Scale poll

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Do you weigh yourself regularly?

Poll ended at Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:39 am

No
0
No votes
Yes. If it's up I alter my food choices.
2
67%
Yes. If it's up I alter my portion size.
1
33%
Yes. If it's up I alter my activity/exercise.
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 3

Lilybug
Posts: 113
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 11:46 am

Scale poll

Post by Lilybug » Tue Jun 13, 2017 1:39 am

Just wondering who weighs themselves regularly and if you alter your eating because of the result you see on that scale (as in, "I'm up 3 lbs this week, better reduce my portion sizes")

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Merry
Posts: 1658
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:14 am

Post by Merry » Tue Jun 13, 2017 4:39 am

Not sure how to answer--I think the most accurate for me would be to say that if it's up over time (not just a fluke), I evaluate why.

I weigh daily, and I know just how fluky weights can be (going up or down a few pounds in just a day can't possibly reflect fat gained or lost). So, weight up or down is not a reason to respond in that case. If I only weighed once a week or once a month, I wouldn't know what the "real" weight was--which one was abnormally high or low, and what affected it? It makes me feel less in control to have less information. So, I weigh daily (except on Sundays) and don't let any one weight dictate what I do.

Up 3 lbs. in a week might be--I had a lot of salt over the weekend. I had a big party and have a lot of water-weight. I went on vacation and ate all week. I had red days. I exercised and my body is retaining water right now. etc...

Usually I know the reason, and the response is not "more rules" but simply "get back to regular N days." That's why I say my response is to evaluate, not to change everything up.

I find weighing encouraging. I tend to not get overly upset about a jump any one day but get encouraged by the downward trend when it happens.

I think weighing does make me conscious--it's like a reminder--oh yeah, I have been eating lots of junk lately. I should get back to healthier meals. The one month I gained, as I thought back on the month I realized that I ate until stuffed a lot that month. So the next month I evaluated and decided to pay closer attention to how full my plates were and whether I was eating beyond that "comfortable" stage too often.

So in my mind, weighing is just another tool that can help me evaluate whether what I am doing is working. Just like habitcal can help me know if I'm really staying on plan (are there red days?) or if I slacked on exercise (because I started tracking that to see how many days a month I exercised).

I do want to emphasize that I do all of this because I want to. In the beginning, I focused on N days and on daily weighing for encouragement overall (that has been the same for me throughout). I didn't worry about plate composition, eating past comfortable, exercise days etc... These are things I've gradually added to my focus as I felt I was ready, able, and wanting to. They fit with my overall goal of wanting to be healthier and also wanting how I live to be God-honoring. They don't make me feel overly constrained and I'm not compelled to be perfectionistic about them.
Homeschool Mom and No S returnee as of 11-30-15.
2 years and counting on No-S.
29 lbs. down, 34 to go. Slow and steady wins the race.
Respect Moderation

Bullisaba
Posts: 65
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 1:57 pm

Post by Bullisaba » Tue Jun 13, 2017 8:46 am

I agree with so much of what you wrote Merry.

Lilybug
Posts: 113
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 11:46 am

Post by Lilybug » Tue Jun 13, 2017 9:29 am

Very informative and helpful. Thank you.

I've not weighed since I started and I'm sure my weight is up by the fit of my clothes.

I'd rather not weigh until my weight comes down,
But I'm not sure if that is a silly way to look at it or not.

LifeisaBlessing
Posts: 337
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2016 1:08 pm

Post by LifeisaBlessing » Tue Jun 13, 2017 10:35 am

I voted "Alter portion sizes" in your poll. :)

Merry has many wise words regarding the scale, and I agree with her. As I mentioned in your other thread, I weigh daily, morning and evening. I'm an engineer by trade, so I love the business of numbers! :) I utilize the scale as an objective tool to give me immediate feedback. It's pretty amazing how it can vary morning to evening based on fluid intake, time of the month, food volume, etc. By observing trends (as Merry noted), you can see how different foods/fluids affect your daily weighing. For me, I note overall trends and will adjust my portion sizes the next day(s) accordingly, until I see a downward trend, or a more steady trend staying where I'd like it to be. This is part of how I succeeded at weight/fat loss, and an important part of my continued success.

How you approach weighing is strictly up to you. If it bothers you or could potentially impede your progress, there's nothing silly about waiting until you're more comfortable with it. :)
I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
~Jimmy Dean

The second you overcomplicate it is the second it becomes the thing for which it is a corrective.
~El Fug, on the NoS Diet

Lilybug
Posts: 113
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 11:46 am

Post by Lilybug » Tue Jun 13, 2017 12:07 pm

Thanks. I'm less of a type a about keeping track of things but I can see how not weighing is maybe not facing reality.

I did step on the scale. Yikes! 179 lbs. I'm 5' 7.

I'm glad I did it and I actually don't feel the desire to run back to ww after all. I think I do want to check my meals for nutrition. Starting no s I ate a lot of sausage biscuits for breakfast and pizza for dinner. That's ok, I think. Part of "normalizing" as in not counting points and fretting over every choice.

Now at least I have a starting point.

gingerpie
Posts: 1031
Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2014 8:16 pm
Location: Pennsylvania, US

Post by gingerpie » Tue Jun 13, 2017 9:28 pm

I think I do want to check my meals for nutrition.
Not too long ago (a couple, maybe three months) It popped into my head that maybe my wanting to snack was related to not having adequate nutrition. My thinking was,"If my body/brain expects nutrition at a meal but doesn't get it because I'm stuffing it full of carbs perhaps it continues to look for that nutrition outside of mealtime." I experimented with doubling- (really closer to tripling and I was eating a far number to begin with) my vegetable servings and deliberately added vegetables to breakfast. I've even learned to eat breakfast salads, which at first struck me as a bit strange but once I decided that anything healthy at dinner must also be healthy for breakfast, I adjusted to them. The result? I'm happy to report that my urge to snack is greatly reduced although it's now virtually impossible to keep enough vegetable int he house!! Unfortunately, I changed two variables in my experiment so I'm unable to know for sure what caused the reduction in snacking. The second variable I changed is that I'm tea-totaling for a few months to try to get a handle on how my evening wine influences my eating habits.

I can report that having made these two changes, my life is a lot simpler and I don't have nearly the same urge to eat randomly. My carb cravings have also about disappeared.

Sorry to hijack your thread :?

As to your poll: sometimes I weigh and sometimes I don't. It does seem to help keep me honest but only if I limit it to once a week or less. Anything more, and I get a bit obsessive about it. In any case, I never eat less the next day although if the trend is up I sit myself down and have a serious re-eval of my habits.

Kind regards,

Lilybug
Posts: 113
Joined: Sat May 13, 2017 11:46 am

Post by Lilybug » Wed Jun 14, 2017 1:55 am

At a restaurant in a city I was visiting, I ordered breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc.) and they served it with some salad greens. It was so good with breakfast! Thanks for the reminder.

I do drink green smoothies for breakfast sometimes. I love them. Premier protein (from ww days I bought them) whirred up in a blender with mango, berries, banana, whatever I decide, along with flax or chia and a big handful of spinach. It's delicious and huge and will keep me going until lunch.

I think you could be right about your body looking for nutrition outside of meals if it's not getting what it's needing.

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