Everyday Systems

Before no s I used to weigh every day and my mood and eating habits will be based on what I weighed that day. I am at my goal weight and have found it so freeing not weighing myself but i know if i step on the scales it will start the same obsession with weight. My question is does anyone never weigh?

I weigh once a year at the doctor's office. I don't own a scale. Mine got lost in a move and I never replaced it.

That just sounds so freeing to be able to be okay about just weighing once a year and not worrying about the scale all the time. I would love to get to that place.

For most of my no-s tenure (about 10 years) I weighed only very occasionally to sanity check the number I posted on the home page. If you can pull it off, I recommend this. Obsessing over scale numbers is unhealthy and can sabotage your efforts. A far greater proportion of human beings were thin before scales became ubiquitous than after, so they're certainly not necessary.

As an experiment, to get a better sense of the fluctuation in my weight, and some more sympathy for folks who face these numbers daily, I've been weighing myself regularly for about the last year. It's been interesting because there is tremendous fluctuation, 5-10 pounds a week, and this is after 10 years of established good habits. And this probably understates the true range because I weight consistently at a certain time of day, which typically doesn't seem to be either my minimum or maximum weight for the day. If I didn't know better, I might have been worried by those numbers. But the average is stable, and I know from years of experience now that there is nothing to get excited about here.

My guess is most people will see similar fluctuations (in proportion to their weight). If you can't handle that, try not to look. If you can and want to handle it, remember to focus on the moving average, not any individual measurement. But the worst thing you can do is avoid the scale for a while, break down and take a peak, and be unhinged by one number. So it's a tricky balance, this relationship with the scale. One way or another, either by frequent regular measurement to prove to yourself that fluctuations are natural and to be expected, or by avoidance of weighing and sheer psychological effort, you have to train yourself to put that number in perspective.

More here:

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/episode.php?id=24

Reinhard

Who knew I was doing the "worst thing you can do"? Oops. I have been firmly convinced that counting calories is bad for my mental health, but I have still been peeking at the scale every few weeks and it HAS impacted how I view eating -- usually discouraging me or making it too important.

I wonder if I can forget about weight and just eat right three times a day (by right I mean nutritious and full of freggies, all on one plate.)

I like the simplicity of dropping the "quest for numbers" all together. I am sucked into the mental chewing gum of thinking about weight loss but now that I have good eating habits, I realize it's a waste of my short time here on earth to think about numbers.

reinhard wrote: .... most people will see similar fluctuations (in proportion to their weight). If you can't handle that, try not to look. If you can and want to handle it, remember to focus on the moving average, not any individual measurement. But the worst thing you can do is avoid the scale for a while, break down and take a peak, and be unhinged by one number....

Well put. I also see lots of daily fluctuation, but I focus on the moving average and not the individual weigh in. But a moving average also means you need to plug the daily numbers into a spreadsheet, an online tracker or an app (like Libra on Android), which is not something everybody feels comfortable with.

My best bet is to weigh occasionally at regular intervals. This was monthly at first and now every 3-6 months. If I think I have gained weight, I tend to avoid the scale. This was a longstanding pattern for me before I lost some weight with NO S. Soooo...I do not think it is a good idea...at least for me...to never weigh.

So I caved in and weighed this morning only because I knew I could not binge today due to being on a restricted diet today and tomorrow due to a minor procedure I'm having done tomorrow and I'm within my maintenance weight (I allow myself 2 kilos lean way) and down 800 grams from before starting no s. I think from now on I might weigh myself monthly if I'm sure it won't lead to a binge. If my head is in the wrong place ill weigh less frequently.

Helenaz123 wrote:That just sounds so freeing to be able to be okay about just weighing once a year and not worrying about the scale all the time. I would love to get to that place.

I have CHF and am supposed to weigh daily to keep track of water weight gain and adjust medication accordingly. I don't need the scale to tell me if I'm holding on to fluid; I can tell by how I feel. I also don't need the scale to tell me if I've lost or gained weight.

I only weigh at the doctor's office. I'm afraid I would obsess if I had a scale, so I don't have one.