Monday, June 14, 2010

Scales...Should we use them or not?

  A fellow Spark People member and blogger inspired me to write this next installment. While most everyone that is on some kind of weight loss plan needs some form of measuring how much they gain or lose, is it really necessary to weigh in every week? In my opinion, NO!! A scale can be very self defeating to some people. I know that I am one of those people, because I have always been "need to see results right away kind of person". If I forced myself to get on a scale every single week, I would probably get disappointed that I wasn't seeing immediate results and give up on my weight loss goals. I have a couple views on the topic of the "numeric bully" and I will be more than happy to share them with you.

  When you start out on your journey, weigh-in. Find out what your current weight and BMI are, find out where you need or want them to be, and then take that scale and hide it away in a cool, dark place for at least a month. That's right, I said don't look at it for a month. I think that scale is only going to hurt you making forward progress in the beginning because if you are like most people, myself included, you will want to see some immediate results. IT"S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!! Instead focus on getting yourself on some kind of routine that you can repeat daily. My personal routine is walking. NO MATTER WHAT, I get up every single day at 6:30am and go for a 5 1/4 mile walk. Find something that sparks your interest, do that, and don't stray from it, not even for a single day.

  Another thing I have focused on is, HOW DOES THIS MAKE ME FEEL? Since I have started walking everyday, I have found that I have more energy throughout the day and I feel like a million bucks.Before I started walking every day, I would just sit and worry about my health. Am I going to die today? Why aren't my blood pressure meds working like they should? I sure hope those PVC's don't come back because they are scary as hell. Since starting to walk again, I don't have to sit and think about those things because I feel so much better. Breathing is easier, I am focusing better, no PVC's, and last but not least, WALKING CAN HELP LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE!!! I am not throwing out the meds, but I am sure the walking is helping because I can feel the difference in my overall health. All in all, I don't think you need to look down at the numbers on a scale to tell you that you are making progress if you can feel it. So do yourselves a favor and PUT IT AWAY AFTER YOUR INITIAL SELF EVALUATION!!!

5 comments:

  1. I agree you should weigh yourself every 4 weeks instead of every week. That's exactly what I did when I began my journey and it's a great feeling to see a 6 pound loss every 4 weeks over a 1.5 lb loss every week. It still averages out to be the same but it just seems like a larger loss. I believe you need to use the scale in conjunction with measurements and how your clothes fit. I love that one. It's a great feeling to put on a pair of jeans that used to be small on you. I've run into a slight snag with my weight loss though and am weighing in more frequently until I break this pattern. It's important for me so I can make adjustments to my eating plan. But once things are back on track I go back to weighing in once a month.

    You have some very good ideas and I can see your motivation. Keep up the good work you'll be at your goal in no time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I used to be one of those scale obsessed people. If you think once a week is a lot.. I would step on the scale every single day! Sometimes more than once too. "Oh, I just peed, maybe I weigh .1 less now?!" Can you be more obsessive? Probably not. Slowly changing that habit was very hard but I made it. First it was once every 2 days, then once every 3 days and now I hardly ever weigh myself. It's just a number, not who you are. The mirror is my guide now, so is my measuring tape. But only once a month...

    Walking makes me feel great too. And I sleep better at night. I'm sure it will make your blood pressure drop soon! The changes begin inside of you first! Who knows, maybe your medicine will be keeping your scale company soon in that cool dark place ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you both once again for reading my craziness. I really do appreciate you taking the time to see what I have to say.

    @Mimi - I can't wait until my clothes start falling off my butt because that means it is getting smaller, lol.

    @Euphrosynea - One of my many goal for losing this weight is to get rid of the meds. If for some reason I have to stay on them, I am sure it will be at a lower dosage. Also, do you happen to have a blog of your own? If you do please drop me the link.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are very welcome. I know how important it is to get feedback. Especially in the early stages! And I love reading your blog, you're a good writer :)

    I'm from SparkPeople, here is my page: http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=EUPHROSYNEA

    ReplyDelete
  5. I couldn't agree more about the scale. I weighed in at the beginning and did it every week for awhile. It was driving me crazy so I stopped doing it. I just pull out my jeans and see how they fit. My best pair of jeans is a greater measure of success than the scale.

    http://tanyah66.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete