Are you a slave to the scales?

[Sally Johnston 357]

Think back over the past week – how many times have you been on the scales? Once per day, twice per day, or multiple times per day???? Now answer this; how do you FEEL after you see the result? Are the scales playing a positive or negative role in your weight loss surgery journey?

Scales can leave us feeling frustrated, confused, unmotivated and unsuccessful – our entire mood can be dramatically affected by a weigh in.

Too often people place excessive emphasis on ‘the weight on the scales’ and after a lifetime of dieting and success being solely measured by this number it is no wonder! However compared to the evolution of technology, scales are relatively unintelligent. They do not differentiate between fat and muscle and are significantly influenced by Fluid shifts – often during weight loss they can tell us ‘worst case scenario’. Don’t let the number throw you off track, focus on your positive eating and exercise and the weight will take care of itself.

Over the next month I want you to work hard on extending the time between your weigh in, and to try to focus on some non-scale measures of success:

• Are your clothes fitting better, feeling loser, requiring some serious alterations?
  
• Are you feeling fitter? Can you walk further, for longer or tackle the stairs at work without getting out of breath?
  
• Are you feeling positive about your food choices, planning meals ahead, buying less take away meals, dodging the vending machine, controlling evening snacking?
  
• Are you actively participating in life, joining in with your children/grandchildren at the playground, happy to stroll around the shops (without looking for a seat outside every shop), getting a bit more bounce in your step?
  
• Are friends and family starting to comment on your changing shape?
  
• Are you able to do what you want to do without your weight holding you back?
  
• Is your health improving? Are your cholesterol levels, blood glucose levels or blood pressure going down? Are you taking less, or even no medications?
  

Of course reducing your weight is a core goal of weight loss surgery, but remember the number is not the only measure of success and it is never the most important!

Make a list of how you can measure your success independent of the scales and let us know by joining the conversation on our Facebook page.

[finediva 979]

I will remain a slave to the scale. As I lose this weight, that is creeping off of me, it motivates me to see every single pound or ounce that I lose. When I don't lose, yes, it's frustrating, but seeing the same number several weeks in a row motivates me to drink more Water. This water issue is something I've struggled with from day one. I simply have not been able to drink the 64 ounces, yet! So I push myself to drink more to see if it will make a difference. When I get to goal I will continue to remain a slave to the scale, because I NEVER EVER WANT TO GO BACK TO THAT 230 POUND WOMAN, ever! As the weigh is coming off I'm finally beginning to take some physical pleasure in the happy, confident woman I see smiling back at me in the mirror.

[James Marusek 5,244]

I weigh myself once each morning and record the weight. It helps to tell me if I am still on track. As I go through the weight loss process, my body changes and this is a tool for keeping informed.

[pik 262]

I usually weigh once a day. I do not have a negative reaction if it has not gone down or even if it goes up. I know that weight can fluctuate, and I also know that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, and a lot of the time I have a bit of swelling throughout my body.

[friendly5 56]

Tuesday is my weigh n day. I ONLY weigh once a week.... Trying not to get in the habit of going to the scale all the time.

[maggiemayuk 106]

I don't find it helpful to weigh too often. I weigh twice a month and that's enough for me. I'm feeling fitter and my clothes are getting looser, so that's how I judge my progress. I have 'only' lost 6.5lb over the past two weeks and I'm sure that if I'd been weighing every day I would have found it demotivating after the higher initial weight loss.

[B-52 7,113]

I weigh every day, sometimes a 2nd time at the gym...and each time brings a feeling of satisfaction and victory...and a assurance due to the fact I have NOT gained any weight in almost 4 years now.....only lost and then leveled out at a healthy place.

LOVE IT!!!!!!

HOWEVER....before my surgery, I was too embarrassed and also did not want to face the music....so I avoided the scale.

People ask me what was my highest weight before surgery, and I honestly cannot answer because I knew it was bad...so never weighed myself...

But today, I can't pass one buy without getting on it!!!

Edited November 1, 2014 by B-52

[Corridor72 518]

I have weighed myself every single day since I started this journey. I have found that it helps keep me on track. I don't get upset when I see a little bit of fluctuation because I know that I didn't gain a pound or even 5 pounds in 1 single day so, it has to be simply that, fluctuation due to Water retention. I'm okay with that. In fact, after months of doing this, I've figured out the cycle and I know when to expect it and I know when it's going to drop off too. Having said that, I'm at a point in my journey where I'm beginning the transition from weight loss to weight maintenance so my surgeon has suggested to me that I weigh daily so that I always know where I'm at and he has said that I should do that for the rest of my life so that I don't unknowingly creep up more than the normal fluctuation and end up regaining 20 lbs without realizing it and then getting frustrated and falling back into old ways. He says this way, I will see it happen sooner and that will be my signal to re-evaluate and figure out what the cause is whether it be that I'm eating too much and need another fill, being too lax in what I eat and need to get back to the basics, or slacking in exercise and need to hit the gym. Whatever the case may be, the scale will tell on ya every time and there's no denying it.

[maggiemayuk 106]

Countrysweet - you've done brilliantly well, so weighing every day obviously works for you. I think we're all different and need to find our own ways of dealing with things. I am only at the beginning of this journey, and hope that I can do as well as you over the coming year.

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

At first I weighed every day. It was quite a motivator while I was losing quickly. Then I stopped losing every few days and weighing daily began to bring me down. Someone suggested weighing weekly. I started doing that in September and my morning mood improved immediately. I weigh every Sunday morning. It's working for me, and I think I'll keep it this way.

[BladeFox 235]

I am not a slave to the scale, however, when I go to the doctor's office they make me feel like I should be.

How do you balance between the scale and the doctor when they still use this as a measurement of success?

[James Marusek 5,244]

I am not a slave to the scale, however, when I go to the doctor's office they make me feel like I should be.

How do you balance between the scale and the doctor when they still use this as a measurement of success?

In my humble opinion there are three measures of success. These are (1) the amount of weight lost, (2) remission of medical problems, and (3) reduction in clothes sizes. There are probably several more such as an increase in stamina. Find joy in the various forms of success that you have achieved.