I’m Done with Weekly Weigh-Ins and the Scale
I am officially done weighing-in on a weekly basis. After last Monday’s disappointing weigh-in where I only lost 1 lb, I have decided to stop focusing on the scale. Not reaching my goal of being under 300 lbs on Monday hit me real hard. I had been expecting to reach that milestone and when I didn’t, I felt like a failure. I know, I know. I am not a failure, I lost weight and that’s positive..yada, yada.
I will still weigh myself once a month or so and report on that like normal, but will stop focusing on the numbers on the scale. One thing that worries me about making this decision is that I did this in the past and failed miserably at it, gaining back several pounds. This time around I need to continue to make the right food choices and workout like a mad man! My workouts have been awesome for the past couple of months, so that should be easy to maintain. But the eating part has always been my Achilles heal. I love food. Loving food makes it hard for me to eat properly. I think I can do it though, so it shouldn’t be that big a deal.
What will I use now that I won’t be using the scale as my primary measuring tool? My body. Yep. I will be going with how I feel, how my body feels, how I look, how I fit into clothes, and what people notice about me physically. That’s my main tool for now. For example, I just started noticing some veins bulging on the back of my hands when I make a fist. I hadn’t seen those veins in a long time and it felt good to see them. Some other things I noticed where my pants feeling baggier, a closet full of 8 pairs of jeans to be exact.
Katrina, an Exercise Physiologist and Health Promotion Specialist from Ohio, recently contacted me and provided me with some other good options for measuring my body fat. She advised that I use a reliable method such as underwater weighing, skinfold analysis/calipers (a good, expensive set and someone that knows what they’re doing), or the Bod Pod. I have never used either, but plan to as soon as time permits. Thanks again for the advice, Katrina.
Lastly, I finally had a physical done for the first time in about 7 years. The doc said that I have high blood pressure and should work on reducing it. Ugh…why do I need to have high blood pressure? Damn! Every thing else seemed fine for now but she wants me to to go in next week to test for diabetes…
Good luck Israel – I’m definitely interested to see how the change goes for you. I am a daily scale kinda’ guy, which helps me to stay on track. That said, the monthly idea really interests me too. I’ve never liked the caliper method, because I suppose I’ve never had it done right – it always varies WAY more for me than a scale. Same with measurements. So I’m definitely interested in hearing more.
Thanks as always for your honesty – you are truly an inspiration! And fingers crossed for you on the test results.
Thanks. I just think it’s time to stop focusing on the numbers on the scale and do what worked for me a few years ago. I had worked out for about 3 months straight without weighing myself and when I did I was astonished with the results on the scale. About a month into that 3 month stretch I stopped worrying about my looks and figures and just worked out.
That’s what I want to get back to.
Yes it’s easy to get drawn in to measurements…just keep training and be patient the results will come 🙂
Israel ~ With all due respect and the utmost best intentions, may I kindly suggest that you continue to weigh on a weekly or every other week basis and, forgive me, but perhaps work on the way you “view” the numbers on the scale?
By not anticipating a certain amount of weight loss and continuing to focus on your plans, the scale is then used only as a tool to help measure whether your plan is working or not. It shouldn’t be given any more importance than the calipers or the way your clothes fit. It can be hard, but try not to focus on a set number of pounds you anticipate losing in a certain period of time, but allow yourself to just embrace your journey; knowing you will have ups and downs and that the scale will change as you keep working your plan.
Used as a tool, rather than a gauge of our success, it keeps us aware in a timely manner if things are going wrong and helps enlighten us when a change is needed. Personally, each week you lose a pound, hold steady, or drop a couple of pounds is a time to celebrate as each of them are is a step in the right direction.
Will certainly honor your choice, just wanted to share these thoughts with you in the spirit of friendship and as one who shares a similar journey.
Best wishes … I think you’re doing wonderfully!!! Ranae
You make a good point Ranae, but right now I am not ready to get back on the scale. I do think that I will be weighing myself, just not as often as on a weekly basis. At least not for a while. I need to de-program myself from using the scale as a measure of success.
