I was an expert at trying to cheat the scale. When I got married I was an average size, but as our marriage progressed, my weight increased and the size I wore got bigger as well. We didn’t have a scale at first, so when my pants started to get tight, I bought a fancy scale so I could see where I was in relation to where I had been a few months before. The first time I got on the scale I couldn’t believe it. I had gained 8 pounds in a short period of time. Surely that had to be wrong. I hauled the scale from the bathroom to the kitchen. Stood on it, looked down, that was better. When I put it on the uneven kitchen floor of our apartment I had actually only gained 5 pounds. I liked that number much better. However, after a few more months the kitchen floor became uncooperative in giving me the number I wanted, so I tried the carpeted living room. The scale didn’t like the carpet too much, but it gave me readings that weren’t as scary as the kitchen did. Eventually however, even the carpeted floor showed numbers that were climbing at an alarming rate. So I put the scale away and decided not to stand on it for a while, for I was going to diet.
It was a year before I stood on the scale again, during which time I had changed pants sizes twice. I dragged the scale to the living room and braced myself for the bad news. It was bad. I had gained 25 more pounds. Back into the bathroom went that scale. At that point I decided I needed to join Weight Watchers. It was to be the first of many WW experiences. That first time I lost 20 pounds and quit once I got close to my goal weight. I liked standing on my scale again, and even left it in the bathroom.
However, almost immediately I began gaining weight again. I hadn’t learned how to eat properly, so I went right back to chips, cookies and chocolate. Standing on the scale was a thing of the past once again. I probably would have avoided the scale forever had I not gotten pregnant. When I stood on the scale in the doctor’s office for the first visit I weighed almost 45 pounds more than I had when I got married. I had gained back the WW pounds, plus 15. It wasn’t good. The pregnancy put on 75 pounds. Every time I went to the doctor I wore my lightest weight maternity dress and took off my shoes before I got on the scale. It didn’t help much, but I tried.
After the birth of my first child, I tried WW again with no success. I would eat very little the day before, wear my lightest clothes and think thin before it was time to stand on the scale. No dice. The scales back then weren’t as sensitive as they are now. (What’s with 0.2 pounds loss like they register now?) I didn’t lose any weight and quit again. The times I weighed myself on my home scale had become like a comic routine. I’d stand on the scale, look at the number and move the scale around. I’d stand on it again, trying to shift my weight to one side or the other, hoping the needle would swing correctly. Sometimes I’d even twirl the dial to start below 0 so that I could see what a lower number looked like. None of this worked.
Eventually I once again stopped standing on the scale until I began my fit to the finish plan. Then I quit trying to cheat the scale and faced reality. Every day I stood correctly on the scale and watched as over time the needle went lower and lower. The scale still isn’t my friend – I’d rather not stand on it everyday, but it is my gatekeeper. If the needle swings in the wrong direction, I take action immediately instead of hiding my head in the sand. I know it’s not popular, but I am an advocate of regular weigh-ins for accountability. Whether you weight daily, weekly or monthly – don’t try to cheat the scale – the only one you are cheating is yourself.
Have you every played games with the scale? Diane
I’ve never played games with the scale – I avoided it completely. I’ve refused to buy a scale until 6 months ago when I started my healthy lifestyle. That is when I bought my very first scale. So even though I did not play games with the scale – I did avoid it and thus got bigger and bigger.
blackhuff´s last fabulous musings ..I’ll prove you wrong
I don’t play with the scale, but I distrust it. I don’t believe its numbers are always accurate, so I trust more in my clothes and how they fit.
For me, the scale was something I used on my weight loss journey, but as a maintainer I don’t use it except every few weeks for a check in.
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Oh yes…the scale game…I have done ALL the things mentioned above and MORE..No the scale is NOT my friend..I just have to let myself…give my self permission actually, to weigh less…. I am learning s.l.o.w.l.y. to pay attention to other things to gear how I feel and where my weight is headed…It is my way of getting back in touch with my body…
I am currently shooting for twice a month weigh in and that is yes…a dangerous game at first but it makes me much more aware and focused to pay more attention to myself…but that is just me.
Jules – Big Girl Bombshell´s last fabulous musings ..Stairway to Heaven
I’m with you I weigh daily, and yes I have moved that scale around occasionally when I didn’t like the number. Right now I am plateaued up 5 lbs from where I want to be very frustrating!
I weigh at the same time each morning wearing the same thing. When I did WW many years ago I was very conscious of the clothes I wore so that the weight was my real weight and not reflecting a change in how I was dressed.
