okay, I SERIOUSLY have to stop weighing myself

gingercake · Post by **gingercake** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:50 pm

This time I mean it!

Every time I start feeling good and in the zone, like I'm doing this out of habit and it feels right and good and I'm happy and content...I get on the effing scale and ruin my good mood. It's not that I've gained. I've stayed exactly the same weight for months. Which should be fine, but I'm having trouble letting go of the me that I was a year ago when I was at my all-time lowest weight (still 20 lbs. above "healthy" weight charts, but 16 lbs less than I am now).

Granted, back then I was obsessively counting and measuring and anxious, but sort of on that dieting high of just nibbling at enough to not fall over while staying within my lovely 21 ww points, and ocassionally binging, and always feeling guilty, etc. I was living like the quote Kathleen posted from the Obesity Epidemic book (http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4373): "If a fat person is to lose a significant amount of weight and keep it off, he must, in essence, maintain himself on a starvation diet." That's how I felt back then, but at the same time I loved the high of that and how I looked in my clothes.

Anyway, I'm still holding myself to that standard of 16 lbs ago, and the size I was, and fixating on how back then I promised to myself I'd never gain that weight back, and looking at pictures of myself from then, etc. In order to really "let go and let No-S" I need to stop judging myself based on the body of a year ago. Weighing as often as I currently am is not helping...I need to start relying on other forms of feedback, most of all how I FEEL--which, most of the time, is great! At least on N-days.

I also need to not be so hard on myself, because one cause of the gain was a hormonal bc I took over the summer that seemed to totally change my biochemistry. I'm off it now, but I feel like my body is still more loss-resistant than ever. Which is OKAY. I need new standards of health and happiness. AND, I'm 35 lbs. less than my all-time high, which I was at for most of my adult life, so I should be feeling good about that. It's just hard not to remember keenly my 16-lbs-ago body and miss it and want it back, instantly.

In summary: yeah, I need to stay off the scale.

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:58 pm

I think one of the biggest problems we have with weight loss is that we want it to happen RIGHT NOW. Yesterday would be even better.

We fail to realize that in most cases it didn't appear overnight and it's not going to go away overnight either. So many things happen quickly, it seems that weight loss should be one of them. Of course, it can, but it's not often healthy and usually reappears quickly, too.

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 6:32 pm

Sorry Gingercake! I'm sure we all have experienced this frustration and can relate! I know I can.

I guess you have to ask yourself, when you feel yourself compulsively scale stepping, "How will I feel if I have gained or stayed the same?" If you hear yourself answer back "Really bad" it's probably not worth it.

These days I only weigh to see that I haven't gained. I am trying to lose, but will be very happy not to gain.
I can usually tell if I have gained, and so that's when I step on the scale.
I'd rather catch it and nip it in the bud while I'm still within say 5 lbs of my last lowest weight.

Times to stay the "bleep" off the scale, I'd say are:
1. When you are down and frustrated.. This will only exacerbate it.
2. Before and during your period... who needs to see that stupid and oh so upsetting 3 to 5 lbs up if you are anything like me.
3. Mondays, because inevitably, if you see a gain, you will most likely start an anti S crusade..

ps.. The hormone changes are so pivotal in weight loss for women. This can really throw you for a serious loop! I'm extremely frustrated at the changes in my metabolism in just the past 5 years and I'm only 41.
Good luck coming to grips with that and let me in on any secrets if you stumble upon anything that helps!

And if you really had enough.. Do what I did the first year of NoS.. After getting on the scale, knowing I had been very good and even exercised, it showed a 2 lb gain....

I took the scale into my backyard and smashed it to bits with my Shovelglove!

That was very satisfying!

Love

Debs

Post by **reinhard** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 6:41 pm

Gingercake,

I'd advise forgetting the weight entirely. Just focus on eating (and exerting yourself) moderately. Those are the real issues.

Reinhard

gingercake · Post by **gingercake** » Wed Nov 26, 2008 9:40 pm

reinhard wrote:Gingercake,

I'd advise forgetting the weight entirely. Just focus on eating (and exerting yourself) moderately. Those are the real issues.

Reinhard

Oh, well, when you put it that way it's so EASY!

I know the concept is simple, but like most simple concepts, simple does not translate to easy. I know I need to forget about weight, but unfortunately right now it's not an on/off switch I can just flip. I'm working through it, working through it.

Deb, I'm seriously annoyed with my hormones. I'm 38, and the older I get, the more interesting they become. Yay!