Theres just too many things that can throw off a scale to really make it an important factor. I remember when I was younger and I lost some serious weight I hated the scale just for the fact that my muscle gain didn’t show me I was losing weight when I got on the scale.
I think you’re doing the right thing by ignoring the weigh-ins for now. Those numbers can be a stressful thing mainly because it is basic and lacking in detail.
Just make sure you keep your strength up and keep burning that weight off man.
You hit it right on the head when you said it can be stressful. I don’t need any more stress than I already have in life, so eliminating the stress by getting rid of stressing weigh-ins should help for now.
I recently lost 50 pounds. At Thanksgiving 2007, I weighed 244 and now I weigh 194.4. One big part of my success I believe is that I weighed myself EVERY DAY. So rather than weighing yourself weekly, monthly, or not at all, I highly recommend doing it every day.
The reason this helps is that you are constantly aware of the results and constantly motivated to work to improve them. On a weekly basis, you may cheat early and then try to make up for it at the end of the week. A big reason people gain weight to begin with is that they don’t weigh themselves and RATIONALIZE that they look good. The scale doesn’t lie – don’t be afraid of it.
Another problem with weighing yourself sporadically is that you don’t see what’s happening in between. I have seen myself lose a pound or two over 6 or 7 days, unexpectedly gain it all back in one day and then lose it all back the next day. By weighing myself everyday, I am not discouraged because I see the big picture, but had I weighed myself weekly instead, I could have easily got discouraged and say “Why didn’t I lose any weight?!”.
Daily weight logs means you’re easily able to see real weight loss, gain, fluctuations, and plateaus. The body is a strange beast and it’s better to have more data about yourself than not enough.
It’s important to realize by weighing yourself everyday, you won’t lose weight everyday and you shouldn’t. BUT, you should lose more total weight than you gain AND you should have more days where you lose weight than days where you don’t. You also shouldn’t STRESS about it, but if your BMI is higher than 25 and/or your body fat percentage is higher than 19%, you probably need to lose weight.
I hope that helps and good luck.
Jason, I think we were posting our comments at the same time! More importantly our comments are coming from the same philosophy. Congrats on your lost and I couldn’t agree more with your keeping a weigh-in log!
That’s a good amount of weight lost. Congrats Jason. I just can not see myself logging my weight daily, that’s way too much work man. I’m so busy working on working out and eating right, making this whole health thing more work will just make me despise it. Which is something I am not about to do. Not everything works for everyone, so this not weighing-in decision can change if it doesn’t work this time around. There is only one way to find out. Either way though, I seriously doubt I will be logging my daily weigh-ins. It’s just one of those things I refuse to do similar to logging my daily food intake like some health bloggers do. It works for them, but it’s too much work for me. Call me lazy, call me hard headed.
I want to start focusing on the body fat %’s, and things like that, not just the weight. The weight will come off, I just want to make sure it’s more fat than anything else coming off.
You definitely need to do what’s best for you, but I’ve kept a casual eye on your blog and I noticed you went a long time without doing a weigh-in and were disappointed with the results when you finally did. I just think there may be a correlation there. I used to be afraid of the scale. I remember I put off doctor visit check-ups because I knew the first thing they were going to do was weigh me. But, to lose weight and get in shape, I think you need to weigh yourself often and NOT be afraid of the scale. I can understand not wanting to log all your food and calories because that does take a lot of work, but weighing yourself literally takes less than a minute.
Another benefit of weighing yourself everyday is that you put yourself in a position to get a LOT of small wins. Buy a scale accurate to .2 pounds. Any day you lose weight, even if it’s as little as .2 pounds, THAT is a win. Yes, you will gain weight sometimes for various reasons that are natural and not your fault, BUT if you are eating and exercising right, you will get more wins than losses and more overall weight loss than weight gain. And, it will likely motivate you more each day because of it. You’ll be less likely to go for that second helping or skip a workout knowing a daily weigh-in as right around the corner.
