Does having a scale help with motivation/fitness goals?
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I've never used a scale to monitor my weight, thinking it's more important to rely on how I look/feel. I still believe that, but I've been considering getting a scale recently to help me monitor fluctuations and recognize patterns in my weight. Any thoughts people have on this topic would be appreciated - do you have a scale? Does it help you, or make you feel guilty? Do you use it regularly, or avoid it? Thanks!
by: phormalitize
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by: Superalzy
I find that my scale just frustrates me. In any given week, my weight on the scale fluctuates 5 lbs. I'll be doing really well and get excited to see the scale go down 2 lbs here and 1 there. But then when all those pounds reappear on the scale out of nowhere, I feel defeated and frustrated. I wish I could just avoid getting on it altogether, but it's become an unhealthy addiction that I use to beat myself up. Maybe I should have my fiancee secretly throw the thing away.
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by: Jewlzm
It depends on how detached you can stay from the numbers on the scale. Otherwise the only thing the scale is good for is at the gun range. It will only frustrate you! I now manage to weight myself only once a month for the pure and simple fact that the emotional beating isnt worth it. If I drink a soda (diet or not doesnt matter) my body doesnt like it and I go up 5 lbs.. but I can fluctuate upwords of 8 pounds. The scale is not my friend! But fitting into that size 4 for the first time really is relieving no matter what the scale says.
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by: YankDownUnder
I'm a bit CDO (that'd be "OCD" to most people, but it MUST BE IN ORDER! *lol*) so I weigh myself daily. It's helped me see my patterns so I can deal with them. I just have to keep reminding myself it's like the stock market... Long term goals, don't sweat the short term losses (or gains if you will).
I bought a scale that gives BMI, but at the end of the day, I've found that the BMI reading is neither accurate nor important. YOU know how fit you are and that's the best gauge of all. Having said that, you can say the same thing about measuring your weight, you don't need a scale to tell you how fit you are, it's just that I'm a numbers nerd and I've gotten into the habit of logging everything on DailyBurn tracker for the last couple years. :)
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by: MzPots
I'm the same way, and I've thought about picking one up to help me gauge my progress... but numbers don't satisfy me. My ultimate goal is to be happy with the way I look, and a number won't tell me that, so I always (eventually) remember a scale is a waste for me.
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by: kawaiola
I very much agree with the sentiments of trusting how you feel and look -- but as someone who is a little OCD with planning and tracking, using a scale to track my weight is a great tool to measure my progress and results.
If a scale isn't necessarily your thing, but you want to track your progress, I also recommend tracking your measurements.
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by: sleekbird
I think it depends on you. Some people like to use measurements; some like scales; and others like the mirror and/or the way clothes fit. For me, I like the scale and tracking calories and exercise on MyFitnessPal. I think it all depends on what motivates YOU!
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skaserI agree!! I find that when I weigh daily it keeps me more accountable to what goes in my mouth and what stays out. I got out of the habit and gained back 25 pounds in 3 yrs. So, here I am again..and also focusing on eating every meal and snack which helps blood sugar levels which in turns help my weight..
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by: SkylarChastain
I have the Zero Scale. Instead of giving you your weight, it tells you pounds lost since first getting the scale and pounds lost since last weigh-in.
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by: JamiBuch
I used to be obsessive in a bad way about weighing myself daily. I finally got it under control. I don't weigh myself daily anymore - just maybe three times a week. I find it help me stay on track and know I'm heading in the right direction.
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by: slshaw23
I have a scale and sometimes it helps because I am excited about the weight loss but I hate seeing my weight go up and down>
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by: Longhorn0915
I weigh myself several times a day! I also weigh in after workouts to see how effective they are. It makes me accountable for everything.
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by: babygirl16878
In the beginning the "SCALE" was my ultimate enemy. I joined a gym about a year ago and met with a personal trainer a few times. The first thing he told me was that I needed to promise to only weigh myself twice a month (I negiotated to once a week by the way). Before the gym I would weigh myself daily if not twice a day and would literally feel guilty if the numbers went up at all. It was definitely a struggle for me at first because I had to walk by the scale in the gym everyday to go to the locker room. It was almost like it was trying to tempt me to stand on it, lol. I avoided it for a week and a half and noticed that I started to like the changes I seen in the mirror instead of fighting with the numbers. Now I only use a scale to gauge how I am doing. I would rather look for the changes myself and be glad when I see them. I still weigh in once a week just to see where I am at but its definitely not anywhere close to as depressing as it used to be!
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by: sld21
Its good to use a variety of things to measure progress. I do weekly weigh ins, always on Saturday morning. I hop on the scale, then measure all over with a tape measure. I take a note of my stats for that date and keep a log. This helps me to track how far along I am getting to reaching my goals.
To keep sane I would however not recommend daily weighing, as most peoples weight fluctuates daily. I would also suggest setting a realistic long term goal as well as a series of short term/weekly goals building up to that long term goal. A series of small achievements is whats gonna get you to where you wanna be. A goal of 50 or so pounds can be a discouraging number to focus on every day as it will take time to get there. A realistic and healthy rate of weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week. However it is normal for some to see a significant drop in weight at the beginning of a new program or diet and this is perfectly normal although weight loss will slow to a normal pace after a few weeks.Steph D- Personal Trainer
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by: sallyparadise
I used to have a scale, but then i stubbed my toe on it in the dark, hurt so bad i threw it and it broke;/ But it was probably a good thing. I would get discouraged when I the numbers would go up. Now, I use the scale at my grocery store. Every week when I do my shopping, I hop on to check my progress. This has definitely been working out for me!
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I feel the same way you do I even thought about buying a new lol.