Wos - Yes, you're right. It took me a year to gain that weight. And I've always been a slow loser, even when majorly restricting, so I need to relax into the big picture.

Also in the last year, my career picture has changed and I get very little incidental exercise, so I really need to make sure there is good intentional activity pretty much every single day, because if I don't have that I'm literally sitting on my ass 16 hours a day. I know that affects things. I do get the gym regularly, but I have a bad habit of thinking, "I've been to the gym x many times this week. Now I have permission to be a slug." I need to look for ways to replace the incidental exercise I used to get when my job involved a lot more getting up and down, brisk walks to other cubicles, standing at the copier, unpacking supply orders, etc.

blueskighs · Post by **blueskighs** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:17 am

Gingercake,

there were three or four months on NO S (3-4-5-6) that my weight pretty much didn't budge ...
my suggestion ... really ... just keep your N days green ... and as far as weighing or not weighing ... really ... if you keep your N days green it will level out ...

if you are eating too much you will come to realize that
if you need to move more you will come to realize that as well
if you're body is just healing other things it will eventually start letting go of the weight
if you're working out and burning fat but gaining muscle you will feel it in your clothers but might not see it on the scale ...

let the frustration be your challenge to keep those N days green, that way when you face other frustrations your habits will be stronger,

Blueskighs

gingercake · Post by **gingercake** » Sat Nov 29, 2008 12:41 am

Thanks, Blue. Wise words. I think you're right about the N-days. I am going to channel that energy into working on my plates, which are sometimes pretty suspect...

jsdadx2 · Post by **jsdadx2** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:28 am

I am new to all of this but my thought is that the weight did not just come over night, so it will not just come off over night either.

It took me years to get to the weight that I am now and for me to get to the weight that I want to be---well, it is going to take years.

connorcream · Post by **connorcream** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 2:27 pm

gingercake- I felt the same way today. Reinhart is right. Habits not scale. I feel better reading these posts to get back at it.

But I don't want to keep going around in a circle either. Early years, did the 2 WW and 1 South Beach weight came off like they said. I know I am older, 46, which is a factor.

Need to see what to adjust on the plates. Also body measurements might be better. But I am so busy in the morning, hard to get to it. But maybe measurements can be done anytime, unlike weighing which is usually best in the morning. KWIM?

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:10 pm

Hi all

To Connorcream, I have actually found that measurements can vary between a half and inch and an inch, depending on a few factors which affect water.
After a workout, my measurements are usually less and then they may go up the next day.
So, I guess I'd suggest just measuring yourself only every week or so, and like with the evil scale, consistently at the same time of day.

Good luck Gingercake!
I can't seem to follow my own advice and stepped on the scale only a day after doing one successful green day!
Then it showed a two pound increase..
See!
This is all more reason to stay the "bleep" off the damn thing!
hahah

Love,

Debs x

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:11 pm

ps.. What's KWIM stand for??

Blithe Morning · Post by **Blithe Morning** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 1:52 am

KWIM = Know What I Mean

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:25 am

Hahah! Oh! LOL
Thanx Blithe Mornin

Kathleen · Post by **Kathleen** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 4:11 am

The nice thing about this diet is that it allows your body to choose the weight it wants, which is the weight where it feels best. Blueskighs, I appreciate your saying you had several months of no weight loss. I think that might happen to me as well. What I've decided is to only weigh myself three times per year, once every four months. I am keeping my N Days green.
Kathleen

howfunisthat · Post by **howfunisthat** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 6:57 pm

gratefuldeb67 wrote: I took the scale into my backyard and smashed it to bits with my Shovelglove!
That was very satisfying!

Love
Debs

I LOVE THIS!!!! If I didn't have a son working on a couple of pounds before his physical for ROTC I'd do the same thing! I have a friend who took his printer behind the barn and shot it with a shotgun. Sure would feel satisfying to do that with my scale!

Ginger...I'm sorry you're frustrated...the scale is such a difficult thing...and the numbers are such triggers. I've spent years believing I'm okay if the numbers are good and I'm a failure if they are bad. Needless to say, I've spent most of my life feeling like a failure.

I'm not weighing myself at all because I know myself well enough to know that the numbers on the scale are detrimental to my health. Some people use a scale with great success....I don't think I'll ever be one of those people....someday I'll take it to my neighbor's house & let him shoot it for me!

Hugs to you Ginger....janie

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 7:14 pm

howfunisthat wrote: I have a friend who took his printer behind the barn and shot it with a shotgun.

Hahah! Why??? Bad paper jam??
LOL