Should I Buy A Scale?

[olivia1425 7]

Currently I don't own a scale. It just depressed me. So should I go and buy one or should I just not worry about the number. I mean I will be able to tell if I'm losing weight or not. Plus I'm worried if I do get one I will be disappointed in how slow I lose. Surgery is Tuesday!! Yes this Tuesday! Lol

[ashleyxx 277]

I would say yes, I feel thr it helps me stay on track.

[OnAJourney 177]

Go buy one! For the first time in ummmmm 20 years or so i looked at them at wal-mart also. i had banished them from my house before this. My surgery inst until feb 2013... but im already looking for the right one to buy now so i can start tracking it myself.

You need to look for the positive side of the surgery.. you WILL Lose weight. Your setting yourself up for a failure if you think your going to lose slowly already... think posative and go buy a scale to track the incrediable weight lose your about to start!

good luck on youir surgery... im going to friend you so i can follow up on how great your doing:)

[RickM 1,747]

I would say that this is a definite yes - with qualifications. If you are one who will agonize over every little bump along the way - "I didn't lose anything yesterday" or, "I gained a pound yesterday but didn't eat anything..." then use it only weekly, or maybe even monthly. If, on the other hand, you can accept that it can be a bumpy set of stairs down the scale rather than a smooth slide, then a daily weighing can be useful,

The next factor is getting into good habits for the long term, and in the long term once you have gotten to your goal weight and want to maintain it, it will become very important to weigh regularly - again weekly or monthly (more frequently when you are earlier on in maintenance and things are still settling out) - because you want to catch any regain quickly - typically within 5-10 lb where it's fairly easy to cut things back to basics and bring the weight back where you want it. Just as with "normal" people, the less one has to lose the easier it is to do so. Some may find it best to only weigh in during doctors' visits during the loss phase, but in maintenance you will probably want to do it a bit more frequently than that (particularly since doctors' visits should be less frequent then.)

Another thing to consider is getting a body fat (or body composition) scale that reads your body fat % as well as your weight. These typically run $50-100 but are worthwhile in tracking what you are really interested in losing - the fat! They can help you better understand what is happening to you as you lose, and help to form better goals based upon your individual body composition rather than just scale weight and BMI My goals were based upon losing fat mass and getting to a healthy body composition rather than a simple weight on a BMI chart, and as a result, I am still a little "overweight" on the BMI chart but on the lean side from a body composition perspective because I still have a fairly significant lean muscle mass - driving myself to "normal" BMI would mean losing too much muscle mass which isn't healthy. (Conversly, one can be in the "normal" BMI range yet still be overly fat.)

The body composition measurments are not as accurate as the basic weight measurments, but if measured regularly (daily works best for these measurements,) you get a good sense for the trend of your loss and whether you are losing too much muscle mass relative to fat.

In short, get a scale at least for the long term monitoring benefit - keep that weight from coming back, and don't put the scale in the closet if you see a bit of regain!

[aprilcarrie 6]

i definitely think you should buy one just dont use it every day or you will definitely end up getting frustrated maybe just weigh yourself once or twice a week to make sure that youre staying on track good luck with your surgery mines on Wednesday!

[kamrie37 134]

I can't believe you don't own one.. I am addicted to mine. Not the healthiest behavior, but it keeps me in check.