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What Role does the scale play in your life?

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gamergirl

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My son called for his daily chat, a time I really look forward to. He says, "How was your day?"

 

Well I've had a lovely day. I got to go into the office, work with a team of 6 very smart people, we all got some great thinking and work done. I was able to join them in the lunch I ordered for us, and I've extremely been productive all day. What were the first words out of my mouth in response to my son's question?

 

"Well, I'm still stalled."

 

WTH?? That's all I can think of to tell him about my day?? So he's a very insightful smarty-pants and he says to me, "Mom it was one thing to rely on the scale when you could say 'oh maybe I should cut down a bit tomorrow' and use the scale to monitor and adjust your eating habits. But really, what role does the scale play in your life now??"

 

For a change, I was speechless. Well he wasn't about to stop there. He carries on saying,

 

"Maybe you should ask yourself if it's healthy to let what you see on a scale determine your feelings of success for the day? After all you're doing what you need to, and you told me you were going to focus on process vs. the outcome. Would anything change in your process if you just threw away the scale for 3 months?"

 

No of course it wouldn't but can i throw away the scale for 3 months? I cannot. Why? Because maybe I'm sick in the head and I associate my self-worth with success or failure at pounds lost. Not what I do to succeed, but whether the scale says I've lost weight today.

 

Unlike a lot of people here, over the last few years i could NOT lose weight. I could control my calories, my cardio-vascular health, what I put in my mouth, but I couldn't control my weight. Yet I continued to judge myself by my ability to lose weight. Not by my ability to do what was healthy, but whether or not I could lose weight. I may have been sleeved, but apparently that way of judging myself still persists.

 

So really, if we are eating our protein, drinking our water, and exercising to the degree that we can, what role does or should the scale play in our lives when we're trying to lose weight? Should we not focus on the process, monitor the crap out of the protein and water and calories, and let the scale go off on a long hike to TImbuktoo? And can we do that? Why not?

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Nope, I'm hooked on my scale. I don't have a bad day if i'm not down a pound or two, but... I have to way in every morning it's part of my routine. I really miss it if I don't weight in.

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Smart kid. How about some middle ground? Weigh once a week? Or every two weeks? And, lest I remind you... You've lost 25 lbs in about a month. That is damn near a pound a day (unless I'm mis-remembering your stats). You're doing GREAT. You're back at work, you're tracking, it will work. Don't let an apparent "stall" take away anything from your victories.

All that said, I totally understand the "associating self-worth with the scale." I feel like I have been successful in every area of my life and I have completely failed when it comes to the scale. My only comfort has been Oprah. I look at her and say, "She's obviously smart, talented, and hard working, yet she struggles with her weight." That helped a lot when I was at my fattest. Now that I'm on the way down (like you), I am anxious to see how I feel about myself. I think my biggest fear is that when I get thin(ner), I will find something else to obsess about (i.e., then it will be about the sagging skin, etc. etc).

Hang in there sister. You're doing awesome (and I was so glad to read your update!)

-Angela

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I don't really trust my scale anymore. I'll probably poke the doctor's office monthly and ask them if I can use their scale real quick. I hope they won't mind...

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The scale is just a tool like the sleeve but I do weigh in everyday just to see what foods are doing what to me. It's just a hard habit t o break. Numbers have gotten me upset before. I just try and ignore it but sometimes. Your post was great ,nice read.

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Let's try this... Map the seashore. From 10,000 feel, it's a nice smooth line, isn't it? From 500 feet it's a bit blurry. Can you map the coastline from 20 feet??? No, things are a jumbe with the high and low tides and the waves.

Same with the scale. If you want to weigh, why not every 10 minutes? Why not every hour???Daily changes don't tell you anything, IMHO. Water, hormones, bowel movements all "modify" weight. And I just discovered that when the batteries are getting low, the scale loses its OWN mind!

I weigh (begrudgingly) every week in order to track. I generally lose from 1 to 3 pounds in a week, and about 10 a month. Slow but steady, especially since my knee limits a lot of activity right now.

Bottom line, your head is hooked on the scale, and it might (worst case scenerio) try to convince you that you've failed and you might as well give up. Well blow that for a lark!

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Don't you just love it when our children, grown or not, leave us speechless in an "I'm so proud of you" way!!! Sometimes we need to stop and listen...the scale...well, I don't like it, so I only weigh once a week now instead of driving myself crazy once a day! You've got this and you are doing great! I just absolutely love reading your posts!!! So insightful!! Listen to you your son, as I have listened to mine!( 3 of them to be exact...21,20 & 7!)

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Gamergirl, You are a success, the scale is irrelevant. You are going to go home and throw it in a closet and pull that stupid thing out once a week. That wicked, horrible, evil thing called a scale causes us to doubt ourselves, not taking into consideration the myriad of variables that go into a digital or fluctuating needle value. What did you eat, how much salt did you ingest,where are you in your hormones cycle, what did you drink before you weighed in, what were you wearing, what is the barimetric pressure today.I could go on but you get my point. You follow your plan, you inspire me, and others to get out of our ruts and spice up our food in a healthy way, you work hard and well,you help other sleevers and encourage us in a way few other posters do, that is your success. The fact that you have lost 25 pounds is just a little diamond necklace on top of your success. Stall Schmall, numbers will do what they want. How is that skirt feeling, anymore room in that blouse?

That is way better gage, than a lying cheating number on the scale.

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I weigh myself on the scale everyday. I used to get discouraged in the very beginning, but I don't anymore. As long as the scale doesn't go up, I am pretty happy. Of course, I am more happy when it goes down. I think the scale helps me get really nitty gritty about this whole process. If I do gain, for example, I try to think about what is going on. Did I eat something salty? Did I really eat enough calories to gain (this is never the case)? Am I getting my period? In the first couple of months after surgery, I was very discouraged and obsessed about the numbers on the scale. I even wrote about it in my blog. Over time, I was able to wrap my head around certain things like...I can't possibly gain a pound in a day (of real weight anyway). I could be getting smaller despite the numbers on the scale. I know you are aware of all these things because you are informed, knowledgeable and intelligent. With that being said, it is a process. Just because we know something doesn't mean we actually believe it yet.

I tried weighing myself once a week in the very beginning, but that didn't work for me. Seeing the daily fluctuations actually helps me understand what is going on with my body.

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