'm 6 months out and guessing somewhere around 20-30lb from the "normal" range. But I certainly didn't need them in the house before now.

What with the NUT and surgery follow-ups, I've had 6 hospital visits which included a weigh-in during the past 6 months.

SueRN · 03-24-2008, 06:22 AM

I didn't mean you Corrine. I was actually talking about the program I went thru and others I met there. Sorry for the confusion. I was trying to point out that I was a Scale Whore and was really chained to it. I had a bad scale addiction worse that cigarettes! I think we really need to continue to watch out weight but to learn to have a healthy attitude towards monitoring the number on the scale. The number number on the scale used to mean everything to me and I would beat myself up if it wasn't where I thought it should be. I though I was expanding on your point, but I guess I didn't do a good job! Bottom line is the scale isn't a bad thing, it's just adjusting the attitude that's being weighed on it. Sue

porshh951 · 03-24-2008, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SueRN

I'll be 3 years out this may. It took a long time to not weigh myself everyday. I don't agree when people tell you to throw the scale away because I do think keeping track of your weight is important. Not the end all, but still important. I'm weighing myself about 3-4 times a month now. I see that if I don't keep an eye on it, the pounds seem to sneak up. I still have some issues with numbers but I am getting better about it and not letting it rule my life or be the measure of my success. It still kills me that at 168 lbs (5'8"), I am still considered overweight. I wear a size 4. People tell me they are surprised to hear that I weight that much. I am actually starting to believe that I am more fit and have more muscle mass, as I do work out everyday. It's hard because we are conditioned to look at numbers, weights, and sizes. I was determined to be 160. Now, my life long goal is to stay under 170. If I can stay around 164-168, that's my target. I've gained 5 lbs at 173 and am doing South Beach to get that off before the 5 becomes 15 lbs. I try to pay more attention to how my clothes fit versus the scale, but I need to scale to keep me in check. One of my biggest accomplishments during this process is that I don't look at the scale as the enemy anymore. It's just there to help my stay focused and on track. Just remember that this is a process and it takes time and a lot of hard work. You will make mistakes, as we all did, so don't beat yourself up over it. Just learn from it and move on. Good luck to you. Sue

your a size 4. The inches and dress sizes matter ALOT more than the scale number and sure as hell alot more than the bogus as hell BMI chart. BMI doesn't take into account muscle mass its completely bogus.

If you are wearing a size 4 you are perfectly fit and just fine the way you are. The main reason why women might be surprised is the number "168" what they don't realize is 168 for you isn't 168 for them. You are 5 "8(height is the single biggest factor in determining proper weight) and you might have alot more muscle mass.

Guys you can't get hung up on numbers. Me weighing 190 it says for my height im overweight and I carry single digit BF%. Whats most imporant are inches and waist size(dress size for you girls). Thats how you tell if you are truly there or not.

blkmercedes · 03-24-2008, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porshh951

Guys you can't get hung up on numbers. Me weighing 190 it says for my height im overweight and I carry single digit BF%. Whats most imporant are inches and waist size(dress size for you girls). Thats how you tell if you are truly there or not.

I totally agree, the BMI is a good guide, but to rely upon something that can't determine other factors is unrealistic. When I fit into single digit clothes, exercise daily, have no medical conditions (weight related), and feel good, I could care less what the "charts" say!

Honey, if you are overweight then I want a overweight man...

Godsblessedme · 03-24-2008, 08:43 AM

OMG you already know i'm a big addict of the scale i recently hid it in the garage and unfortunatly last week got it out and weighed in almost everyday. BAD me and i didnt even loose ANY weight all week so now of course i'm very depressed and thinking that surgery is a failure. It just so hard to see people on here with such amazing numbers and only like 1-2months post op and they started same weight as I did.

I totally understand this addiction and love hearing from you all about how you've overcome the "scale"

SueRN · 03-24-2008, 09:09 AM

Instead of AA or NA, we could start SA(Scales Anonymus) Hello my name is Sue and I'm a scale whore. Having been overweight all my life and having to deal with being either the heaviest kid or one of them in the class, that gave me a lot of baggage to overcome. they used to line you up and one person would weigh you and call(well...yell) out the weight to another person to write it down. It was humiliating to say the least. I'm working on overcoming years and years of an unhealthly body image and ideas about the weight/numbers/size/etc. It finally took me to get into my 40s, to finally get it. Still have some issues, but much better. My husband had to laugh at me this weekend as I did cartwheels on the front lawn after he mowed. The best part was that I didn't pull a groin muscle or break my vagina doing them either. Take that you dumb ol' scale!!!!!