This is a really hard post to write.
It’s hard to admit to you (the Twelve-in-Twelve readers) that I have been struggling with weight loss. Despite my goal to live a “healthy active lifestyle”. Despite training for my upcoming races. Despite my attempts to make healthy food choices.
It just isn’t working.
And when I started to look at all of the contributing factors…. one reoccurring problem kept surfacing:
My scale.
I have a typical morning ritual…
1. Start coffee.
2. Use bathroom.
3. Get on scale.
4. Take shower, get ready.
Every morning. “Get on scale.”
And getting on the scale has become a lose-lose and a major factor in my struggles with healthy eating. Here’s what I mean….
If the scale goes up, the first place my mind goes is, “Great job, fatty. You’ve blown it. You might as well give up and eat whatever you want.” Sometimes I listen, and sometimes I don’t. But even if I try to make healthy choices, the fact that the scale went up and that nagging voice in my mind continues for the day.
If the scale goes down or stays the same, the first place my mind goes is, “Awesome job, rockstar! You’ve been working so hard, you totally deserve to take a day and eat whatever you want! You’ve earned it.” Sometimes I listen and sometimes I don’t. But even if I try to make healthy choices, the fact the scale went down or stayed the same and that nagging voice in my mind continues for the day.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Either way, I lose. Whether it’s a positive or negative reaction to my weight, my mind STILL tries to fight me about making healthy choices. It’s like a war-zone in my mind.
So I’m giving it up.
I’m not going to weigh in.
You would be correct in saying, “Well, Ann…. How are you going to stay on track and make sure you lose weight?”
I’m going to journal. I’m going to track calories in/calories out. Remember, I had that fancy test done last year to get my true Basal Medabolic Rate (i.e. resting calorie burn)? I can do the math. I can track the calories.
So Jay and I made a deal:
I go 30 days without weighing in, but only if I journal my calories in/calories out for 30 days.
And if I’ve created caloric deficits for those days and my weight has stayed the same… then it’s time to look at something else (what I’m eating, when I’m eating, sugar, fiber, carbs, etc.)
But for now? I’m going to give it a try.
I mean, what have I got to lose? Well…. other than the weight. Hahahaha.
Tell me – do you take your own daily weight? If so, does it help you? If not, what are some other metrics you use to measure “success”?
I was curious how your weight loss goals were going since all this training has started. I don’t weigh myself every day, maybe once a week but I havent really noticed my numbers moving either. I actually plan on talking to my doctor about testing my thyroid. It’s frustrating because I look back on how I was eating and how I was NOT exercising and how I was gaining a few couple of pounds here and there and now I’m doing those things so much better. I’m not gaining but I’m not losing either. I feel stupid for trying to use a thyroid issue as a cop out but if it is a problem, I think it needs to be fixed. So, if the scale doesnt move at the end of this 30 days, talking to a doctor might be another option as well.
Oh, and I measured different parts of my body about a year ago and just remeasured. Although Ive only lost 10ish pounds, I’ve lost 9.75 inches. Have you taken measurements?
I don’t know if you remember, but in August/September of 2010 Lindsey hosted a no scale challenge. And I participated. I didn’t weigh in, but I tracked everything! It was hard, but eye opening.
As for now, that challenge taught me that I didn’t need to weigh in everyday. Now I only weigh in about twice a week.
Like Amy asked, are you measuring your inches lost? I do that about once a week, or every other week, for a true sense of what’s going on.
Good luck my friend! That scale doesn’t define you.
Kudos to you for being willing to try something new. It’s all about finding what works for YOU. For the last few months I would weigh myself sporadically, but after the new year I started weighing myself daily, although I only record my average weight weekly at my ‘official weigh-ins’. While in the past this has set me up for bad mental thoughts, right now it’s working and I’m enjoying getting to know how my body fluctuates.
But I also measure every two weeks! Bust, waist, hips, thighs – and often it makes me realize that it’s the inches off that matter, not the number on the scale!
But more important than what’s going on with our bodies, is what goes on inside our head.
