why i shouldn't weigh myself

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MJ7910
Posts: 504
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:17 am

why i shouldn't weigh myself

Post by MJ7910 » Fri May 09, 2014 12:16 pm

This was a week after i finished a great 10k with a record time for me. i felt like i did great with my eating this weekend. i was prepared to see a lower number on the scale. what did i get. a gain of 0.8 lb. this is why i shoudln't weigh myself. in one month i seem to have gained a lb. was so set on a loss that it almost sets my mind for the day. i almost want to say 'screw it' and throw today (friday) out the window. but i'm not going to. because I realize that weighing myself is something i do once a month just to make sure i'm not horribly off track. i have weighed more than this. i have weighed less than this. it's just a number... i have been doing noS exactly as i should and these fluctuations will happen. just wish a number wasn't so set in my head to do such psychological damage.
Current BMI: 22.9. Height: 5'4.5"
Highest BMI: 25.5 in August 2011.
Lowest adult BMI: 20.8 in February 2012.

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MerryKat
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Location: Sunny South Africa

Post by MerryKat » Fri May 09, 2014 1:05 pm

It is so hard when you anticipate due to your behavious that you will have a loss and you get a gain instead!!

Hang Tight!!! You are doing so well and working a great road!!!

((((Hugs))))
Hugs from Sunny South Africa
Vanilla No S with no Sugar due to Health issues - 11 yrs No S - September 2016 (some good, some bad (my own doing) but always the right thing for me!)

oolala53
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Location: San Diego, CA USA

Post by oolala53 » Fri May 09, 2014 1:27 pm

If weighing truly inspires a person, it's a great tool. If it leads a person to have a cruddy day or give up perfectly reasonable habits, it's an obstacle. Some people seem to be able to go from obstacle to tool.

It's so hard to know anything about any one weigh-in. We can be so influenced by what are essentially fluctuations in water retention. It certainly isn't fat when we change by anything more than a few ounces (at most) a day. But you know all this.

Hey, congrats on breaking your record!
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 69
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
1/21-23

There is no S better than Vanilla No S (mods now as a senior citizen)

eschano
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Post by eschano » Fri May 09, 2014 1:46 pm

Hi MJ,

You probably trained a lot for the 10k. Any chance you now have less fat and more muscle?
eschano - Vanilla rocks!

July 2012- January 2016
Started again January 2021

MJ7910
Posts: 504
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:17 am

Post by MJ7910 » Sat May 10, 2014 1:31 pm

i guess the reason i am so discouraged is i thought i was doing everything right and didn't get the desired result. I need to think about whether weighing myself is something i should even do anymore. sure, i'm happy when i see a 0.8 loss but not when i see a 0.8 gain. in reality it is the same difference with regression to the mean. i find myself overanalyzing why it happened if it's a gain and being overly ecstatic if it's a loss. it's a silly cycle when in reality not much changed. i need to start thinking about whether it really matters. maybe i need to go to an every other month weigh in cycle and that would help. i don't really know anymore.
Current BMI: 22.9. Height: 5'4.5"
Highest BMI: 25.5 in August 2011.
Lowest adult BMI: 20.8 in February 2012.

MJ7910
Posts: 504
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:17 am

Post by MJ7910 » Sat May 10, 2014 1:32 pm

eschano wrote:Hi MJ,

You probably trained a lot for the 10k. Any chance you now have less fat and more muscle?
that's a thought but i somehow doubt that. it's probably just a water fluctuation and i need to just get over it.
Current BMI: 22.9. Height: 5'4.5"
Highest BMI: 25.5 in August 2011.
Lowest adult BMI: 20.8 in February 2012.

MJ7910
Posts: 504
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:17 am

Post by MJ7910 » Sat May 10, 2014 1:33 pm

oolala53 wrote:If weighing truly inspires a person, it's a great tool. If it leads a person to have a cruddy day or give up perfectly reasonable habits, it's an obstacle. Some people seem to be able to go from obstacle to tool.

It's so hard to know anything about any one weigh-in. We can be so influenced by what are essentially fluctuations in water retention. It certainly isn't fat when we change by anything more than a few ounces (at most) a day. But you know all this.

Hey, congrats on breaking your record!
thanks for the good thoughts. you know, it is an obstacle and it just interferes with the good work i'm doing for myself. some people love counting calories, weighing themselves, etc and they find it motivation. for me i find it defeatist and it hurts my good habits. maybe i will change to every 2 or 3 months. why torture myself regularly.
Current BMI: 22.9. Height: 5'4.5"
Highest BMI: 25.5 in August 2011.
Lowest adult BMI: 20.8 in February 2012.

MJ7910
Posts: 504
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2012 1:17 am

Post by MJ7910 » Sat May 10, 2014 1:34 pm

MerryKat wrote:It is so hard when you anticipate due to your behavious that you will have a loss and you get a gain instead!!

Hang Tight!!! You are doing so well and working a great road!!!

((((Hugs))))
Thanks!
Current BMI: 22.9. Height: 5'4.5"
Highest BMI: 25.5 in August 2011.
Lowest adult BMI: 20.8 in February 2012.

wosnes
Posts: 4168
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:38 pm
Location: Indianapolis, IN, USA

Post by wosnes » Sat May 10, 2014 2:03 pm

I agree with oolala53.

Our body weight changes constantly. It can change by up to a pound or two during the course of a day and mean absolutely nothing about your actual body weight. That can be from fluids or undigested food.

I'd look at the minor increase you saw as no change.
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature of the thing itself has changed but our power to do it is increased." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"You are what you eat -- so don't be Fast, Easy, Cheap or Fake."

Simpless
Posts: 100
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:21 am

Post by Simpless » Sat May 10, 2014 4:17 pm

Hi MJ,

I too get discouraged with the scale. One night last week I weighed myself before bed and was happy to see I was down a pound, then weighed in the morning and it was back :shock: I didn't spend much time trying to figure that one out. Congratulations on your 10K success!

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