Is anybody using something besides the scale to measure progress? Like body fat content or clothes size? Does anyone accept it as a valid measurment besides you?

I take my measurements too. Sometimes as the scale slows the inches go down. Clothing size I use some but it only is a good measure if you use the same style and from the same store.

I use all sorts of areas to measure progress - the WL and scale is but one - lets see:

I tend to measure change

Off meds

Off CPAP

Clothing size

Clothing Style

Shoe size even!

Improved ability to move - mobility is night and day from what it was

Arthritis pain is gone

Strength is improved

Our eating habits have gone from terrible to excellent - not perfect but a huuuuge improvement

We save money on groceries, meds, insurance - you name it.

Happiness

I think the greatest measurement of personal progress is how much my husband (he's also vsg) and myself have improved our self esteem and feelings of self worth. We take good care of ourselves now - before I think we were both so beaten down by what we perceived as a lack of discipline, by how poorly society views and treats obese folks that taking good care had gotten to the point that it felt useless - I know I had gotten to the point I felt pretty worthless. My husband smiles all of the time now - it breaks my heart to know how happy he is. It is the best thing we have ever done this surgery.

So yes, scale and measuring tape is always out front - but the metrics of success are varied and bountiful

I use all sorts of areas to measure progress - the WL and scale is but one - lets see:

I tend to measure change

Off meds

Off CPAP

Clothing size

Clothing Style

Shoe size even!

Improved ability to move - mobility is night and day from what it was

Arthritis pain is gone

Strength is improved

Our eating habits have gone from terrible to excellent - not perfect but a huuuuge improvement

We save money on groceries, meds, insurance - you name it.

Happiness

I think the greatest measurement of personal progress is how much my husband (he's also vsg) and myself have improved our self esteem and feelings of self worth. We take good care of ourselves now - before I think we were both so beaten down by what we perceived as a lack of discipline, by how poorly society views and treats obese folks that taking good care had gotten to the point that it felt useless - I know I had gotten to the point I felt pretty worthless. My husband smiles all of the time now - it breaks my heart to know how happy he is. It is the best thing we have ever done this surgery.

So yes, scale and measuring tape is always out front - but the metrics of success are varied and bountiful

And all that 'stuff' feels better for longer than numbers on a scale :)

Yes, what really matters is what you think is a success. For the average person, anything over a loss of 20 pounds sounds impressive, because many of them have never even had to lose that much.

scale goals DO matter, but they shouldn't be the only goal. If a scale goal is unobtainable for whatever reason, it's silly to feel like a failure after working so hard and shedding so much weight. I see people struggle with this all the time.

I think it's important to measure success in terms of several different factors. Not the least of which, for me, is being happy with how I look!

~Cheri

Indeed

The scale numbers and measuring tape numbers are always in flux - of course they are all part of the mechanism of WL and feeling better. I think the sense of "I am finally going to be able to get a hold of this unsurmountable problem" is such a huge benefit. I have lost a lot - and i am not the fastest loser, but I know I will be able to get it all off now with the help of this fantastic tool.