The scale can be such a toxic relationship. Truth-be-told, I think the last time I hopped on one is sometime in January. But I’m not even really sure about that. I had to stop because I knew that the internal dialogue it was creating was unhealthy and unhelpful. What I do know: How my clothes fit, how I look in the mirror. What I feel like when I wake-up and what I feel like when I go to bed.
What I do to measure success: Did I get my run and yoga in? Did I hydrate? Did I eat 80% healthy 20% splurge? Did I choose unprocessed foods/foods I made for myself before I chose things that came out of a package?
Make no mistake, I’m still totally ruthless. If I don’t get my run (1) and yoga (2) in, then the day is a failure no matter what else happens. Maybe that’s a little bit demented, but my reality (I’m happy to own it) is that eating and hydration will never get me across a finish line. They can hurt my chances and restrict my ability to perform well, but they don’t make up for the training.
xo
SO proud of you Ann!!!
I gave up the scale in January and for the first time in my many years of dieting/eating healthy/trying to get to my body’s happy weight, this is the happiest I have been!!! Like you, I had the exact same reactions to the scale. Good or bad results, my mood and/or choices were never good. In 2010 I worked with a guy from my gym for awhile who wanted me to weigh myself 3x’s a day/3x’s a week. Though I thought it was a bit much, I told myself he needed the numbers to help me in the long run. Wrong! Enter my obsession with the scale – long story short, after awhile I ended up weighing myself 7x’s a week EVERY time I entered the bathroom. I hit rock bottom, I hated everything about myself and dieting. After an awful 2011 of giving up binging/not exercising/feeling helpless….something clicked. I started 2012 out with a bang – got back in to exercising, got back to eating healthy, gave up the scale and am now focusing on how I feel, how I look in the mirror, and how my clothes fit. Let me tell you, it’s been a world of difference. Though I’m not as in shape as I once was, I am the happiest I’ve ever been!!! I’ll get back to where I was, but in time and in a healthy way. I’m telling you, you’ll LOVE not stepping on that scale! Don’t let that stupid number control your mood or self worth any longer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep up the great work – you’ll get to your happy place!!
Sounds like a great challenge!
I was weighing in every day and it was making me crazy. Now, I weigh in once a week, on Wednesdays. That makes me less crazy. That reminds me, I need to go write my weekly weigh-in update post!
When I was struggling in my weight loss journey I actually had my husband hide the scale for those same reasons. I’d be to tempted to peek otherwise.
I do want to mention that when I trained for my marathon I did not lose weight. I actually gained weight but l looked slimmer. At 5 ft 3 inches i weighed about 140-145 but looked more like 130-135 (see photo on side of my blog). This is common so do not get discouraged if weight loss slows or stops.
For my whole weight loss journey thusfar, I have never weighed myself — I actually don’t own a scale.
Since starting my healthiness journey in July 2010, I’ve gone from a size 22 to a size 10.
I can tell when I’m doing well — how I feel, how my clothes fit, and like you said — tracking doesn’t lie. I know when I’m doing well and when I need to change.
With that said, there is a scale at my gym. A few weeks ago, I hopped on out of curiosity. Made a mental note of the number, and decided I would weight myself again on my birthday (April 27) and see what the result is.
I think the 30 day challenge will be a good break for you!
I think this is a great idea! When I was starting to lose weight, I would weight myself daily and my mood for the rest of the day would end up being based on what the scale told me. My boyfriend tried to get me to stop but I just wouldn’t. I had a mental break just like you where I felt tethered to the scale. I finally made the decision to stop weighing myself everyday because it wasn’t helping me anymore. Now, I weigh myself once a week on Monday mornings. That is how I stay on track. One day, I hope to never weigh myself again and to be entirely free of it.
this is something i struggle with too, so i understand where you are coming from. weight is a tricky thing, especially because it can fluctuate so much from one day to the next and your pants might fit better but if the scale is higher it’s so easy to get down about it. it’s hard for me to even count calories because i think too much about food. i kind of talked about this in a blog i wrote last week!
i think you are still making healthy choices so it might be good for your brain to take a break from the scale. i hope it works out for you and just remember – you’re doing healthy things for your body even if the scale doesn’t move as quickly as you want it to!