Either way, good luck.
Thanks for the comment Jason. I do plan on weighing my self every so often, just not too often.
Is,
OK, let’s take a different view of the scale. It’s, as Ranae has already mentioned, only a tool to help gauge your fat loss success. We, emotional dieters that is, attribute all of the stress and negative emotions associated with it. The scale simply tells us how much we weigh.
Now, if you are going to ditch the scale and follow a routine that gave you the total opposite results you wanted in the not too distant past, then that’s not a smart move bro. I’m not trying to kick a man while he’s down here; on the contrary, I just don’t want to see you have a bigger breakdown if/when you either gain or don’t lose weight after not weighing in for a month. Listen, judging by your clothes, using a measuring tape, using the mirror, and, of course, going by how you feel are all tools in our battle against fat, but the scale is a very important tool!
The key to using the scale as an effective tool is to be emotion-less as possible about using it. Weigh yourself every morning, preferably after your elimination(s), write down the number in your journal and finish with your morning routine. At the end of seven days, add your weight and divide it by seven to get you average weight for the week. Never deal with daily weight because there are too many variables that cause fluctuations up to five pounds on a daily basis (e.g., fluid intake and retention).
After a month of doing this, you’ll start to see a pattern of your weekly averages that will help you understand how your body loses fat (and some LBM depending on how much weight you have to lose). It’s a tried and true method Israel, and it is one that the majority of fat loss maintainers continue to use even after they’ve lost the weight.
Israel, I’ve been where you are bro, and I can confidently say that ditching the scale or weighing yourself on a monthly basis isn’t the best move.
Just my .02 cents …
Hey Muata,
Like I was trying to tell Ranae, I am not ready to remove the emotions from weighing-in on the scale. That is going to take me a while. Looking at my weight loss chart, I noticed my downward trend, which is awesome. It’s just that I feel like I needed to break that 300 lb goal I set and felt like I put the time in. By temporarily eliminating the need or desire to weigh-in, I think I can focus on what’s really important: the eating, the exercising, the writing about it to keep my sanity. I plan on using my other tools for now.
As always, I appreciate your insight and value it even more since you have been though where I am now, successfully. But I need to fight through this right now this way until I can get mentally tough enough to not let the scale have so much power over me. Hope that makes sense.
I failed last time I tried this and won’t fail again. I won’t. I haven’t written about this yet, but one of my major goals is to not worry about these “things” to much once I get to where I want to be. The scale, what I eat, etc are part of it.
Oh, by elimination did you mean pooping? LMAO…
Yeah, I was talking about taking the proverbial “morning dump”! LOL! Israel, you said something very interesting in your comment to Jason:
It’s just one of those things I refuse to do similar to logging my daily food intake like some health bloggers do. It works for them, but it’s too much work for me. Call me lazy, call me hard headed.
Outside of the low carb crowd who swear that calories don’t count, how many people do you really think reach their goal weight without having at least an idea of how many calories they are consuming on a daily basis? How many bodybuilders do you think don’t count their calories? You’ll be hard pressed to find one bodybuilder, pro or amateur, who doesn’t know exactly how much protein, fats, and carbs they are taking in, especially when they are getting ready for a show. But, we don’t have to even go to that extreme. Every person I have highlighted, and those I have lined up to spotlight in the future, on my blog for their weight loss count their calories–there is no way of getting around this if you want sustainable weight loss.
Think about it this way. Losing weight is mainly a physiological process. We all know about expending more calories than we consume is the way to lose weight, but if you don’t know how many calories you’re taking in, then how will you know if you are burning enough calories? There’s no way that one can “feel” his/her way through this process.
Weight loss is a simple process, but it’s far from easy, and it takes a ton of sacrifice on the part of the person who wants to lose the weight for good. The less emotional you are about the process, using that Warrior Mental Toughness, the simpler the process is. What’s funny is that this discussion reminded me that I blogged about being “Scale-phobic” over a year ago; I hope this post will give you another perspective on the dreaded scale ….
http://www.mrlowbodyfat.com/?p=15
Muata, I do know the amount of calories I consume, I just don’t track them on anything besides my head. I know just about how much calories my food contains, and with your help now I will be doing the macro counting.
