I am in complete agreement with the statements above.reinhard wrote:I don't personally have an issue with scales. I have a mild occasional curiosity but I "neither beg their favors nor fear their hate." And I think this is the best, healthiest and most effective attitude for most people to have vis a vis scales. Just be moderate in your eating and moving and have faith that this behavior will get you (and keep you) where you want to be.
But I'm starting to wonder, though, whether avoidance is the best strategy for people who are freaked out by scales, people who CAN'T simply be nonchalant about them. Maybe they should do the opposite, come to terms with what they're afraid of, kind of like someone with a phobia facing his fear -- say rats or heights or something -- in order to get over it.
I haven't thought very much about this yet, but here's my guess as to how "facing your scale phobia" might look: every day, at some regular time, get naked and step on the scale once and ONLY once. Record whatever number you see -- no stepping three times and picking your favorite. Enter the number in excel and track the (7 day? 14 day?) moving average. Do not worry or complain unless you don't like what the trend line is doing over a week or more. (for technophobic-scalophobes who don't have a clue how to use excel, I will stick a similar feature directly on the site at some point relatively soon).
The upside to doing this is that you will have data that is both meaningful and relatively smooth and even keel instead of crazy, context-less spikes. Hopefully it will calm you down both about your behavior and the scale itself. The downside is that it's a pain AND you may still go nuts when you see a number you don't like. Every bad number hurts, no matter how rational you are, and you're bound to see quite a few of them if you measure every day (the whole "checking your stocks" issue). It's a tough call to say whether it's worth it -- and a very individual call.
Reinhard
One of the most common problems of those with weight problems is DENIAL:
- a psychological defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality
is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality.
However, the process of daily weighing, recording and tracking that measurement
forces one to face the reality of his/her current weight
and the overall effects of his/her eating pattern on that weight..
....whether the trend is up, down or level.
Knowledge of the reality of one's weight pattern over time
is simply a measurement of the reality of one's behavior with food over time.
I've found that it has been necessary for me to acknowledge and accept the Reality
of both my condition and my behavior,
before I could effectively work to make changes to them.
The scale is not a God or a Judge.
It is simply a tool of measurement....
....quite an accurate tool, if one charts one's weight over time...
and understands that....due to varying levels of salt/water/waste...
the body can have normal weight bounces of from 3 to 8 lbs.
In weight-loss and in maintenance,
it is the TREND over time that matters...not one individual weight.