I have strictly held myself to a once-a-week weigh-in for my entire journey (this second time around). I used to check every day, at different times a day (pre-workout, post-workout, pre- and post-meal, pre- and post-bathroom break) and it became a very, very unhealthy obsession. Bodies fluctuate daily based on so many factors. An overall, broader view of things – weekly at the most – will be more helpful.
Also know that running is not the best way to lose; it’s fabulous for maintenance but not so much for loss. I say this not to discourage you in any way but running changes your metabolism in a different way. It spikes the adrenal hormones which really aren’t the best when you’re aiming for a steady burn and fat loss. I only started to see more loss once I cut back on the running and did more cross-training and yoga.
Kelly has a great “food-as-fuel” philosophy on this which she articulates better than I. Try to never (as I used to do) think that I’ve done this run and now I’ve “earned” my calories or my meal – think of what truly and deeply nourishes your body after being asked to expend such an effort. This is all a big learning curve; just listen to what your body is telling you. She won’t lead you wrong. I think your idea is a good one.
I’m the same way Ann! I tried to cut back to weighing myself once a week on Thursday, but I inevitably sneak in another weighing and get frustrated. I admit I haven’t done the best with healthy eating, but I always figured my workouts were better than nothing-why isn’t the scale moving? I may have to join this challenge with you! Good luck Ann! I know you’re doing your absolute best, and you WILL be happy!!
I have gone through the same thing many times before. I think it’d good to have a scale detox, but there are also a lot of benefits to watching your weight (literally). You’re going to rock these 30 days though!
Good luck with your challenge ♥ you can do this! I’m doing the same thing right now. It’s tough, because as much as I swear to myself that the scale doesn’t matter and that there are hundreds of other ways that I ought to be measuring my success, I still let that number make or break my day. So in my attempt to break that habit, I’m tracking diligently, thinking positive thoughts (I say something wonderful about myself and my healthy life before I even get out of bed – silly maybe, but a new way to set the tone for my day!) and trying to keep the faith that even if I am not checking up on myself daily (it’s definitely part of my morning ritual, too), my body can still do the right thing. I figure, I can’t be let down – even if the scale isn’t down that much by the end of my experiment, I’ll feel good about taking a month to be honest with myself about my eating and focusing on NSVs.
The scale certainly can be a demon, but it can be helpful. in certain situations that is. Weighing daily can totally bring you down. I have the same type of problem with calorie counting at times. “Oh, I’m below so I can eat more.” No, it doesn’t work like that. I weigh myself every week just so I can make sure my weight doesn’t skyrocket without me knowing.
Good luck to you and your challenge!
Ann. I love this. I weigh in daily as a way to keep me on track. Lately I have been struggling with diet, but kicking ass at CrossFit and running (most days), so I’m pretty mad at the scale (because it’s not coming down – boo!). But if I don’t weigh in, I tend to run wild with food that day. I hope I can get to the point where the scale doesn’t rule my life!
Sounds like taking a break from the scale will be a good thing! The scale is a horrible tool for judging day-to-day progress. When you do start weighing yourself again, I’d go to a 1/week schedule or you’ll drive yourself crazy!
The scale and I have never been friends.
I don’t weigh every day, because I know ME and it would make ME crazy! I do weigh once a week, on the same scale, with pretty much the exact same clothing.
Keep tracking – all your hard work will payoff
[...] 1 of Half-Marathon training was running, running, running, running and Zumba. I also decided to stop weighing myself. And I’ve been doing well journaling and making healthy food choices. I also ran for a cause [...]
I weigh myself at random now. I used to be more consistent with checking it every day but the truth is when I’m feeling really in my groove I don’t feel like I need constant validation of where I am at. If I’m happy with my choices, I trust that eventually the scale will reflect those choices, so there is no point in being concerned about what it does or doesn’t tell me. I really like the idea of your 30 day detox….I may try the same thing once I kick off Jillian Michaels Body Revolution!!!
This is great! I think even weighing in weekly can make it seem like things are or are not going the way I want them to.
I hope it shows amazing progress a month from now!
[...] Well – I am in the middle of my 30-day no-scale challenge. [...]