Thanks for the help and support as always.
No problem Israel, and the good thing is, judging by the number of comments, you have a lot of support, which we ALL need on our fat loss journey. Hang in there bro …
Amen to that!
Everyone needs to do what works for them. I tried a weekly weigh-in for a while, and I just ended up ignoring the scale altogether. Shortly after dealing with that frustration, our pastor gave a sermon about glutony, and he mentioned a daily weigh-in, to be used as a reminder of your goals. That works for me, but frustrates my wife.
While I’d have to say that daily weight fluctuations can be tough to deal with, I’d have to encourage you to do that weigh-in at least once a week, and try not to get so frustrated by not making a specific number that you simply quit. I believe Muata is right on target in that the downward trend is what should be the point of focus.
Hi Israel,
.
I had to stop putting on the pressure by publishing my results. I found that the added stress of knowing that I was going to have to chart my weight the next morning (I was publishing daily for the first few months) was too much. That decision led to a plateau for a while but then things started going better when I started focusing on behaviors instead of the scale.
.
It sounds like you are going to be doing that so I think the monthly thing will work well. Clothes are good but I also like getting to a new belt notch 🙂
.
Hang in there… I think you will do fine.
.
John W. Zimmer
Finally, someone understands me….
I’m glad to see you’re growing. I think it’s been hard for you to realize how bad the numbers can elude you and divert you from your ultimate goal of lifestyle change. I think we have both touched on the idea that when you pay attention to the numbers as your measurement tool for weight loss, you WILL drive yourself mad. The numbers do not reflect fat loss and muscle gain. Nor do the numbers reflect metabolism fluctuation and water intake. There are millions of resources out there that touch on weighing yourself and the GA-zillion intrinsic factors that can and do affect your weigh-in weight (time of day, last meal consumed, clothes your wearing, etc).
Focus on how you feel, how your body performs, and how your body feels.
You’ve made some great gains, and reality is a great teacher to keep us humble on our journey. Stay strong my friend.
Thanks for this. Be safe.
I read somewhere that a study showed that men who were in shape had a couple of things in common.
They weighed themselves everyday and they dieted and worked out on the weekends the same as they did on week days.
That may be true for some, but not all men.
Hi Israel,
Just found your blog and it’s good stuff.
I am rather curious as to what the underlying apprehension of the scale is for you. It sounded in your post as if it was because you were disappointed in your last weigh-ins. But I get a mixed message in your follow up comments.
Can you explain what it is?
The reason I ask is that displacing your focus by looking for other means to the same goal (e.g. body fat calipers, how your clothes fit, etc) is a diversion.
Bear in mind that focusing on your fitness and work-outs are great, but there needs to be milestones for you to aim for. There are always going to be the crappy days, but that’s part of the roller coaster. Whether it is the scale or a measuring tape, you really need to know where you are and where you want to go. Plus it looks like there are a number of people that read this blog and look forward to seeing your progress.
My method of measurement is how much money I spend on fast food each month. And some weeks and months are better than others.
I think the most important thing to get in touch with is that your weight is your weight, and everything that you associate with that (thoughts like “you’re fat, you’ve failed, you’re not going to lose it”) is more than likely the reason you don’t want to step on that scale.
The more you let the scale, your weight, all those thoughts run your life, the less you are in charge, and the less you are embracing life.
Running away from something never works, because as long as you run, it will always be following.
Just some thoughts to ponder…
Keep dropping lbs.
William, you hit the nail on the head with me not being in charge. I will be weighing myself, just not weekly, maybe monthly or every other week. I don’t know yet to be honest. I am thinking about the scale right now that much.
Hi Israel
How funny you should write this post, I did a post about weighing myself a few days ago. I find it very liberating not jumping on and off the scales every minute. I like you will be following my body in this. Have never heard of the methods Katrina outlined to you, might check them out!
