Vets - weighing and stuff

[shann]

So, the thread about goals made me wonder about long timers and tracking habits. I saw a lot of people say that they don't weigh at all and just look at how things fit or how they feel. I'm so lazy, and I think before when I was extremely overweight it was because I just quit paying attention to myself.

When I was losing, I weighed daily but only recorded my weight weekly. I never let drastic changes get to me, because I knew they were most likely temporary. I don't have those weekly weights anymore as I didn't keep that tracking program but I did keep a monthly listing. (It's just on a note on my computer, nothing fancy.) Now I still weigh and record that weight every month, on the 6th because that was my surgery date. Sometimes I jump on the scale randomly if I feel particularly skinny or particularly fat that day, but I only record my monthly weight. (Yes, I have 43 months worth of weights....) I look at it the same way I look at tracking my gas mileage- if my weight starts on an upward trajectory hopefully I'll catch that something is wrong before it gets out of control. I don't want to quit paying attention again.

So, my questions are (I know y'all are thinking that I need to get to my point already): 1) Do you still weigh, daily, monthly, sporadically, never? 2) Am I putting too much emphasis on the scale- should I stop weighing and recording? 3) At what point does it become a number obsession over a health obsession?

I don't want to be that girl....

 

[southernlady]

I weigh weekly..but will step on the scale sometimes during the week. I ALWAYS weigh before seeing my doctor (twice actually...first NO clothes, second time in what I will be wearing on his scale) Gives me a decent idea about how close I am to the doctor scale.

I prefer to go by how clothes fit...

I had gone years without weighing at home, in fact during the time my daughter was preteen to moving out of the house, we did not even OWN a scale. I wanted her to go by how she felt, how clothes fit. My weight during that time went both up and down.

 

[SHales]

I weigh every three months at the Dr.'s office. Otherwise I go by my jeans, if they feel like they are getting tight, I will jump on the scale. So far, I haven't had to "do" anything. I guess my eating is now pretty ingrained and I am holding steady.

 

[Jo777]

I go in fits and starts- right now, not weighing.. no prob and I know I'm slowly losing as my jeans are getting looser (and I can see it.) During times I weigh everyday, it starts becoming a focus, and then effecting my moods too much.. I get to a point, and call a break. I'm pretty much at the "go by the clothes/how my body looks, weigh once in a while" point in my post-op life now I think.

The lessened stress of not weighing, and not weighing food/tracking/counting cals seems to work in my favor, and it's one less area of my life to stress over.

 

[Kate]

Put me pretty much in the go-by-how-your-clothes feel group. I do weigh bi-weekly or so. Since surgery my periods have become more regular and I gain weight just before and then just as rapidly lose it. I often jump on the scale during that period just to make sure that my starting point isn't starting to creep up. I tend to stress about the number if I weigh more frequently than that, so I try not to let it control me...

 

[DianaCox]

I weigh pretty much every day. It is information. It only changes my behavior a little, but enough.

 

[cajungirl]

I weigh almost daily. It use to be daily without fail. I never miss that second day of weighing though (unless I'm away from home). I too do not want to stick my head in the sand about where I am weight wise.

I posted in the other thread I view the scale as a tool just like the other options I use to stay aware.

 

[jpcello]

I weigh daily. Right now I'm battling a few extra pounds but until I stop eating the crap I shouldn't be eating those extra pounds won't go away. I only weigh myself at the same time/same situation every day (after the first few bathroom runs in the AM and before I start eating). Once I start eating for the day I never get near a scale.

I don't record my weight as I have been within the same 10 pounds for at least 8 years.

The daily weighing is what works for me. You have to find what works for you.

 

[Jo777]

I agree with finding what works for you. I used to chart my weight daily, and still have a chart on the fridge.. when I weigh, I still record it- when I check my BF%, it gets noted on there.. but what I have been doing these last few months- and it seems to work, it charting my behaviors. If I eat well, don't engage in overeating/grazing etc.. green check.. alcohol, but still ate well- red check (booze=weight gain for me, so I need to monitor/limit it.) If I overeat, eat sugar.. etc, a diff mark. I can look back and see how my month worth of eating is shaping up, and it always correlates to how my weight is maintaining (or not.)

 

[Happy DSr]

Daily weigher here. Like many others , I find it helpful to see the trend, and to make minor adjustments if the scale starts to creep. But to be honest, regardless of his I eat, I seem to bounce around the same spot.

I also weighed daily during my weight loss.

IMO it really depends on one's personality type. If you are going to obsess and overreact, stay off the scale. If you can treat your daily weight measurement as simply another piece of information helping you to guide your decision making, then go ahead.

Other more important indicators are your general health, your feeling of well -being, your lab results, the fit of your clothes

 

[Sandy]

I weigh daily as part of my morning routine. However, I don't obsess over it and if the number changes it doesn't send me into a frenzy. I can fluctuate in weight by as much a 3 or 4 pounds from one day to the next, although my weight usually stays pretty stable. Those fluctuation days don't worry me because I know that I am neither gaining nor losing fat on those days and that it is just fluid staying or going. Weighing daily gives me information and if I see a trend in weight going up then I know I need to adjust my diet. If I see a trend in weight going down then I know I'm getting back to my stable weight.

 

[DuodenalSwitchaRoo]

Things might change for me post op (Im obviously not a vet, just a chatty cathy lol) Even before my sleeve, the scale was a trigger...a no win situation. If I had lost weight, I could feel good about myself (basing self esteem on a number is NOT healthy), and if I did badly, even not losing what I thought I should, or heaven forbid, GAIN, I would spiral into depression and eat because I told myself I didn't care.

The past year, things have really changed for me mentally. I can look at the number as just a fact and not as something that defines my worth or is a judge of my character. Now, when I step on the scale I don't feel fear or anxiety...sometimes a little hopeful, but I am never disappointed. Even with a small gain. For someone who seriously struggled with ED in the past, this is HUGE psychological progress!!! I feel pleased with myself if I lose, but I don't think I am a better person if I lose or a terrible person if I gain....it is what it is. My weight is only the numerical representation of my current relationship with gravity.

 

[Paula]

With being pregnant, I weigh every month when I see my perinatologist. Prior to that, Id only weigh when I saw my PCP. I tend to use the fit of my clothing as the measurement standard of preference.

 

[JackieOnLine]

for awhile I was doing OK & in theory I want to get back to "going by my pants" but, now that I've had my regain my plan is to weight once a week.

and I do mean I've had it. :33:

 

[Ladytaz]

I weigh and record my weight daily and have since the beginning. If you want to know what I weighed on any given day in the last 3 1/2 years I could tell you. I do it for accountability for myself. I don't allow myself to get emotionally involved with the numbers but if I am going to gain weight I would rather nip it at 10 then 50. Also, this whole maintenance thing is very new to me. Every day is one day more then I have ever kept my weight stable. My food changes often, too, so it helps to know if the new things are working out for me.
I had thought about going by the fit of my clothes but I have recently experienced some bounce back of about 7 lbs (since Sept.) and my clothes fit exactly the same. If I didn't weigh myself I would have no clue that I have gained anything.