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Yes, I have played games with the scale many times. It’s so silly when I know I haven’t eaten well, but I want to try and fool myself into seeing a loss or maintain.
Leah´s last fabulous musings ..Weigh In -o
I definitely move mine around in the bathroom – when my weight seems too low or too high. But apparently we have even floors up there – it doesn’t give! haha
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Ah, this entry is a good reminder for me today. Thanks.
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I am like you Diane – I weight each day first thing in the morn before I eat or drink cause I know 1 cup of coffee has me up 1 pound at least…
I like to have the scale & my clothes for accountability. I need both.. they work together for me.
Yes, it is important to not cheat the scale or yourself & at least find some way to face reality & be accountable…
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I’m a daily weigher. I try to look at the number as just a piece of data and not let it affect how I’m feeling about myself. For example, this morning I was up a little, but I know its because of the salty food I ate yesterday. Seeing a higher number reminds me to eat more cleanly today and drink a lot of water.
I’ve gone from daily weighing to weekly, to monthly, to quarterly and back again. Ultimately it just reflects what I already know…
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I try to use the scale for information purposes only and not let it affect me emotionally.
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That is so funny! I did the same thing. And I’d also rationalize weight gain because of “hormones” and “water retention” and “Oh I ate salty food the other day.” In reality I wasn’t being honest with myself.
When I gained 15 pounds in 10 months on Celexa I talked myself out of the reality every time I got on the scale. “It’s muscle not fat” and “I’m training for Hood to Coast, it’s normal to gain a few pounds.” None of these lies are accurate or productive!
I find it educational that the commenters who are fit use the scale as an aid, while those who are not willing to do the math, and show the effects of that, avoid it.
I’ve been all over the map–from teenaged skinny neurotic freaking out because I gained 1/2 a pound one day (probably water) to older-and-heavier avoiding weighing myself for months because I just didn’t want to know (so I identified with your post!) Denial, denial, denial…
I weigh myself every day except during my monthly cycle and on vacation. I have put on a few pounds (in addition to my mother in law’s loss in December, we had a kitty who was very ill who passed at the end of last month) so I was spending a lot of time at the vet’s instead of exercising every day–and eating more carbs and chocolate than normal… I’m back to more exercise and less calories and feel confident that I’ll be back to normal soon, but it was useful to see a number on the scale that’s higher than even over the holidays by a couple pounds and go “oh, I’d better do something about that.” It’s more objective somehow.
I agree that it’s easier to figure out at the five pound mark that a correction is in order than when one has gained a size!
I do a funny dance on the scale, including raising my arms above my head, stepping on and off, moving the scale to different parts of the floor, etc. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who does the Scale Dance..
I seldom weighed myself when I was really overweight. Now, I weigh myself daily and I usually *record* the best reading out of five.
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I do weigh myself daily but always in the bathroom – and only completely naked and only if I am the “lightest” I think I will be. If I don’t weigh myself every day, it is too easy to start gaining weight.
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Thanks for sharing your story – I totally agree with you on being honest at the scale. I admit I avoided the scale for a long time :}. But now that I am making steady progress (7 lbs since November 2010) I check in with my weight about every week. What has really helped me get on the right track is a book called, Full: A Life Without Dieting, by Michael Snyder, M.D. The author teaches you simple steps on healthier eating habits instead of dieting. I especially received a lot of great information on foods that make you feel full longer. I highly recommend this book.
I use the scale as part of my weight maintenance as well as how my clothes fit. And lets face it we know when we are eating well and when we are not, I don’t need the scale to tell me if I have been over indulging. But the number on the scale does give me a dose of reality!
Yeesh, I still even have a ritual about how I get on it and have to try a few times (it’s a super cheapo scale) to make sure the number is right. And I tend to avoid it like the plague when I feel like I’m gonna be up. I try to keep it as a double check of my progress, but a high number does kinda put a damper on my day… and it sucks!
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While I’ve never played with the scale, I definitely can relate to getting on more than once in hopes that the # has changed!
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I always got on the scale first thing in the morning, after going to the bathroom and taking off all my clothes to get the lowest possible number. When things got really bad I totally avoided it because I didn’t want to see the numbers. The scale doesn’t scare me anymore but in the past it could determine whether I had a good day or a bad day. Now it is just one measure of my progress. Some days it’s up and some days it’s down but it doesn’t change my plans or mood for the day.
glad to know I am not the only one who has tried moving the scale from the bathroom to the kitchen for a better reading… lol
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