Jules
Keep on. I am always your fan.
I think it is great that you have monitored your progress the way you have. I can only think you have helped so so many people. Keep up the good work! Frank
Thanks Frank.
HI Israel,
great job on your weight loss. Here’s my rec and take it for what it’s worth…
weight yourself EVERYDAY! and eat mostly unprocessed foods.
otherwise you’ll do just as you say… slack and gain weight.
Best, Always
Dr. Marc I am going to have to pass on the everyday weigh-in for now. The unprocessed foods for sure is a good idea.
Wow, you’ve really made some progress. Very inspiring. I try to weigh myself once a week – that way, small fluctuations don’t get me so upset. Keep up the good work.
I’m aiming for not being affected by the scale, I am just dissapointed with the result I got this week.
I think you should be looking more for the waist reduction rather than weight reduction. Why not track your body fat rather than body weight?
Good idea, I plan on doing something like this.
i will like what you are doing israel! and you surely inspired othres!! keep up the good work! 🙂
Thanks, they inspire me even more.
People eat lots of junk food and then sit in-front of TV. How can they lose weight. What you can do is have 5 small healthy meals a day including fruits like apple, peach etc, vegetables and 2 to 3 glass of milk and have lot and lots of water. Along with diet it is good to do 45 to 60 minutes of exercise. This will increase your metabolism rate and you will soon find the difference.
This works for some folks, but not necessarily all. The key is to find what works for you. Thanks.
Ranae and Jason and my man Muata are on point (congrats on the marriage Muata). The scale is a tool. That’s all. Keep working on it.
The other tool Muata alluded to is ‘counting’ macro nutrient ratio’s.
Check this link http://tinyurl.com/6ndynf
Lastly – the BEST digit on the scale – the second digit – is about to change for you (actually your about to change 3 DIGITS) Don’t you dare deprive us of that ;-)!!!
Pete
Pete, I have actually read that and its one of the reasons I continue to write on here. It has helped me get this far and will help me get to where I want to be, and STAY THERE!
Don’t sweat it! Remember the better shape you are in the harder it is to lose the weight!
Dude you look good and congrats on the 47lbs. I hit 75lbs down from 329lbs when I started. But I think what helped me the most was the daily morning weigh ins. I was able to see what and how I could eat during the day and plan ahead. It really helped with my weight loss.
Wow, 75 lbs is a lot. Excellent work.
After you figure out what it takes to lose weight and build it into a routine (and stick to that routine) you shouldn’t need to weigh yourself. Really, the weight should just come off. I look at the scale fairly often just because I made weighing-in part of my routine. I probably could phase it out and focus more on how I look and feel- though I’m not really a fan of mirrors.
You are right about finding what works for you and sticking to that. It’s so crucial, a step that is often not even acknowledged by some.
If I had seen 301 on the scale I would have started walking or running immediately, I mean as soon as I got off the scale. I would have continued for 30 minutes. Then I would have reweighed. I would have repeated that until I got down to 300 or 299.9. Seeing 301 on a scale would have had me mad motivated.
I would have eaten light that day (but included the right amount of protein and fiber that I needed) and weighed in the next day. I would want to see a sub 300 weight. I would then set daily goals and meet them (even if I had to cheat by exercising to meet them).
I do nightly weigh ins and allow an hour in the evening to get my weight to what it needs to be. If my weight is good, then I generally do light things. If I need to drop, I do circuits of pushups, pullups, walking, running, stairs, etc… to get my weight off until I make weight. The crazy thing is that it works. I do my workouts in the morning and day, but if I need to cut weight I do that during the evening.
If I want to avoid night cram sessions of working out I keep the diet tight. If I splurge on food, I work it off. Either way this is me and each person has to find their own rhythm.
Sounds like you have found a plan that works for ya! How much do you weight and what is your body composition like?
I am right at 245 right now. Down from 285+… I am trying to get to 230 in the near term and eventually have a consistent weight of 215.
Not bad, you keeping the muscle on right?
I’m the opposite – part of my problem is that I am not currently getting on the scale every day and I need to be.
If you feel that that will work for you, give it a shot.
1 pound isn’t bad. It’s better than nothing and it could be worst, like gaining weight.By the way have you seen Sean Croxton’s videos?
He recommends books such as The Metabolic Typing Diet by William Wolcott and books by Paul Chek.
Diet and workouts go hand-in-hand. Concentrate on both if aiming at weight loss. It is better to loose weight slowly and steadily rather than a drastic weight loss and regaining it.Weekly logs could be kept to monitor weight gain / loss.
Overweight or obesity is a serious concern which can lead to many disorders. So loose those pounds fast and battle the bulge.
I found out that weigh-ins and the scale only made me feel like a loser if I didn’t lose enough weight as fast as I thought I should have. No more weigh-ins for me.
People…
Look, everybody that has weight issues, whether obese or overweight does not like to acknowledge that they are fat.
But, whether you use the scale or you grab a chunk of your fat to determine what your progress is, it can still be depressing. At the end of the day – you still know that you’re fat.
It has been said before, but I’m not sure that it is fully understood that the scale is a tool to measure your weight. It is not a ruling by a court that says that you shall be “X” pounds for 5-10 years.
The scale should only be used for setting and recording the status of your goals and nothing more. It actually helps you obtain that goal.
Consider your scale a road map to your weight destination, you can’t find your way if you don’t know where you are on the map. The road to weightloss has many twists and turns. And while it truly is about the journey and not so importantly about the destination, everyone still doesn’t want to be stuck where they have been.
I know I need to do more than what I have been, because my weight loss has stalled at 230lbs. So I plan to mix up the distances I’m swimming, and eat more slow carbs like I was when I dropped 15 pounds. If you wait a month you would never know.
I’ve gotten over the emotional tie to gain or loss. I aim to run my body like a business, I eat in excess, I gain. I workout, I lose. The scale is my balance sheet.
Don’t be an “emotional weigher” similar to an “emotional eater” because if you let your emotions run the show, you are essentially a two year old.
You are not a loser unless you do nothing about it. And you are only a failure if you choose to do nothing.
Thanks for contributing William. You said a mouthful. I think I am over the whole scale thing.
The scale can be a friend or foe, and I believe it’s very much a personal decision as to how often, if ever, someone steps on the scale.
Personally, I weigh myself almost everyday, just to keep on track. But, if you get too stressed by using the scale, it’s better for you to stay off it.
IMHO, non-scale victories are better and more exciting then the scale. Loose pants, exercising more, breathing easier, and the ever popular bathing suit all work great.
I wish you luck and look forward to you seeing results…………:)
Thanks Israel. Weight loss is an individual kind of experience so the way you gauge your progress needs to suit you. I was a day to day scale checker but my husband used other measuring tools to chart his improvements. His favorite was ‘these baggy pants need to be given away’!! We’ve both reached our goals and maintained our goal weights for a number of years and both measuring tools worked. Go with the flow Israel. Your goal is waiting you not so far away!
When I stay focused on the scale I become obsessed. For me its better to just look at how my clothes are fitting and if I am out of breath or not doing the same thing everyday.
That happens when all you think about is the scale. I am taking your approach.
Hey Israel,
I just recently found your blog and I love it! I wish I had this type of support when I was losing weight. 7 years ago, I weighed about 245 lbs and around 25% body fat. It was a roller coaster ride of losing weight improperly and trying to put that muscle back on that I lost, but I’m finally at a good spot, weighing in at 182 lbs and 11% body fat.
I just want to say one thing… I believe in you brother!! I know what it’s like and how tough it can be to change your life in such a drastic way. Whether or not you want to use the scale as an indicator is in my mind irrelevant. Either way, the goal is healthy weight loss.
If there is anything I can do to help, I would be more than happy. I’ll be checking in everyday and I have already added you to my RSS feed.
Thanks for the post!
All the Best,
Andrew R
Go Healthy Go Fit